It’s the autumn edition of the Rufty Tufty Mountain Biker Boys Weekend Away in November, and a few of us are off to Dolgellau.

Now, I realise that we’re ideally placed for a number of *shudder* trail centres but, the thing is, I have a near pathological dislike of *shudder* trail centres. I am in the minority in the group though, so I’m looking to go armed with some excellent suggestions for ‘natural’ (and yes, I know it’s a terrible term) riding.

Anyone care to help? Looking for a route with a bit of everything that can be nicely paced into a four to five hour ride.

Cadair Idris?

Don’t know why you’re so worried about trail centres though, Coed y Brenin is one of the best and will be right on your doorstep.

Theres some tracks on uwch mynydd west of dolg. that you can make a big or smaller loop out of between bontddu, dyffryn ardudwy and barmouth. You can link it in with the mawddach trail for an easy start or finish. That said, CyB is a great place to take a group.

get your map out, there are loads of old roads/tracks that provide ample enjoyment– the ffordd ddu route going out west of dolgellau ,skirting cader idris,there is the route 8 over rough terrain down to aberllefeni, you then in the dyfi forest, or if you prefer there is cader idris itself– an OS map– endless fun

How’s about the little ‘up and over’ Pont Scethin route just up from Barmouth or around the foothills of Cadair on the south of the Estuary… or even up Cadair if the weather is good. Worth starting in Tal-y-bont for the Pont Scethin route as the final little dart through the woods by the river is rather nice. The first two routes are in the ‘Wales MTB’ vertebrate book. Or if you get the map out there are tracks that can loop you out the east side of the CyB forest before rejoining some of the marked trails (or not!).

No doubt someone will be along with other suggestions shortly. 🙂

Edit .. too slow …

Inland from Towyn towards Dolgoch & Tarrenhendre via the Happy Valley

I did Pont Scethin.
Tal-y-bont on A496, head N for 1/2 mile, R up road towards burial chambers, past ‘settlements'(which are S of you) sweep R to ‘standing stones'(*now come off cart track, boggy indistinct track, if you get near the ruin/house on the left of the cart track you’ve gone too far), Pont Scethin (distinct stone bridge), then S ish 572 spot height, to ‘settlement’ then R (easy to miss, rock sided etc a little before yellow road) then back W to start point – lovely little track down by river, at end it’s about 19 miles and say 800ish M ascent.

Downhills were a blast I couldn’t do a lot of the uphills – steep, big steps or loose scree (and lack of fitness + ability), in this weather the bit from the cart track to Pont Scetin might be unpleasantly boggy, **think** the rest will be mainly ok…..but I’ve ridden it once in summer.

theres miles of bridlepath at CyB, while your mates are mincing round the dedicated trails you could be scaring yer self silly on some really steep rooty rocky “off piste” stuff.

Don’t know why you’re so worried about trail centres though, Coed y Brenin is one of the best and will be right on your doorstep.

I’m sure it is, but I just don’t like them. I can’t really explain it, I just don’t.

while your mates are mincing round the dedicated trails you could be scaring yer self silly on some really steep rooty rocky “off piste” stuff

Yeah, unlikely, I can mince with the best of them. I just prefer to mince on stuff that peple have been mincing on for centuries, not that was put in with a mini-digger a few years ago.

I’ve just ordered a couple of maps so I’ll check out the Pont Scethin and other routes.

I’ve got a photo of Pont Scethin on the wall of my office and often catch myself daydreaming, miles away in the wilds of Wales, whilst looking at it… 8) One of my favourite rides, anti-clockwise from Barmouth for me.

+1 for Pont Scethin and agree with doing it in reverse…just be prepared to walk up some of the very rocky bits.

+1 Cadair Idris – just watch the weather, can get very very misty up there.

+ Coed Y Brenin – Dragons teeth and Beast maybe good (just quite a few fire roads, but ST is good).

Machynelleth is good too – not very busy for a trail centre – but may wish to avoid for obvious reasons.

Some OK tracks can be found around the Maentwrog area, also some of the stuff used in the Coed y Brenin enduro around the perimiter of the forest can be OK.

IHN – Member
Yeah, unlikely, I can mince with the best of them. I just prefer to mince on stuff that peple have been mincing on for centuries, not that was put in with a mini-digger a few years ago.

The ones the Romans used to huck around on their bike you mean? 😉

Not sure why something being there for years makes it better than something new, but if you mean natural versus man made then I can understand as I do enjoy natural and natural-ish (or especially cheeky) trails. But North Wales has some cracking trail centre stuff as well with experiences I don’t get with natural trails, though I feel safer on a built trail so can lack the shit-scary thrills of some others, but then again the built ones can be very long and fantastic scenery to make up for it.

But if you want old… Marin or Penmachno 😉 (the latter bores me but it’s revered as more natural style, bleak and remote, classic old school MTB).

go ride up snowdon 😀 did it this weekend lots of smiles

There’s very little of the “tailcentre” about Marin except the waymarking. Old school, loose, natural (ish) rocky…lots and lots of really natural rocks…..

