Cornwall MTB, mining trails near Truro/Redruth

I’m going to be in Cornwall over half term and was looking for somewhere for a half/days riding. We are staying near Mevagissey which other than going cheeky on the footpaths does not appear to have many from the door options. I’ve seen Woodys bike park is not far but was looking for more of a distance ride. Yesterday I came across a route from issue 129 in the member section (https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/singletrack-issue-129-classic-ride-cornish-classic/) which looks like it would fit the bill. The question I have is there anything worth adding onto that loop to make it a touch longer or somewhere else also worth considering as an alternative. I’m making assumptions this is hardtail territory rather than real want a FS riding.

You can spend half a day up on Carn Brea riding, Poldice also has lots to explore.

My usual route if I feel like a longer one, is Carn Brea, Carn Marth, Poldice, bacon sarnie at bissoe, unity woods, coast to coast to Portreath, ice cream, then back towards Carn Brea via Tehidy. That comes to around 40-45km.

Carn Brea is on my doorstep so ride that quite a lot.

I’d use that ride as a framework and spend time in places you enjoy. Unity woods has some fun lines in, Twelveheads/Poldice is great but definitely walk it first as there are surprise gaps and drops, Carn Brae has some great descents.

Hello! There is much more off-piste stuff there that I didn’t cover for obvious (PRoW) reasons – but I echo Unity Woods and the other trails around Carn Brea. Poldice is mostly fine IMO, as long as you don’t charge about recklessly – as mentioned, there are a few spicy bits you could come a cropper on if you don’t watch out. One of the old trail builders works at the shop in Bissoe IIRC. There are some great views on the N coast around Porthtowan too, if you really want to stretch your legs – some very stiff climbs too.

Cornish Mining do a very good trail leaflet with 60km of trails, some of it is covered in the issue 129 ride. It’s called (unsurprisingly!) Mining Trails and comes from http://www.cornishmining.org.uk. A mate sent it to me when we were thinking of riding down there. It also has lots of info about the trails, things to see and local attractions.

Nice, sounds very promising :D. I think I’ve found the trail map on the bike chain ricci site (https://bikechainricci.co.uk/assets/pdf/tramways%20leaflet.pdf), looks like the same one from the distances. Thank you.

I’ve always like looking around the ex industrial landscape so also looks like a good opportunity for a nosey and play with the camera.

@nixie yep that’s the one

👍 cheers

@nixie

There is a off-road track (multi-use) that takes you out of Meva and to the Pentewan trail. From there you’ve got Kings Woods which you can do a loop in (it’s okay, nothing great). The pentewan trail continues towards town and eventually the double roundabout at maccy Ds. There are some vague cycle network signs around that will take you through town and up onto the clay trails. The clay trails are all off road multi use tracks that take you up to Eden. There is a bit to explore on the clay trails. It’s generally multi use trails but fine for getting the pedals going.

https://claytrails.co.uk/routes

If you want to head further afield, from Eden you can head over to St.Blazey and the woods at Luxlyan valley/ Ponts Mill. Not bad for a local woods. The coastal path from Par to Carlyon Bay is mostly pedalable. Then from Charlestown you’ll have to head off on the road to Duporth and it’s possible to go off road back to Pentewan via the back of the MIU Hospital. Or just take the back roads through Tregorrick.

I think from Meva this loop is getting on for c40 miles.

You definitely do not want to try the coastal path between Charlestown and Pentewan!
1. Coastal path is closed at Charlestown!
2. It’s crazy steep to be bike friendly. You’ll end up carrying it the whole way.

There is also some trails at Gover woods up near St.Mewan Beacon which is about a 10 minute drive from Meva. Short-ish decent with some techy-ish bits that all lead to a track back up to the start.

Have a good time down here!

Thanks @drew27 great detail there 👍, options those also sound good. With any luck I’ll get to do both areas (maybe one as an evening).

I lived in Meva for a couple of years and if you’re just looking to do a ride it would be much better to do what he suggested rather than drive an hour to somewhere past Truro. The woods off the Camel trail south of Wadebridge are also decent.

Not sure if its the same woods Wonnyj is suggesting but if you’re heading over Bodmin/wadebridge area then Grogley, Bishops, Hustyns woods has some great trails. Don’t know it well enough to suggest a route, I just used trailforks and had an explore.
Prob 35/40 min drive from Meva

Hello! There is much more off-piste stuff there that I didn’t cover for obvious (PRoW) reasons – but I echo Unity Woods and the other trails around Carn Brea. Poldice is mostly fine IMO, as long as you don’t charge about recklessly – as mentioned, there are a few spicy bits you could come a cropper on if you don’t watch out.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but…..  We’re down in Cornwall at the moment for family type stuff (funeral related) sohaven’t brought my bike.

But, we’ve rented a cottage just a few hundred metres from Poldice (never knew about Poldice) and went for a walk in there the other evening. What a great area. We only walked in part of it but it looked pretty extensive. I take the point mentioned above to take a bit of a look. I think I’d want a bit of body protection as well, as I don’t thnk it would take any prisoners.The one thing that is a bit off putting is that it was used for arsenic extraction!

Yeah, don’t have a swim in the pools at the bottom…

It definitely doesn’t take prisoners, I know a few people that have had to have a trip to hospital after a line went wrong.