Marin Trail, Snowdonia

Length:   25km
Climb:    450m
Grade:    Red
Time:     2 -4 hrs
Rating:   4/5

A new year and time to get back on top of my blog...

In September I had the pleasure of completing the marin trail at Penmachno. It is one I have always wanted to do and I wasn't disappointed.

It feels very much a natural trail at heart and there are some very interesting sections, including a hike a bike part, which had my entire party confused temporarily. It also has the charm of a true classic with some wide open double track sections and plenty of km to cover.

The final descent is good and long. A thin ribbon, winding down the hillside but the middle descent is by far the best section. Rough, rock strewn; and every bit a challenge to maintain momentum through the whole section. Clearing it fast was a whole heap of fun.

As much as I enjoyed individual bits of the first half of the route, much of my time was spent stop/start constantly waiting for others in the group to catch up. As such, I was beginning to think the trail didn't flow particularly well but, feeling slightly fed up, I pushed on through the second half and felt far more comfortable with the trail.

The rise and fall isn't that much of a hardship if you're fit. The climb out of the car park is pretty long but never really that steep. It is mainly fire road and easy rolling, and is preceded by a nice little taster ribbon of singletrack countouring the hillside for about 1km. Perfect for getting those legs nice and warm before the treadmill turns skywards.

At the top, great views (although better to come) and a descent, naturally. Not long but great nonetheless. It offers a fast paced down-bit racing through the pine wooded hillside.  The trail is made up of hard packed earth with a generous dusting of loose slate gravel, a lighter dusting of needles and plenty of rocky outcrops.

The first descent is not a hugely technical challenge, nor is the final descent for that matter. Both are probably red grade but mainly due to the less manicured trail surface over any particular obstacles (jumps/drops etc do not feature highly throughout this trail). The faster you ride, however, the more technical the challenge.

The middle descent is really where it's at; I believe labelled 'Dragon's Tail' on the trail card. Rough and rock strewn but, rather than loose rock /gravel, this section traverses upturned strata buried deep in the ground, the ends exposed creating an unforgiving, jagged surface. It's roll-able, don't get me wrong, but still requires good concentration to maintain a good pace and clear well, and fast.  It's a good km or more in length and is a particular highlight.

The views that precede it though. Oh my. Beautiful... Undulating landscape more pronounced than the hills of Herefordshire, with mountains stretching towards the sky beyond; the foreground, a beautiful lake and plenty of woodland. The colours completing a full palette from the greens and blues of the lake and woodland and the bright orange of the odd dying tree.

Anyway, I digress. The trail continues, following a long fast double track for a short while, covering a km or so, followed by the hike-a-bike section where the trail scales an unrideable set of steps. It threw us for a while but the trail does continue, passing through denser woodland with more needle titter, emerging eventually alongside the lake we were overlooking at the top of the first climb much earlier.
 

Another climb follows (this trail does go up and down) that brings you back to the top of the hill ascended first, crossing the fireroad at the top of the hill before embarking on the final descent. This was great fun as the trail snakes its way down the hill, the noise of my colleagues rattling behind me spurning me on. Corners were, aside from two sharp switchbacks, open and gentle allowing speed to rise and the rocky surface offering quite good grip.

Halfway down there's a nice new section, offering the briefest of 'trail centre' style big berms and jumps were perhaps more accustomed too nowadays but the natural surface resumes to see you to the car park.

I arrived at the car par with a big grin on my face. I can't wait to come back and attack the trail from the beginning.

Dragon's Back, Coed Y Brenin

Length:   25km
Climb:    450m
Grade:    Red
Time:     2 -4 hrs
Rating:   3.5/5

Classic at heart - venturing out into the picturesque mountainous countryside - but with plenty of very good, and technical, singletrack elements.

Dragon's Back is one of the jewels of Coed Y Brenin and does share some sections of trail with MBR. Particularly the final descent. It does segregate though, and carve it's own path in to the surrounding hills and valleys.

Starting at the shared gate adjacent to the visitors centre you embark by passing through a large set of sculptural suspension forks. the trail immediately lets you know what's in store with its characteristic boulder fest; yard after yard of well placed rocks - the trail is anything but smooth.

After a good kilometer or so, following a brief rise in elevation, the route eases off to hard packed earth (with a smattering of exposed rock patches to keep you on your toes) and the trail heads downwards. Speed ramps up and one is treated to the first real, flowing descent of the day. You don't loose a massive amount of elevation but the distance covered is fair and with gravity on your side the fun factor is immediate. The descent ends with some nice bike park style surfaced berms [pic].

But, the inevitable does happen and you do have to go up. A long climb ensues.  The farthest most point of the trail, around the tail of the dragon did feel slightly tedious and, dare I say, pointless. Mainly all fire road with altitude gained and wasted in equal measure. It felt a little like a tool to help increase the distance but what follows puts all thought of wasted elevation and pointless fire road right to the back of your mind.

A couple of singletrack sections (Hermon for example) break up the monotony of the double track but it was this portion of the trail that gives Dragon's Back its classic and remote character. The tail section does have one major selling point; opening out above the tree line upon some wondrous views across Snowdonia National Park. A major bonus for the effort exerted to get there.

The loss in altitude that follows seems a shame, initially. Hurtling down fire road is never a great way to descend a hillside but it does level off and, eventually, leads to some very very good trail. 'Gomez' to 'Uncle Fester' just flow, are fast and offer a very engaging technical challenge.

Singletrack the entire way, a good 3 or 4km of downness is split only by the ascending fire roads in to 5 or 6 chunks, but the fire road does little to really slow you down. The descent also incorporates sections of the traditional rock slab trail surface common to Coed Y Brenin and with its testing gradients to boot it provides a proper roller coaster feel, particularly 'Lurch'.

After a brief interlude, the ride opens out at the bottom of the hill. You pass along the bi-directional link and then there are two options, complete the trail with a final (long) climb or head back to the trail head along the public road. We opted for the climb but with a slight tinge of panic as the day was fading and the sun was getting low.

The climb is fire road and slowly winds its way back to a pretty fair height. It is best taken at a modest pace and use the time to chat with your riding buddies. It can lull you in to thinking you've reached the top with its mini crests but the rise keeps going. Once, finally, at the top take time to have a break too as the descent that follows leads all the way back to the trail head and gets pretty full on in places with very rooty/rocky trail surface.

Coed Y Brenin has an absolute myriad of trails to explore and Dragon's Back is a great trail. I would certainly like to try some of the black trails but this red graded loop was worth the effort, just. Whether I would recommend over others, only time will tell; better to just spend a few days here and try them all.

With such great facilities there seems very little reason not to spend a few days here. The trail centre itself has everything you'd need for the day. Great cafe, workshop, toilets/showers etc. There are also plenty of places offering accommodation, so get booked up and get riding.