Im looking for somewhere good to ride easter bank holiday and am thinking of the marin trail.can those that have ridden it give me a heads up? Is there a good climb to descend ratio and are the decents flowy singletrack or rocky and technical or a mixture of both?thanks

You won’t like it….I can tell 😉
It’s pretty old school 😀

The climbs are wide fire roads, so they are a bit boring, but the descents are enjoyable – a mix of rocky and flowy stuff.

DrP

Its ok… nothing more. The final descent is good.

Much nicer natural stuff around, but if you want an easy blast with no navigation worries the Penmachno 20mins further down the valley is much much better.

IMO of course.

He won’t like that either.

It’s not bad but not worth a special trip. Llandegla is just up the road and much better. Shame really. Wouldn’t take much to turn the Marin into a really good trail, just need to add a few features and cut out some of the endless fireroad

Wouldn’t take much to turn the Marin into a really good trail

Yeah, they could berm every corner (and a few of the straights),put in lots of 3ft long table tops and get some decent braking bumps going.That’d be well rad.

Is there a good climb to descend ratio

It’s 1:1 as you start and finish at the same place so you will climb the exact same amount as you descend.

I like it but prefer Penmachno as it’s more natural. If you’re fit you can ride both in the same day.

The only way to know whether it’s what you will like is to go and ride it and then you can add to the conversation when the next person asks.

Underwhelming, my mate Trav loves it though…

lol @ Rorschlach

EDIT – btw, I like Marin just as it is and think it’s generally underrated. Yeah, it’s a bit old skool, but therein lies the charm – it’s *not* your typical identikit trail centre

Why wouldnt I like it rorschuch?

As stated the climbs are a bit dull and mainly on fireroad but I think the final few descents make up for it. Think they are some of the best around.

Awful trail. Loads of pointless single track climbs to fire road descents.

I’d rather ride my dead grandmother than ride that again. 🙁

It’s a good trail, ride it, I agree it is underrated though so you may well disagree.

It’s fairly long (about 20 miles) so will be better with a decentish level of fitness.

The final descent is a beauty!

Its not all that bad! There are a lot of climbs, it has a saw tooth profile, and a lot of the descents are on loose rocks. The final descent really makes up for it though, it’s a belter. Its oldskool without a doubt, but natural rather than sanitised.

There was a descent at the end? I was so mind numbingly bored that I don’t remember. Just remember thinking, we’re back at the car park, was that it. From then on I’ve had the opinion that most people who ride Marins are c**ts.

I like it. Its almost all in the forest which is good. I quite like a fire road climb, nice and easy and they go quicker. The trail is quite natural IMO. Not overly eroded like a peak district bridleway or overly built up like a LLandelga type trail. Nicely sign posted, quiet, no walkers, I like it. It’s a good easy ride.

I also have a suspicion a lot of people are doing it and missing out big chunks as there is a fire road you climb and turn off, if you miss the turn you will descend on the fire road picking up the signs latter on having missed a whole section without really noticing it.

I always find the fitter feel the more I enjoy it… Penmacho is better IMO, but if the weather is less than perfect we tend to go for the Marin. Also has some very nice natural extensions you can add on.

I rode it at the weekend in glorious sunshine, it was alright for a couple of hours blast, the last descent made up for the boring bits but I’d rather not have to ride 2 hours to get to a decent downy bit.
Wasn’t impresed wi Penmachno when i did it last october, piss wet through on the trails like riding in a stream.

Shame really. Wouldn’t take much to turn the Marin into a really good trail, just need to add a few features and cut out some of the endless fireroad

Or how about just leave it as is and if you want everything laid on a plate just go to another trail centre.

The Marin trail is a very good route, lovely forest and mountain scenery, some fast and flowing sections. Yes it’s not full on Knarrr but so what – it’s still a good ride with plenty of natural stuff to link to if you know where to look.

Never understand people who slate the Marin Trail. The Marin Trail was one of the first so it’s a part of all our heritage as mountain bikers. At the time it was built, The Marin Trail (and Coed y Brenin) were the best trails out there. If you want drops and table tops then there’s plenty of other newer centres out there for you to get your thrills without the frequent complaint of ‘long fireroad climbs’.

If you want drops, berms, table tops etc then go to Llandegla, but then you’ll have to suffer sharing the trails with hundreds of other bikers on a weekend, queue for jumps, and pay handsomely for the privilege. If you want a good old school trail where you have to work for your rewards, and which feels remote, unspoilt and not full of teenagers in full face helmets then it’s the Marin trail every time.

Have a soft spot for the Marin as it was my first man-made Trail, when I took up biking – I was terrified of that curvy step section.

It’s the fire road descents that bug me rebel.

It’s the fire road descents that bug me rebel.

There’s only two significant fireroad descents I can think of, just in the valley above Betws, plus a couple of other very short sections. But I don’t understand, what’s not to like about these? There is plenty of other descent on singletrack, plus the fast (and sometimes loose) fireroad descents are a good chance to ‘open her up’ and try to achieve terminal velocity. A good mix of both I’d say.