I’m sorry, but part of the thing about trail centres is that you don’t have to do the planning/navigating/getting lost/realising you’re route is too ambitious/racing the sunlight home.
To say you want to avoid trail centres means you have to do the above mentioned. There are loads of great trails out of Dolgellau, marked on an OS map and quite easy to navigate. You will have a great time and you can avoid the way marked trails if you want. No need to drive miles either. 🙂

Pont Scethin either way round, coming down in to the setting sun -nice.
Oh and its about 578m but the best bit is you start at about 2m so you get to climb almost all of it 😀

but part of the thing about trail centres is that you don’t have to do the planning/navigating/getting lost/realising you’re route is too ambitious/racing the sunlight home.
To say you want to avoid trail centres means you have to do the above mentioned.

Exactly, and that’s all part of the fun.

I’m not anti-trail centre; I can entirely see why people enjoy them. I just don’t, and I can’t really articulate why. I suppose it’s something about the fact that I don’t want to ride on stuff that’s been built for me to ride on, I want to ride on the stuff that’s there anyway. And for me they’re too much about what you’re riding, not where.

Anyway, again, more good ideas, ta.

IHN – Member

not that was put in with a mini-digger a few years ago.

Go to CYB then 😉 Largely put in by hand. ages ago.

Get an OS map. Big loop around Barmouth etc is great. Use RoW inc UCR’s and Byways. Eg Pont Scethin etc. I can make a days m/c trail riding out of that area staying very legal. Its a million times easier on a push bike.
Consider the fact that Dol is a wasteland for food.

Largely put in by hand. ages ago.

Oh aye. I’m old enough to remember when it opened…

You say you don’t like trail centres, yet you haven’t even tried CyB….

If you never ride them, for whatever the reasons you have, and therefore spend most of your weekends steering clear, then why not open your mind and try one of the best trail centres out there…?

I don’t think it’s fashionable and ‘cool’ to slag off trail centres like it once was so no one is going to doubt your street cred ness if you ride it just the once, you don’t even have to tell anyone…

Consider the fact that Dol is a wasteland for food.

…and damned scary on a Bank Holiday weekend.

North Wales doesnt seem to have the same variety of obviouls natural trails as, say, the Lakes. Mention Snowdonia and the standard list is always; Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pont Scethin. I know there are others, but they dont reel off the tongue. I usually end up at CyB for a day, despite not really liking trail centres either.

Please prove me wrong…

I’m fortunate in that I have very few bike related point of principles, I just enjoy riding my bike, who cares how it got there….

don’t think it’s fashionable and ‘cool’ to slag off trail centres like it once was

Yeah, that’s exactly why I said I don’t like trail centres; to demonstrate how cool I am 🙄

And I’m not slagging them off. I’ll say again, for the hard of thinking: I’m not anti-trail centre; I can entirely see why people enjoy them. I just don’t

globalti – one step ahead of you fella, I have OL18 and OL23 already ordered 🙂

OS maps are a wonderful resource and much overlooked by cyclists. Using a GPS is the equivalent to viewing the map down a cardboard tube and going round and round a trail centre the equivalent of a hamster in a wheel.

In my opinion.

And mine 🙂

Presumably you’ll also need a route to Dolgellau that doesn’t involve *shudder* roads. You wouldn’t want to drive on stuff that’s been built for you to drive on, you’ll want to drive on the stuff that’s there anyway. You’ll also want to practice hunting and building shelters so you don’t have to rely on *shudder* shops, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, tents, bivvy bags, stoves or knives, all of which have been made to be used for what they’re used for. Instead you’ll want to use something that was there anyway. I imagine you must be physically sick each time you use this forum to discuss mountain biking, when you’d much rather just be shouting at passing strangers?

More seriously, going on a mountain bike trip to Dolgellau and avoiding CyB, the Marin and Penmachno just because they’re signposted for mountain biking seems a bit self defeating. They are all great rides, and while CyB can be a bit busy at weekends, the only real difference between say Penmachno and some of the natural routes being suggested is that there are signs so you don’t have to stop and look at a map, and you might meet one or two other bikers. Maybe do one natural route and then try Penmachno? Or, if you’re with a big group then CyB is great, as it has so many routes you can split into smaller groups and do your own thing before all meeting up again.

Pah, don’t worry too much about the trails – you can’t fail to have fun in a group. Just make sure you go and have a juicy rib-eye at http://www.mawddach.com/e_index.php 😉

Oh, and Penmachno is skill.

^^^^^^ Bizarre post, but very STW.

I’m sure the OP now realises the error of his ways, and how wrong he was when he said he didnt like trail centres, maybe someone wants to tell him he also really likes Nutella, Jimmy Saville and the present Government?

Using a GPS is the equivalent to viewing the map down a cardboard tube

🙂

+1 for Pont Scethin. I’ve only done it clockwise from Dolgellau, and it’s hard. Even the little road climb to the start is tough and makes you wonder why you’re there. But that big drop from the top is worth it for the view alone.

