Penmachno MTB Trail
A couple of weeks ago I met members of the Ystwyth Mountain Bike Club at Penmachno in North Wales for a ride around the trail there. It was my first visit to this trial and I loved it.
It is very different to normal ‘Trail Centre’ trails. For a start it is hidden away in a valley and not well signposted, and when you get there the trail head has nothing but a little car park. Once on the trail, it starts with a bit of a climb but then, rather than the normal climb up forest road and then single-track descent, it tends to hug the contours a little more and has simple loads and loads of singletrack. It has to be said that much of it is slightly uphill and there are very few proper descents, but if XC riding is your thing then you’ll love it.
There are actually two loops here and we did the longer 2nd loop which was about 18 miles in total. It took us ages as we had quite a few stops, but the weather was kind to us and most of us (except the hardcore downhillers) enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it. there was nothing too technical or scary, but plenty of variety, loads of rocky section, some faster flowy sections and some steeper descents towards the end. Even some raised boardwalk sections over the top and some amazing views over the snow-capped hills of North Wales. Definitely a trail I’ll be returning to.
A Google Earth file of the trail is available here: Penmachno MTB Trail – Google Earth File (Just download it and open with Google Earth). A topographic plot of the route is below.
