Past Week
Past Week
+ 91
The Marin Trail
Mountain Biking Trail
Moderate
14.32 mi
2,394 ft
A true old-school trail centre – fireroads on the way up, nothing but singletrack on the way down.
The Marin Trail was one of the first trail centres to be built in Wales. It shows too, built in the classic old-school style that marked trail centres back in the day, with a significant amount of the climbing taking place on fireroad, leaving the singletrack for the descents. Having said that, the route starts with a singletrack climb, a really pleasant one through some nice woodland that lifts you effortlessly up on to the hillside. The remainder of the climb is on fireroad, leading to the first descent – 'Pigs Might Fly'. Flowing and fast at the top, it drops you through some lovely tight corners. Another climb follows, getting you ready for 'Blue' – another cracking section that's a little twistier and more technical than the first. From there, the trail continues in a similar vein – cruisy climbs, fun descents. There's the toothy 'Dragon's Tail' – the rockiest part of the route, the fast and flowy 'Pixies' Paradise' and the boardwalks of 'Stumpdance'. The best comes last though . After the speedy fun of 'Croeso' comes a huge fireroad climb. Dig in, it's worth it, because the final two descents are stunning. Beginning with the aptly-named 'Ride Fast, Ride Free', they run together into the fastest, most flowing and most grin-inducing descent of the ride. Well-surfaced with flowing corners, it's easy to pick up speed, at which point it becomes impossible to resist popping off the numerous rollers and rises along the trail. It a final descent to rival any trail centre in the country. Route into – 25 kilometres of full-marked and carefully designed fun. With 450 metres of climbing, it'll take from 1.5 hours if you're flat out, and 3 or 4 if you're going at a more lesiurely pace. You can start the ride in Betws-y-Coed, although the 'official' start is a short drive out of town. It's probably better to start at the latter, as that way you end on a real high with the final descent. Written by FATMAP Official
The Marin Trail was one of the first trail centres to be built in Wales. It shows too, built in the classic old-school style that marked trail centres back in the day, with a significant amount of the climbing taking place on fireroad, leaving the singletrack for the descents. Having said that, the route starts with a singletrack climb, a really pleasant one through some nice woodland that lifts you effortlessly up on to the hillside. The remainder of the climb is on fireroad, leading to the first descent – 'Pigs Might Fly'. Flowing and fast at the top, it drops you through some lovely tight corners. Another climb follows, getting you ready for 'Blue' – another cracking section that's a little twistier and more technical than the first. From there, the trail continues in a similar vein – cruisy climbs, fun descents. There's the toothy 'Dragon's Tail' – the rockiest part of the route, the fast and flowy 'Pixies' Paradise' and the boardwalks of 'Stumpdance'. The best comes last though . After the speedy fun of 'Croeso' comes a huge fireroad climb. Dig in, it's worth it, because the final two descents are stunning. Beginning with the aptly-named 'Ride Fast, Ride Free', they run together into