[Closed] Craig Yr Allt, Cardiff Alps

I've been thinking the same and keep meaning to have a nose round there. Looking at OS there dosen't seem to be much there as far as trails except a few footpaths. Could be some cheeky trails there though similar to Castell Coch.

It's a fun descent; unfortuantely access to it is through the Rockwood riding school and the owner, it is fair to say, has some "issues" with cyclists crssing his land, which apparently stem from horses being spooked in the past. He has even chased people off there waving a copy of the deeds at the them, so probably not worth the hassle really! Probably better off doing some of the Tyn Y Coed trails or a couple of runs down the Garth, or little Garth if you want to extend your loops in that area.

The owner was hit by a massive law suit a few years back after a rider was thrown from their horse that had been spooked by somebody on a mountain bike(who didn't have the decency to stop either), can't say I blame him really.

OK thanks guys. Its the only hill in the area I havn't done or built into a nice loop hence the want (need) to do it.
Maybe under cover of darkness?

Are the trails at castell coch easy to find? I'm down there next week to work at the GE plant for a week or so, and wouldn't mind taking the bike with me. Anyone up for a ride ( would prob be a nightride)

Greg.

Sort of easy to find but every time I go there I find some new trails

Depends when Greg, I might be in London Tues-Thu but do drop me a line and if Im here I'll take you round Castell Coch

I'm going down on Wednesday, probably til the following Wednesday. I'll email when I'm about. Wouldn't mind taking in a club nightride as well.

There are apparently some nice DH style trails on the Taff Trail side of the Craig Yr Alt but it requires a push up as there isn't really a nice climb. I explored it a while back and concluded it wasn't worth the effort 🙂

Have you descend the Garth from the Taffs Well side? Quite a challenge first time for a noob like me.

I used to be stuck riding the same areas you mention but there is so much more out there.

I would suggest meeting up with a Saturday morning beginners ride with Castle Bikes of Caerphilly. They are super friendly and opened my eyes to exactly what is in the area. Give it a go!

Hi Dan, I'll check out the push up from the Taff trail.
To be honest I know some amazing loops in the area right out to Rudry / Machen etc but its really about ticking off Craig Yr Allt for me.

Personally, the push up isn't worth it for the ride - the ride out to Machen, Sirhowy and Rudry are much better; the TW side is usally quite overgrown, and over with quite soon - especially if you're not going past the house.

I'd echo comments about the farmer, he's a total tool - he had a massive go at me and the missus when we were walking through his waymarked field - told us our dogs would be shot if they spooked his sheep - even though he had no sheep in the field, he also has a Rottweiler that stalks you menacingly.

Best avoided to be honest.

Heeded rickon, I hate dogs so will definately swerve,
Thanks for the heads up

Mmm, are all these routes easily accessible from Cardiff itself? Albeit having the ride start along the taff trail.

Really need to expand my rides to the local area rather than just trail centres. 🙂

There are plenty of trails in the woods surrounding Castell Coch. I've been riding there a while and recently discovered some new stuff that i hadn't ridden before.

I haven't done Craig Yr Allt, but the descent off the Garth which takes you out by the Gwaelod Y Garth pub is very good. Quite steep though

The chap who owns craig yr alt is a good bloke and was cool about mtb's untill the above mentioned issue. Doesn't sound like him with that dog sheep think, maybe he was joking his sense of humor is very dry.
When my daughter went to his riding school, he had a couple of piglets and sold the kids bags of food to feed them. When they asked what their names were he'd say " that one is called christmas the other one is easter, second name dinner "

Doesn't sound like him with that dog sheep think, maybe he was joking his sense of humor is very dry.

Well, it was the chap from the house next to the riding school. Wouldn't have a civilised chat about it, just berated my missus.

We tried to explain calmly that we understood his point, and it's totally fair - but our dogs were no where near any sheep, there were no sheep in the field, and the dogs were under control.

At the time of his berating I was stood next to the dog, by a gate, and he pointed at the dog telling me it was out of control.

I think it's a case of having some idiot with a dog off lead, chasing sheep that he saw and now tars all dog walkers with the same brush.

