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Our
holiday cottage accommodation is a perfect base for mountain bikers
wishing to visit Afan Forest Park. "Little Switzerland,"
or the Afan Valley, with its slopes over a thousand feet high, is
perfect country for walking, orienteering and cycling. There are
marked footpaths, nature trails and some of Britain's best mountain
biking with several paths with easy gradients and good surfaces
for families.
The trails are carved into hills once scarred by mining. The valley
is now home to four world class mountain bike trail, the ‘Penhydd’,
‘The Wall’, ‘Skyline’ and ‘White’s
Level’, and has over 100km of tracks in total, the only British
trail destination listed in What Mountain Bike Magazine’s
top ten places to ride “before you die.”
Grading of Routes
Easy: Suitable for all bikes with wide, broad tyres
and almost all roads with a gravel surface.
Medium: Mountain bikes only, with steep climbs
and sections of technical riding.
Difficult: Demanding routes including long and/or
steep climbs and long sections of technical riding, mostly less
than 18 inches wide.
The Penhydd Trail
Distance: 22Km
Climb: 550m
Time: 1-3 hours
This is a varied trail with great views. A mix of forest and road
climbs and tight, technical, switchback trails through mixed woodland.
There are big climbs followed by technical descents. Unsuitable
for novices. In places the trail may be exposed to bad weather on
high ground.
The Wall Trail
Distance 23Km
Climb: 450m
Time: 1.5 - 3 hours
This trail traverses the north side of the valley on singletrack,
which varies from fast, open and flowing to tight, technical and
rooty. Much of the track crosses steep side slopes and in places
feels quite exposed. The route also shares a section of the family
cycle trail along the valley bottom.
Skyline
Distance: 46km
Climb: 2000m
Time: 5 - 7 hours
This new route starts at Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre with the
same climb as White’s Level – rocky and technical. It
continues on long, forest road climbs with flowing technical singletrack
descents with views of Brecon Beacons, the Preselis. The Black Mountains
and the South Wales coast. This route will test your stamina and
your nerve, with technical singletrack, such as ‘On the Edge’
and ‘Excalibur’ sections. Your reward is the views and
a nerve-tingling, rocky, 6km singletrack descent back into Glyncorrwg.
There are also two shortcut loops built into the trail. The furthest
section ‘Excalibur’ should only be attempted with sufficient
daylight hours to complete the route.
Come well prepared with plenty of water, food, spares (inner tubes
etc) and due to the nature of the trail, some spare clothing. Skyline
route is subject to extreme weather changes and temperature differences
between the valley bottom (195m) and mountain top (600m). The weather
can be wild and can close in fast.
White's Level
Distance: 24km
Climb: 400m
Time: 1.5 - 3 hours
Beginning at Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre, this is a technical
progressive riding trail with drops, step downs and long singletrack
climbs. A 6km sheep track climb gives fantastic views of Afan Forest
Park, and there are long, demanding descents with rocky steps.
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