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+ 36

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
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
Climb 1 part 10.78 mi377 ft9.1%
B5106 Climb1.33 mi604 ft8.6%
Marin Trail - First Fire Road Climb1.18 mi420 ft6.7%
Allt Gwydyr1.01 mi377 ft7.0%
Fire Road Climb - Middle0.81 mi338 ft7.9%
Climb last section0.26 mi138 ft9.7%
Marin Descent From Bench0.20 mi-66 ft-1.8%
Pigs Might Fly Full0.69 mi-262 ft-6.5%
Benching0.19 mi10 ft0.1%
OLD VERSION - O'r fainc0.21 mi-20 ft-0.5%
Pigs Might Fly0.42 mi-203 ft-8.9%
wheelies poo lake to still feel sick with the stench climb0.51 mi118 ft3.8%
PMF to Blue Climb1.59 mi449 ft5.4%
Blue (whole section)0.22 mi-75 ft-6.5%
siabod view windy ridge0.20 mi36 ft3.0%
Blue to Pandora0.46 mi79 ft2.3%
Mini dragons back0.33 mi-131 ft-7.4%
Stage 21.04 mi-220 ft-4.0%
Pandora to Cyffty0.44 mi33 ft0.2%
Cyffty Tube0.27 mi-108 ft-7.5%
Cyffty to Sleepy Bear0.62 mi154 ft3.8%
Marin 3rd Climb0.71 mi161 ft3.9%
Up Up0.42 mi141 ft6.1%
Sleepy Bear0.14 mi43 ft4.4%
Sleepy Bear0.11 mi39 ft4.1%
Sleepy Bear to Dragons Tail0.16 mi-39 ft-4.3%
Enduro Cymraeg 2 ME0.83 mi-246 ft-5.4%
Dragons tail, from the summit.0.28 mi-135 ft-8.9%
Pixies to Pont Banog1.02 mi-207 ft-2.2%
All of Fireroad0.73 mi-197 ft-4.9%
Fireroad Downhill0.45 mi-194 ft-7.3%
short steep hill0.12 mi92 ft12.9%
Pencraig climb2.09 mi282 ft2.0%
Ball Burster0.06 mi0 ft0.0%
Pont Banog0.20 mi36 ft2.1%
Pont Banog0.34 mi121 ft5.6%
Endor0.56 mi69 ft1.1%
Endor0.21 mi36 ft3.2%
stumpy0.36 mi72 ft2.8%
Pen-yr-allt-ganol0.08 mi-30 ft-5.3%
Stumpdance to Croeso0.80 mi-102 ft-0.2%
Lefty FTW0.21 mi75 ft4.1%
Croeso0.32 mi115 ft4.4%
Croeso0.41 mi66 ft0.4%
BMTB2018S30.24 mi-75 ft-6.0%
Croeso hwyl.0.20 mi-52 ft-5.0%
straight past Nipple lake0.24 mi-20 ft-1.2%
Croeso to Pen Y Parc0.99 mi171 ft2.4%
Llyn Parc X road Climb0.31 mi98 ft6.0%
Mur de Marin0.34 mi112 ft5.9%