Help me plan a 10 day Welsh MTB road trip

So, rather than taking the motorhome to France this July to ride the MTBs we are planning on going to Wales for approx 10 days. We’ll be taking the eMTBs this time and are fully self contained so can stay completely off-grid.

Criteria for the stay is that we need to be able to park up overnight close to the trails, not interested in BPW as done it quite a few times before. Happy to do some hiking also.

Arriving in SE Wales so rough plan will be;

Brecon Beacons

Afan

Brechfa

Nant Yr Arian

Coed y Brenin

Am I missing any must do trails? We prefer more natural, flowy riding.

Thanks in advance!

The Gap? if you’ve got navigation and don’t want to start on trail centres…

Cwmcarn?

Penmachno?

Dyfi Valley/Mach trails? With ebikes the sloggy climbs are over much quicker and there are some cracking downhills.

If you’ve done BPW lots then book a day at Dyfi Bike Park for a different park experience?

Elan Valley? Cader Idris out and back

Cadair Idris is good by ebike for a mountain day – and also a lovely hill to walk up too.

Pont Scethin – maybe for the “natural” bit?

Penmachno is awesome, feels way more remote than you actually are

Same for coed llandegla/one planet?! Near ruthin. Trails are great, a full day riding & bike shop/cafe & bike washing facilities

I went on a 170mm mettle & met a guy riding a 160 mm e bike. Great days riding

Some great help above. I’ll investigate places to overnight nearby to some of your suggestions.

Thanks!

I should have said Llandegla too

North Wales path

Clwyds

Llyn cowlyd

Maddach trail linking in either pint section or foot hills of Cadir Idris

Coed y brenim with some back country exploring to the east

Marin with some backcountry towards llyn  Gerrionid and llyn crafnant

Wild back country – Doethie valley and around
Urban adventure in Swansea – Kilvey and Clyne trails.

I’ve done a coast to coast ride a couple of years ago. Set off from Conwy and pretty much went straight down the middle of Wales and finished in port Talbot.

Some videos on Stephen Foster MTB and Garmin routes.

We passed through a few trail centres, Mach loop, brekon etc. but we had awful weather to start with and used the back up vehicles more than expected early on.

Hafod bike park has just opened by Brechfa, not been myself yet but might be worth including.

https://www.hafodtrails.co.uk/

Completely off grid. E bikes.

How are you going to charge them?

I’m just back from a mini off-road trip around the Elan Valley. We spent the night in a B&B so we could charge the batteries.

Huge thanks to the Black Lion in Pontrhydfendigaid for their help when my rear wheel died after a Ambrose/Bog interface incident. Broken spokes a go go plus buggered speed sensor= lift required.

Anyway, back on topic, how about a bothy or two?

@ambrose I’m currently fitting lithium batteries, more solar, a B2B and an inverter so apart from filling and emptying water well be completely off grid.

There are some sections of the Brechfa trails that are currently closed, I’d second the recommendation for Hafod Trails though. While it’s not a huge bike park the uplift works well and the limited places mean not much waiting when you’ve completed a run.

also Gower – some classic xc routes, wonderful on a sunny day.

If you’re doing South Wales, don’t overlook Monmouthshire, some great riding south of Monmouth around the Wye Valley and up across to FOD.

If you get to Brecon Beacons/Black mtns, the Killer Loop and Llangorse routes are great days out. On an eeb you could do Gap and Llangorse in one day

Thanks for the info everyone!

I’m going on this holiday too. Definitely no bothys thanks 🤣also we aren’t actually wanting to be off grid for most of it and would love some campsite recommendations if anyone has any handy for the trails. Scenic with less facilities and cheaper if possible rather than Caravan club stylee. Many thanks.

I’ll pass over the “natural” but then listing a load of trail centres!

Deffo would suggest laying up somewhere near Rhaeadr Gwy and doing an Elan Valley loop. Some good, open country riding, a few stiff hills and some top class descents (make sure you take in the (admittedly very unnatural) trails at Nantgwyllt and the Golf Links descent for some flow as well as the Penygarreg descent and the fast drop down from Gro for something a little less ‘built’).