[Closed] Marin Train...Worth a Long Drive? How does it compare to...

I found it quite fireroady personally. Some great bits, lovely surroundings, fireroady...

Lots of fire road but quite fun , and the new bit is great with a nice tight climb.
Personaly Id not drive that far to ride it. Not ridden Cannock and only Llandegla twice and can't rember it being hard unless your going round and round

it's much easier & more boring than Cannock or Degla. you like endless fireroad up & in some cases down!? imo it's not worth that drive. If you're in the Midlands there is far better natural riding much closer, the dark peak, the long Mynd for example. If

Is the Long Mynd easy to navigate/sign posted?

I enjoyed it when I rode it. Do a lap and then nip up the road and do Penmachno (or vice versa) for a fine day out.

Penmachno was very very last last weekend

Since it's been worked on it's my favourite Wales trail. Definitely can't remember any significant fire road downs, lots of steepish fireroad up but the descents were all really good singletrack.

Was up there a couple weeks ago and much preferred it to anything at Coedy or Afan. Liked it so much was planning to make the 7hr drive there again this weekend until I broke my collar bone

C-Y-Brennin is Waaaay better, imo

I thought it was great. There is fire road but there always fire road.. Final descent is still a corker.

New bits have removed the big fire road descent. I really rate it as a trail, shits all over the 12 mile BMX track that is Llandegla.

simondbarnes - Member
I enjoyed it when I rode it. Do a lap and then nip up the road and do Penmachno (or vice versa) for a fine day out.

Penmachno was very very last last weekend

wtf lol 😀

simondbarnes - Member
I enjoyed it when I rode it. Do a lap and then nip up the road and do Penmachno (or vice versa) for a fine day out.

+1
Park in Betws, ride to Marin & do a lap, ride back to Betws for lunch, ride to penmachno do a lap, ride back to car

+1

"it's much easier & more boring than Cannock or Degla." Is that at all possible? And anyone who calls it "Degla" needs a punch square in the face. Even the original bridleways, way before they turned it into a trail centre are now virtually all overgrown.
I'm just finishing a riding holiday from home in the Peak and I've been to Snowdon, Marin and I'll be stopping off at Llandegla (barring any mechanicals - rear hub sounds a little distressed). They're in my order of fun. Got to be honest, I'll probably just get something to eat at the cafe before heading home. Not too bothered about doing a lap of any.

If I was gonna do it again I'd stay over and make a weekend of it and do other stuff, wait until the ban's over and do Snowdon?

The first climb goes past the start of the great last downhill, so you can do it at the start and end of the loop, double the fun.

kayak23 - Member

I found it quite fireroady personally. Some great bits, lovely surroundings, fireroady...

fireroad to awesome trail to fireroad to awesome trail and so on. Glad they spent the time/money focusing on cracking descents and making do with the bits in between tbh. I give it 4 skids out of 5

The Marin is well-worth a 3 hour drive. Betws is a great place to stop off at too. Do what Simon says and combine with a lap of Penmachno.
Or be really adventurous and go for a ride on Conwy Mountain.

Llandegla is enjoyable if you get there early in the week but at a weekend it's a congested place. And it's normally full of litter and scousers 🙂
'Degla' my arse.

Following this thread with interest as I'm off that way for the first time on Sunday!

I'll be driving up from Kent, anywhere good to stop off on the way for a ride of an hour or two to break up the drive?

Marin way better than Llandegla in my book, lovely scenery and feels like you're pretty out in the wilds at times, where as at Llandegla you'll probably have to fight for a car park space, queue for a bacon butty, and then have one of the over-biked full face brigade nipping at your heels the whole way round. Nothing wrong with fireroad climbs, gets them over and done with quickly and efficiently.

I'll be driving up from Kent, anywhere good to stop off on the way for a ride of an hour or two to break up the drive?

Cannock! - junc 11 of the M6.
Allow an hour for the Dog or 2 and a bit for the full monkey, if you're good.

& what's wrong with calling it Degla? who cares..... DEGLA DEGLA DEGLA 😛

There seems a lot of love for the Marin trail here, I was a bit "meh" when I went last year. Perhaps I'm just less [s]in love with[/s] capable at more natural cross country riding. On the plus side, there's no single 3 mile slog up a firetrack as at Llandegla, on the downside very few of the technical sections really felt that long.