Luckily, I live in the middle of nowhere is Scotland now 🙂

Regarding trails - yep, they're all easily accessible - drop me an email and I'll draw you a map for trail access, it's all easy to navigate.

Head over to the Sirhowy Valley too if you are already riding a lot around Rudry and Machen.

el_tell, from Cardiff you can get a train to Taffs Well, Caerphilly or Crosskeys for the start of some fantastic rides. As above, I'd really recommend going out with the guys from [url= http://www.castlebikes.co.uk ]Castle Bikes[/url] Caerphilly on a Saturday morning

sorry to hijack this,

I live in cardiff but only ride the trail centres as dont have the local knowledge having moved down from midwales 6 years ago. (was a bit spoilt for natural stuff up there and miss it)

would be really interested if anyone could let me know of some good MTB routes around rudry/machen area. I ride my road bike that way a lot and always wonder where the MTB trails are/start from/link to? Cheers.

http://www.halfwayupmtb.co.uk/ local club 😉 they even let English people join (like me) 😉

Well I'm originally from Devon so I guess an honorary Welshman... of sorts 😀

Will check out halfway up and also Castle Bikes. Would be good to meet up with some like minded folk with some local knowledge too.

From my house to the Lewis Arms is only about 25 mins ride. Not sure I'd fancy riding the Taff trail at night on my own mind you 😯

Still a regular Wednesday night ride leaving from the Lewis Arms at 7.30 pm if anybody wants to see some (probably) new stuff to them.

I ride 3-4 times a week mix of day and evening in the above mentioned areas, I often ride out from East Cardiff too; if not there's always room for a couple more bikes on the trailer.

Here's a video of the descent.

We used to ride Craig y Allt .. but it had another name that we called it and my mind has gone blank! used to have to go down road past The black Cock pub, then sharp left up the killer mofo steep hill as if driving to Rockwood riding centre then take a right off and up over the hill. The descent was awesome fast swoopy rocky switchbacks, LOVED that descent. They have always been bu**ers about cyclists riding over there we got chased by man with shot gun in about 94!

As previously said - its not the best descent. And very often very over-grown.
Taxi25 and myself have been stopped by the land owner on a couple of occasions. He was always polite and just explained the liability issues ... nice enough fella though.
And as for Rudry/Machen trails .... Dont waste your time. Stick to Castel Coch & Garth area .. Much better.

Juat remembered what we called it Nant Garw. There are some awesome trails at Rhydry and Machen!!

Anyone got a gpx route or similar of a Machen route?

Nope just used to head up cowpat hill across the top and either down into Cwmcarn or over to the mast and down the crazy descent into some woods or other. I can ride it but can't explain it!

Riding land of Manon Carpenter.

Mmmm, "Cowpat Hill"....??

I had a pootle around Sirwhowy once, but never found that much. Local's knowledge I guess.

Cowpat Hill's the trail that goes from Bedwas up to the slag-heaps behind Sirhowy, name derived from obvious reasons if you've ever ridden it.

If you are so minded why not explore on foot first, with or without the bike. We occasionally link stuff together via foot paths and it if it's sensitive we just push.

Ive tried Craig-y-allt once and marked it as 'not-worth-the-effort' as well. Been warned about the farmer so decided to stay away.

Would defn echo LoCo's post about> http://www.halfwayupmtb.co.uk/ , great bunch of lads with some awesome trail knowledge. Worth signing up and joining them on one of their many rides.

Couple of routes ive done from Cardiff (well i usually cheat and take the van to Tongwynlais) :

http://app.strava.com/activities/22307611

This one is a very long ride to Cwmcarn and back. Highlights include the rolling hill down from Twmbarlwm, last part of the Cwmcarn XC route and the awesome Migley Moos dh. The rest of the route is 95% XC including the nice Ridgeway run.

If your after something slighty shorter just cut the route down :

http://www.strava.com/runs/23491405
http://app.strava.com/activities/26307405
(Includes the Wenalt as an alternative)

Im hoping to post some rides from Cardiff on the Halfwayup site and everyone is welcome to join, just keep an on eye on forums.

Steve