Never been to either of these trails, are they worth the few hours travel from england. Intend to drive over ride one then stay the night ride the other then pop off home. Are they both rideable in wet weather or do they get shafted in the rain.
Any cheap local recommended places to stay nearby?
Plenty of B&B's in Betws-y-Coed, both trails are rideable in the rain but you will get very wet. I suggest not riding Penmachno alone as you could be on your own a long time if you break down or injure yourself. As to whether they are worth the trip, that's up to you to say.
You can stay at Betws-Y-Coed YHA. It's right next to a decent pub too.
You can start the Marin trail from there. IIRC you turn left out of the YHA onto the road and then after crossing the bridge take the road on the right. After a short but very steep climb you go right onto the Marin trail.
It's fine in the wet although I don't rate it though unless fire road climbs are your thing.
I haven't done the Penmachno yet but it's supposed to be good.
both wicked trails Penmachno being the better one in my eyes, u can link up the two from Bets if u fancy it adding in another 5 or 6 miles probs. enjoy hope its dry for ya
Deffo, both good trails imo.
Marin trail has loads of long fire road climbs followed by long fire road descents. Apart from the last bit of singletrack, it's not worth it.
(You can go up the first climb and turn off down that last bit of singletrack, maybe do it three or four times - that'd be better than doing the whole trail)
Penmachno & Llandegla might be a better weekend.
Both worth doing, and hold up in the rain.. that's kind of the point of these places.
Penmachno has some quite exposed bits so if its really horrid, it can be unpleasant
Only you can judge if they are any good for you. George, I think you're insane if you think llandegla is better than the Marin.. it really isn't
BUT I rode it with the wife a few weeks ago and there had been loads of work in the forest and whilst the specific bike trail sections were fine some of the linky bits of fire road were in a state.
http://www.betws-y-coed.co.uk/accommodation/item/23511/Tyddyn_Bach_Bunkhuts.html
These were absolutely brilliant for us. Showers,garage and workshop for bikes, plus lovely folk.
Penmachno was boring and over before you knew it, as far as we were concerned. Llandegla is the place to go.
Penmachno was boring and over before you knew it, as far as we were concerned. Llandegla is the place to go.
I know its personal preference, I really do.. but Llangdegla just isn't interesting (for me)
Sod it do all 3...
MartynS - Member
George, I think you're insane if you think llandegla is better than the Marin.. it really isn't
BUT I rode it with the wife a few weeks ago and there had been loads of work in the forest and whilst the specific bike trail sections were fine some of the linky bits of fire road were in a state.
Martyn - the end of the Marin is brilliant, and what bits of singletrack there are outside of that are good, but there's SO much fire road - even if it was confined to climbs, I wouldn't mind, but riding up miles of fire road to ride down a load more isn't my idea of fun. The middle two thirds is 90% fire road with the odd, very short singletrack section. I rode it with a group less than a month ago and none of us would go back. If long, dull miles are your thing, fair enough.
Llandegla has berms, jumps, skills areas, and is just all round more fun. Granted, there's nothing technical or challenging in it, but that's trail centres for you.
Penmachno is fantastic, I love that trail. Expect to get wet feet though. There is an open section with some deep puddles.
Not so keen on Marin, seemed like a lot of fire road to me. Last decent is superb though.
Penmach and Marin on day 1, nip over to cyb for day 2 🙂
Just spent the weekend in Betws y Coed. Stayed at Swallow Falls in one of their bunk houses. Cost was £22.50 but found there was cheaper place to stay when we got there. Rode Penmachno on Saturday and loved the trail :D. We were lucky with the weather as the sun was out but expect to get wet from puddles and areas where water flows from higher up. If it's raining and windy the open section would be a bit of slog. Sunday rode Llandegla which was good, rode the red and black runs which was enjoyable just alot more busier. Looking to go again but maybe to Coed Brenin as there are more trails to offer.
As a That Londoner what only rides North Wales now and then, I'd say forget the trail centres and go and do some natural stuff, if you're only there for a weekend. As long as you can read a map/navigate, that is...
CyB was good when I tried it some years ago, but not bin back propperly since.
Penmancho is good fun, good couple of hours riding.
Marin is a bit boring, imo. As mentioned; far too much fireroad, far too little singletrack. I rate Swinley better, seriously. Although I din't do the last section admittedly, as we'duv missed our train back if we'd done it, and it was pissing with rain. But what I did ride, I'd not rush back for.
Trail centres are ok; hold up in bad weather, and you can't really get lost, but I prefer the natural stuff up there, as it's just loads more fun, loads more inertesting and you get to properly see the place, get to explore.
go ride penmachno its good, marin trail is ok bearing in mind it was one of the first few trails to be built, its currently having alot of rework doing which is making it better, there is still lots of boring fire road sections though. or pop in to the bike shop in betws and ill put you intouch with some trails that only locals ride. north wales has lots more to offer than trailcenters!
north wales has lots more to offer than trailcenters!
Here is Wisdom.
Marin has loads of fire road climbs? Tha boring drag at the start of Llandegla is no better than a fire road.
I like all of them. Each has it's own charachter.
Penmachno was boring and over before you knew it, as far as we were concerned. Llandegla is the place to go.
Loop 1 & 2 at Penmachno are about 30k aren't they? Hardly over before you know it (not at my speed anyway). As others have said, can be very bleak in bad weather. Sections are very exposed. If it's been wet then your feet will end up soaked unless you've waterproof footwear as it's designed to hold the maximum amount of puddles possible. Good riding though.
Stay at the Eagles in Penmachno. If rooms are shared it's around £16 each/ night. Take food and use the kitchen. As above Penmachno can get wet in places, but as a trail I love it.
ah penmachno. Drove from Oxford straight to trail head. Rode first climb. Rode about 100ft of first bit of none-climb. Fell off. Hit rock. Snapped end off elbow. Tore off tricep tendon. Regretted leaving elbow pads at home.
Buddy who continued riding as we drove home "via" bangor hospital (at least a nice scenic road) fell off the following day and separated his collar bone.
Not a weekend to repeat!
Is the Marin the old Coedy trail that seemed to have had a massive fireroad slog stuck in it for no other reason than to add miles and altitude gain to the figures (most have them have changed name since I rode there years ago).
Both trails are very good. I think that Penmachno is the better one.
Was at the marin last week but one.
here is a video of the last section to wet your appetite.
Yup, Penmachno is the more memorable of the two. The Marin has a lot of forestry road. IMV though this makes it great for winter rides, and the views of Siabod are awesome. As mentioned, lots of other stuff in the area. A few [url= http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/wales ]here[/url] to get you started.
plecostomus - are you in Beics Betws?