As for Coed y Brenin….. Love it or loathe it the place does push the boundaries of what you as a rider can do. I’ve a few scars from my last ride around the place; not from any rad route, just wasn’t watching where I was going on an easy section and found my bike suddenly on top of me. Personally I don’t love it for a silly reason; there are too many people there having fun and I don’t like to share my hobby. I managed to get past my own demons and actually enjoyed my solo ride. If you park and get straight onto one of the marked trails, avoiding the cafe and rather grumpy shop, you may well enjoy it. Certainly seems silly to think of going to Betwys or others that are bloomin’ miles away when there’s good riding to be had locally.

Swallow your pride, avoid the cafe, and man up! Give it a go.

As for a lack of food in the town, that’s just silly. Good Co-op, quite a few cafes, fish and chips or kebab. The pub at Bronaber log cabins is good also.

and have a juicy rib-eye at http://www.mawddach.com/e_index.php

Yeah right, when it’s not fully booked up!

Found out the anti-lock brakes on our car work very well indeed – got into the habit of stopping anywhere and everywhere that served food made from welsh black beef. Cafe on the front at Barmouth harbour [pizza place] is particularly good, followed by an ice cream next door.

Ooops, OP won’t like that – too popular and fun 🙂

Presumably you’ll also need a route to Dolgellau that doesn’t involve *shudder* roads. You wouldn’t want to drive on stuff that’s been built for you to drive on, you’ll want to drive on the stuff that’s there anyway. You’ll also want to practice hunting and building shelters so you don’t have to rely on *shudder* shops, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, tents, bivvy bags, stoves or knives, all of which have been made to be used for what they’re used for. Instead you’ll want to use something that was there anyway. I imagine you must be physically sick each time you use this forum to discuss mountain biking, when you’d much rather just be shouting at passing strangers?

I’m not sure, out of the pair of us, that I’m the one more likely to be shouting at strangers.

Apologies, it did come across as more aggressive than funny, which was not what I had intended.

I just think that if you go to an area you should ride the best trails. In a way, going to the Lakes and spending your whole time at Whinlatter is, in some ways more justifiable (maybe can’t map read/navigate very well) than going to Dolgellau and not riding CyB or Penmachno because you don’t like “trail centres”. Either way you’ll be missing out on some of the best riding the area has to offer.

I love coed-y-brennin but part of that love is the fact that there are so many great natural trails in that area as well. The posts slagging off the OP are just bizarre, as is suggesting the Marin and Penmancho trails – they’re miles away from Coed-y-brenin! Maybe my mind geography is warped, but I usually visit the Marin trail on my way back to NW England from a weekend in Dolgellau and is an easy (and fun) ride to do as part of a days travelling home.
If you can ride there are back in 4-5 hours then you are a riding god, and if you’re taking the car then why bother when you can have that time riding closer to where you’re staying instead.

One of my fav routes I did was heading towards Barmouth on the other side of the estaury, but then crossing the bridge near the pub, which I didn’t realise I had to pay a toll for a bike (I’ll avoid that mistake in future). Then heading straight up into the hills up a road, past a small lake and into the forest. I then joined the red bull run (sorry), and eventually after a bit of playing in the forest – crossing the main road and stopping at the (old)cafe, hit a bridleway or BOAT which descended down to Llanfachreth.
There are probably better routes, but I just remember this as a great day. It could have been the weather, or the nosalgia of the old cafe, but there was a real sense of being out in the hills away from everything.

The maps show loads of potential south of Dolgellau which I’ve never explored. I really think it’s a great area for riding, far beyond the man-made trails which I also enjoy.

Sites such as http://www.bikehike.co.uk may help route planning, as you can easily put mapping and aerial photography side-by-side so you can see if a RoW actually follows anything on the ground…

One of my fav routes I did was heading towards Barmouth on the other side of the estaury, but then crossing the bridge near the pub, which I didn’t realise I had to pay a toll for a bike (I’ll avoid that mistake in future). Then heading straight up into the hills up a road, past a small lake and into the forest.

This road was closed recently, but your route did look excellent on the map.

Dol to Betwys can be a right pig of a journey I agree; why waste three hours of your life when instead you could just do a route of Coed? Mind the Conwy Falls Cafe makes up for it.

As for the toll, the guy isn’t the brightest so just slip by when he’s getting change 😉 The worst toll is the bridge to Barmouth, but get there before 9am and it is free.

The George pub is more than happy to serve cyclists, but service can be a tad slow. Great views mind.

Presumably you’ll also need a route to Dolgellau that doesn’t involve *shudder* roads. You wouldn’t want to drive on stuff that’s been built for you to drive on, you’ll want to drive on the stuff that’s there anyway. You’ll also want to practice hunting and building shelters so you don’t have to rely on *shudder* shops, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, tents, bivvy bags, stoves or knives, all of which have been made to be used for what they’re used for. Instead you’ll want to use something that was there anyway. I imagine you must be physically sick each time you use this forum to discuss mountain biking, when you’d much rather just be shouting at passing strangers?

🙂

Don’t forget you’ve got the Dyfi Enduro, Dyfi Winter Enduro and Coed y Brenin Enduro routes all on your doorstep too, which are more “natural” (= muddy) than CyB