Just wonder if it’s worth taking my bike for on a weekend away to the area. How long does it take and is it waymarked?

A resounding yes! It’s waymarked and about 2hrs all the way around, and there’s plenty of other riding around the area too (both waymarked and “natural”).

Yes,Yes and about 3 hours for both loops.
Tis great. 😀

But take what you need food / drink wise as there are no facilities it just starts from a layby

Take waterproof boots and long sleeves as well.And change for the honesty box.

I went first time on Monday. It pissed it down, I didn’t want to get out of the car but it was brilliant. I’ll definitely go again. Its quite a natural trail, some excitement but the best thing is the beauty and the isolation. Its got a real wild feel.

Cheers chaps,

I’ll pack the first aid kit and survival blanket!

http://northwalesmtb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=trails&action=print&thread=284

Definatley worth doing.

Make sure you do both loops (about 3hrs) as its well worth it. It was a lot over grown, so defo take long sleeves and remember some coinage for the Honesty Box. If its wet out you’ll get fookin soaked so be prepared for it

The better cafe is in Llanrwst and the Chippy is a decent one too. Swallow Falls cafe is ok but nowt special and a tad pricey for what you get.

Have fun its great

Was their four weeks ago done the first loop only its was great.

Need to go there again soon, it’s been a while…

Obviusly seem to be in the minority but: the worst trail centre trail Ive ridden and not worth the effort when there is far better natural and man made near by. Went up there a couple of weeks ago for a midweek break, did penmachno, CyB Beast and the Marin at Betwys. Not a single section of the Pen is memorable for the right reasons, but there are loads of bits of the other two that thinking about makes me smile now.

They also seem to have an issue with trail build/design and water. A significant proportion of the second “loop” at Pen had deep standing water on it. When you build an all-weather trail out of hundreds of tonnes of aggregate you end up building an impervious stream bed, and if you dont manage it it will hold water. We got soaked through on Penmachno, yet finished the Beast which is twice the length bone dry and almost totally clean. Same for the Marin. The Marin is a bit old-skool trail centre fireroad-up-singletrack-down, but the quality of the singletrack just gets better as you get further around it.

Its definitely worth taking a bike to “the area”, but its the worst built trail in the area IMHO.

crashtestmonkey – Member

The Marin is a bit old-skool trail centre fireroad-up-singletrack-down, but the quality of the singletrack just gets better as you get further around it.

The singletrack descent at the end is great – the rest of it is 95% fire road. Including one long and incredibly galling fire road descent.

Everyone should ride marin once in their life. It was one of the first, its like a history exhibit, and is still great (for its age).

I’m in the yey machno camp. Love it, it is XC so expect to climb, do not expect a cafe and such nonsense, its a car park and a trail.

Penmachno is ace. But just to echo what everyone else said, take some good waterproofs – and I do mean good! If its been raining, it’ll be like riding through down a stream. Albeit a really twisty singletracky one

We were there last week and I’d say it’s the best trail in the area, it is tough and much more wild than all the others. It feels the most natural of all the surrounding centres and is the least sanitised. I’d compare it to Kirroughtree, I’d put money in the honesty box for them to leave it as it is.
Yeah we got wet, but hey it’s mountain biking after all.

If you don’t like Penmachno then it must be down to that age old thing… speed. You can’t be riding it quick enough! Highlights for me are the longish straightish descent after the big exposed loop at the top. Thats blisteringly quick. Then the woodsey smoothish sections which end at the zig zag climbs towards the little road which you cross onto loop 2.

CyB is the best in the area though IMHO. Especially the Beast. Could ride that every day of the week…

I really liked it, well worth the visit though not the best in the area tbh (CYB is close by)

But yes, it was soaking when we were there despite it being a dry week, looking at it with a diggers’ eye the drainage is absolutely ****ed, and in some places the trail could almost be designed to hold water. Doesn’t spoil it, but worth planning for if there’s been any rain.

Went about a year ago, cant believe I havent returned yet when I’m only an hours drive away, lovely area and the actual trail is spot on.

If you don’t like Penmachno then it must be down to that age old thing… speed

Of course youre right, I am a mincer and you are a riding god. “Straightish descent”, sounds like a waste of hard-earned vertical to me. I last rode Marin when it was newly christened so it was a blast from the past, and whilst its not perfect I would have expected 20yrs design and building experience to have shown in Pen.

Especially the Beast. Could ride that every day of the week…

Completely agree with you here. Loads of cracking sections (a series with Addams family names in particular brought out the 9yr old in me), more sophisticated climbing options with s/track that takes your mind off the grind, and long enough to feel like youre covering ground and getting a change in scenery.

Interesting that everyone says you need waterproofs for Pen that chimes with my complaint. We rode all three within ~48hrs, the weather was the same (20C, sunny) but we only got wet on Pen, and that was due to standing water. I’m not soluble but comparing similar trails in the same area at the same time, the only reason to get wet at Pen is poor construction.

Clearly I’m in a minority of one, but if I was advising someone heading out to that area Pen would be bottom of the list.

edit

in some places the trail could almost be designed to hold water

this is exactly what I thought as we sloshed around it. Rock solid bed, lower than all the surrounding ground, with no camber, culverts etc, they seemed to have built a stream bed.

At Climachx, they’d put a lot of effort into building an aqueduct at one point- we were riding along a flooded trail that was about a foot above a dry bit of ground, with a reinforced trail wall to keep the water in. Made me laugh…