The final descent on the Marin is one of my faves, and I enjoy Dragon’s Back too. By contrast I’ve ridden Landegla red/black twice and have no ambition to do it again.

OP: Marin is fun but if you are into gnarr, air, and scaring yourself it’s not the place.

rebel12 – Member

Or how about just leave it as is and if you want everything laid on a plate just go to another trail centre.

The Marin trail is a very good route, lovely forest and mountain scenery, some fast and flowing sections. Yes it’s not full on Knarrr but so what – it’s still a good ride with plenty of natural stuff to link to if you know where to look.

Never understand people who slate the Marin Trail. The Marin Trail was one of the first so it’s a part of all our heritage as mountain bikers. At the time it was built, The Marin Trail (and Coed y Brenin) were the best trails out there. If you want drops and table tops then there’s plenty of other newer centres out there for you to get your thrills without the frequent complaint of ‘long fireroad climbs’.

If you want drops, berms, table tops etc then go to Llandegla, but then you’ll have to suffer sharing the trails with hundreds of other bikers on a weekend, queue for jumps, and pay handsomely for the privilege. If you want a good old school trail where you have to work for your rewards, and which feels remote, unspoilt and not full of teenagers in full face helmets then it’s the Marin trail every time.

This.

I love the Marin – the final descent is ace! I always manage to scare myself on it

Final descent aside, its a pretty dull trail. I rode there a few weeks ago after a few years away and I’m in no rush to go back.
Pretty much every other trail centre in Wales is better imo.

With Penmachno only 20 minutes away I know where I’d be riding if I was down that way again.

What Rebel12 said.

The Marin is a fine trail – I don’t regard it as old school at all, it’s just how trail centres used to be. It’s also a good place to ride if you want to avoid being held up by body-armoured hero-types on every decent, because they think it’s not gnarr enough for them.

Penmachno is better still, it has a nice ‘out-there’ feel to it and some nice views, weather permitting.

scott_mcavennie2 – Member
It’s the fire road descents that bug me rebel.

The fireroad descending bugs me more.

The climb to descent ratio is about 3 to 1.
I was half expecting to have to climb down a massive tree with my bike to get back to my car.
If its busy you tend to have regular cock offs with the riders around you as you race up the fire roads.
I like it.

a good place to ride if you want to avoid being held up by body-armoured hero-types on every decent, because they think it’s not gnarr enough for them.

which is odd since the rocky singletrack sections are actually more technical and harder to ride fast than the smooth, bermed BMX style tracks at the likes of Llandegla.

I guess it’s because you need to be fitter to get the most out of the Marin trail.

Yip.

a good place to ride if you want to avoid being held up by body-armoured hero-types on every decent, because they think it’s not gnarr enough for them.
which is odd since the rocky singletrack sections are actually more technical and harder to ride fast than the smooth, bermed BMX style tracks at the likes of Llandegla.
I guess it’s because you need to be fitter to get the most out of the Marin trail.

I thought it was just me. OK, I’m not the bravest of MTBers, but the day I rode it I was glad I was on my bouncer. I found the rocky bits plenty challenging. I struggle to fit the description “boring” into my memory of the trail. OK, the climbs were dull, but all the various tetchy bits were plenty entertaining as far as I was concerned.

I like the marin, it’s just a lovely little trail. Penmachno is fun as long as you do both loops otherwise it’s a bit short and not enough climbing.

both easy and no need for gears or oingly boingly bits to ride them very fast indeedy, so any old bike will do it. Even seen it done fixed cyclocross 8O.

Rode the Marin and Penmachno for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Found penmachno hard work on a hardtail, but enjoyed it. Loved the Marin, great views, great final descent and a good few sections that worked really well for either sticking to your mates tail, or trying to lose them if they are on yours. Seemed quite natural in feeling and not overly groomed, bit like riding natural trails but withoit the faff of reading a map.

You need to be fit to ride it

It’s old school and its not a jump track but its proper mountain biking with scenery and bits just for the sake of riding around and there’s no cafe or bike shop or facilities and its great

And in the old days of hardtails it was one of the few trails that were designed to be ridden

Ive heard it described thus…Instead of technical bits linked by fireroad as most trail centres are ,the Marin trail is fireroad linked by technical bits….ridden it and tend to agree with this.Sorry.

couldn’t agree more with Rebel12.

And therein lies its beauty

You can cycle along looking at the views ( which can be amazing) and chatting with mates and then get a nice technical bit to have a laugh with and then there’s some more fireroad and banter and an old lead mine and then some more technical forest bits and then a climb and a rocky run and descent and then a lake and more fireroad and stuff and then an ace descent

It’s for laughs with mates on hardtails or XC bouncy bikes or whatever you want to ride because its NOT butlins for bikes

And one last thing before I forget – its over ten years old and still good

How many trails can you say that about ?!