Just got back from bleangarw, what a fantastic new trail. Blue and black trail of which I’d say black isn’t too tech but has a good elevation so you can get great speed which makes a nice change from the afan trails. A great surface and Sits nicely between the marked trails we already have in South Wales and the more techy dh courses of old.

Did 2 laps quite easily but although the climb is quite short it’s pretty steep and quite a test on a bigger bike ( I was on alpine160).

Decsents were fast and well thought out, from nice big bermed switch backs to fast rock gardens and some tighter stuff. The blue descent is also really fun and really fast but quite short.

I’d def recommend a visit!! ill be back there very soon 🙂

Sounds good, could be due a visit, sounds like my 5 on steroids will enjoy that!

Can’t wait to ride them,how long does it take to do a lap?

Each lap took us about 30 mins with a bit of chat. You ride out on the blue for a few km’s then join the black for the 30 min loop. I’d probably have done 3 loops on my smaller bike as the climbs are steep. Once you’ve done your loops you descend back on the blue to the car park…great fun.

hi all, i rode this trail this week and these are my honest thaughts of the trails for people to get a nice insight if theyr thinking of visiting bleangarw.
first of all the parking is good and very easy to find, postcode is CF328AT, head into blaengarw and ask the locals if ur not sure, theyr very helpful!

i rode both the black and blue trails twice, the blue trail being the shorter one ide say.
all told i think both trails add up to about 6km which is short but quite sweet.
the first climb from the carpark up to the first undulating blue section is nice and gradual and warms u up nicely, ul spend a minute or two climbing and rolling up and down until u come to a crossroad where you can either go left to ride the blue trail alone or you can turn right and add in the black trail…..now this is where i felt a little bit deflated, the climbs from here on arnt long but steap (which wasnt the problem at all) the black trails surface was very rocky and very loose…..not to my liking at all, the layout of the trail was great, well thaught out, jumps, berms, drops, techy rock gardens etc etc but it was the riding surface that spoiled the black for me being that i was only riding a 100mm travel bike, it may have been a lot more forgiving and enjoyable on a longer travel more plush bike! thats not to say that i didnt enjoy the “downhill” part of the black but it was quite hard on my bike.
going back to the crossroad where u can go left for blue or right for black, if you decide to go left ur in for a real treat, its a shame its so short but its extremly fast and fun and to be honest ide make the 100mile round trip on a nice blue sky day just to loop the blue over and over trying to beat times on strava, as i said its FAST & FURIOUS……there arent realy many jumps on the blue run but the surfce is perfect for my liking, it hardpack and feels well bedded in already!

i cant help but feel that is the black run was mostly the same surface as the blue that it would be one hell of a fun place to ride!!!
please dont let that put you off riding at bleangarw though because ide say its deffinetly worth a bash!
i can imagine riders with 140-160mm travel bikes will get much more out of the black!!

anyway, its so nice to ride new places and its great to see another little trail open in south wales….as mountain bikers were very lucky!
enjoy everybody 😉

just back from there today- very pleasant indeed. The trails ARE short, the two together amounting to approx. 6 km of riding. The climbs are steep and loose in places, I pushed a couple of sections but the descent is well worth it, with lots of variety and a few sneaky surprises too. Enjoy.

I reccomend doing the full loop, then do the official shortcut, its an extra bit of trail before linking onto the black just after the rock garden, which means you get all the drops and most of the best bits of the black without that steep climb up to the top.

The blue is good fun, but more competent riders will find it a bit limited. It’s smooth as a babies bum and very gradual. Certainly a trail suited to beginners.
I love the black. It’s loose and rocky and has a couple of good steps/drops. Utterly brilliant and a welcome change from the modern approach to trail building (4ft wide BMX tracks). I really hope to see more like this. Well done cognation and rowen.

Totally agree, it was blaengarw which got me most excited about gethin.

Also got some of my best strava bragging rights at blaengarw which always helps. lol.