the fastest, most flowing and most grin-inducing descent of the ride. Well-surfaced with flowing corners, it's easy to pick up speed, at which point it becomes impossible to resist popping off the numerous rollers and rises along the trail. It a final descent to rival any trail centre in the country. Route into – 25 kilometres of full-marked and carefully designed fun. With 450 metres of climbing, it'll take from 1.5 hours if you're flat out, and 3 or 4 if you're going at a more lesiurely pace. You can start the ride in Betws-y-Coed, although the 'official' start is a short drive out of town. It's probably better to start at the latter, as that way you end on a real high with the final descent. Written by FATMAP Official
Created By
Strava Routes
Route and Elevation
Segments
| Name | Distance | Elev. Diff. | Avg. Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climb 1 part 1 | 0.78 mi | 377 ft | 9.1% |
| B5106 Climb | 1.33 mi | 604 ft | 8.6% |
| Marin Trail - First Fire Road Climb | 1.18 mi | 420 ft | 6.7% |
| Allt Gwydyr | 1.01 mi | 377 ft | 7.0% |
| Fire Road Climb - Middle | 0.81 mi | 338 ft | 7.9% |
| Climb last section | 0.26 mi | 138 ft | 9.7% |
| Marin Descent From Bench | 0.20 mi | -66 ft | -1.8% |
| Pigs Might Fly Full | 0.69 mi | -262 ft | -6.5% |
| CONSOLIDATED SEGMENT - First Blast | 0.21 mi | -56 ft | -1.5% |
| Benching | 0.19 mi | 10 ft | 0.1% |
| OLD VERSION - O'r fainc | 0.21 mi | -20 ft | -0.5% |
| Pigs Might Fly | 0.42 mi | -203 ft | -8.9% |
| wheelies poo lake to still feel sick with the stench climb | 0.51 mi | 118 ft | 3.8% |
| PMF to Blue Climb | 1.59 mi | 449 ft | 5.4% |
| Blue (whole section) | 0.22 mi | -75 ft | -6.5% |
| CONSOLIDATED SEGMENT - Blue | 0.21 mi | -69 ft | -5.9% |
| siabod view windy ridge | 0.20 mi | 36 ft | 3.0% |
| Blue to Pandora | 0.46 mi | 79 ft | 2.3% |
| Mini dragons back | 0.33 mi | -131 ft | -7.4% |
| Stage 2 | 1.04 mi | -220 ft | -4.0% |
| Pandora to Cyffty | 0.44 mi | 33 ft | 0.2% |
| Cyffty Tube | 0.27 mi | -108 ft | -7.5% |
| Cyffty to Sleepy Bear | 0.62 mi | 154 ft | 3.8% |
| Marin 3rd Climb | 0.71 mi | 161 ft | 3.9% |
| Up Up | 0.42 mi | 141 ft | 6.1% |
| Sleepy Bear | 0.14 mi | 43 ft | 4.4% |
| Sleepy Bear | 0.11 mi | 39 ft | 4.1% |
| Sleepy Bear to Dragons Tail | 0.16 mi | -39 ft | -4.3% |
| CONSOLIDATED SEGMENT - BMTB2018S2 | 0.83 mi | -213 ft | -4.8% |
| CONSOLIDATED SEGMENT - 2018 Welsh Enduro Stage 2 | 0.50 mi | -197 ft | -7.5% |
| Enduro Cymraeg 2 ME | 0.83 mi | -246 ft | -5.4% |
| Dragons tail, from the summit. | 0.28 mi | -135 ft | -8.9% |
| All of Fireroad | 0.73 mi | -197 ft | -4.9% |
| Fireroad Downhill | 0.45 mi | -194 ft | -7.3% |
| short steep hill | 0.12 mi | 92 ft | 12.9% |
| Pencraig climb | 2.09 mi | 282 ft | 2.0% |
| Ball Burster | 0.06 mi | 0 ft | 0.0% |
| Pont Banog | 0.20 mi | 36 ft | 2.1% |
| Pont Banog | 0.34 mi | 121 ft | 5.6% |
| Endor | 0.56 mi | 69 ft | 1.1% |
| Endor | 0.21 mi | 36 ft | 3.2% |
| Stumpdance to Croeso | 0.80 mi | -102 ft | -0.2% |
| Lefty FTW | 0.21 mi | 75 ft | 4.1% |
| Croeso | 0.32 mi | 115 ft | 4.4% |
| Croeso | 0.41 mi | 66 ft | 0.4% |
| BMTB2018S3 | 0.24 mi | -75 ft | -6.0% |
| Croeso hwyl. | 0.20 mi | -52 ft | -5.0% |
| straight past Nipple lake | 0.24 mi | -20 ft | -1.2% |
| Llyn Parc X road Climb | 0.31 mi | 98 ft | 6.0% |
| Mur de Marin | 0.34 mi | 112 ft | 5.9% |