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Is it possible to follow the Sirhowy Valley country park path to its northern end, then follow the river all the way through Blackwood then re-join the rail trail on the north side of town? Looks like it is from Strava, but what's the riverside trail like? A nice short-cut or a pain?
Yes it is possible. You can work your way along side of the river. You have to pick your route between the Halfway pub along the streets Gelligroes Road to down along the left hand side of the Ford garage. Been a while since I've done it so cant remember the exact route. I think you go past a footie pitch and garden centre. There is a point here you have to wheel your bike past some ones house next to the river. If you ride they tend to create. I've never followed the track past Blackwood. Have always gone up the hill to Oakdale past Pen-y-fan pond to Manmoel then along the ridge over to Mountain Air and Tredegar. From there you can carry on up to Trefil quarry. Good gravel ride in the summer.
Yes, it's the mountain track past Manmoel that I'm looking to access. Riding up from Cardiff I'd go towards Caerphilly then Bedwas and up onto the Ridgeway above Sirhowy Valley park. Then I thought the river would be the easiest way through, picking up the old railway that looks like NCN 467 on the map. Then I'd cross the Valley and come back on the eastern side over Carn y Cefn. That half I've done - always takes so much longer than expected I've never done the whole loop!
That's a good ride from Cardiff, good day out! Haven't been on NCN 467. I've always got to just past the new(ish) bridge at the top of Blackwood and joined onto the B4251. Nice gentle climb. Looks like NCN 467 stops in Hollybush but would be good if they extended it.
The other option would be to go over towards Brynmawr and Big Pit and drop down the NCN 492 to Pontypool then canal to Cwmbran and Newport. That's a good route. May be too far over for getting back to Cardiff though. Lots of good Sustrans routes in this area.
I'm looking to link up the trails on the mountain ridges, like the one on Merthyr Common. That makes a great route to ride out to the kiddie bike trails at Garwnant to meet the family 🙂
The other option would be to go over towards Brynmawr and Big Pit and drop down the NCN 492 to Pontypool then canal to Cwmbran and Newport.
If I were to go that way I'd go over Coety Mountain and then down to Crumlin then back up onto the mountain above Cwmcarn, coming down into Risca, which I hadn't thought of before but looks good. Don't fancy 15 miles of towpath 🙂 Only problem with ending up in Risca though is I have two big bastard hills to get over to get home.