Having said that, it was being ridden after a long day out doing something else, so perhaps my view is tainted. I do remember the last section raising more of a smile than the rest of the route together.

The Marin has a lovely 'natural' feel to it, possibly cos it's so old. It's particularly non-trail centre-ish when wet...
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I went a few weeks ago, first time in a couple of years, and it's better than it was due to the new section. If you want a bit more there's a nice natural riding extension we did to make it a proper day out without having to shuttle over to Penmachno.
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/682922695 ]Marin and more route. [/url]

If you have the problem of

over-biked full face brigade nipping at your heels the whole way round

I think it's ok, I have driven from the midlands to ride it, Penmancho 1st then Marin in the afternoon. Prefer it to llandogla to be honest and possibly Cannock as well but that's mainly down to the surroundings.

Incidentally, has anyone ever managed to clear that steppy, footpath section on the Marin without a dab? I bet some local ninja has at some point.

We travelled from Yorkshire for the weekend last year. Starts well, all becomes a bit repetitive in the middle then you hit the final long descent which is properly ace if you go full attack mode.

Sounds like they've made the middle bit more interesting so worth a trip IMO.

has anyone ever managed to clear that steppy, footpath section on the Marin

I've never bothered trying! Just adds to the faux-natural riding experience really.

A six hour round trip, passing through/by Shropshire and North/Mid Wales, to ride a route at a trail centre.

Man, this sport has passed me by...

*shakes head*

The new bit is very good, really sharp, steep switchback climbs interspersed with fast, swoopy bikepark bits. Definitely possible to tear off a tyre on some of the turns.

so nobody should ride somewhere further away than the nearest 'nice' riding spot every now and then?

Cannock! - junc 11 of the M6.
Allow an hour for the Dog or 2 and a bit for the full monkey, if you're good.

Will definitely check out Marin Trail & "degla" (during the week!)

so nobody should ride somewhere further away than the nearest 'nice' riding spot every now and then?

No, no, absolutely, peeps should try riding in new places, definitely. I just don't understand why anyone would choose a new trail centre over new 'natural' stuff.

For me the sport is (well, was) all about exploration of the outdoors. Now it seems to be more about the gnaar. It's an observation, not a criticism.

For me the sport is (well, was) all about exploration of the outdoors. Now it seems to be more about the gnaar. It's an observation, not a criticism.

BTW, it's not 'Degla its actually 'Degs', Bro!

I hadn't been for the last 10 year until 3 weeks ago, now I've done it 3x in the last month, love the new sections, and the old rocky bits are good if ridden v fast, always worth pushing up the last decent to do it again. Really enjoy the place and will defo be back in a few weeks.

No, no, absolutely, peeps should try riding in new places, definitely. I just don't understand why anyone would choose a new trail centre over new 'natural' stuff.

Rode most of it a couple of weekends ago, as part of a bigger loop.

Really impressed. Will return, but def not gonna drive 2 or 3 hours each way just to do so!

if I'm driving for hours (which is rare) I've got limited time so I'd rather have a guaranteed good ride on a way-marked trail (or following a GPX) than explore & risk missing all the good bits

So this is where it gets a bit circular; why drive for hours, why not try somewhere new closer to home, so you have more time to explore?

I'll be honest, this all basically stems from my dislike of trail centres generally, they just seem soulless (as appallingly ****y as I admit that sounds). I can see why people do like them, I just don't.

So this is where it gets a bit circular; why drive for hours, why not try somewhere new closer to home, so you have more time to explore?

show me where the mountains are in Kent & I'll explore the **** out of them

I'd love to help but I've never been, it's too far away 🙂

😀

Marin was one of my first trail centre rides and probably the one I enjoyed most, as some have mentioned it feels quite in the middle of no where at times.

I've ridden lots of places since then but I still remember the feeling of heading back into the car park with a real sense of achievement.

Zilog i am in kent and we have a stack of great riding... if you are struggling to find it shout.

And whatever you do pease don't stop at Swinley!! Get up to Wales and ride Penmachno and Marin.

Its a mostly fun ride once you get past the firetrack climbs with all the enticing single track going off it and assuming your fitness is ok. Something mine is so so at on proper hills given they are rare round here.
Doubt I would do 3 hours each way for it though. Would look to overnight and play somewhere else as well.

agent007 - Member
...at Llandegla ....and then have one of the over-biked full face brigade nipping at your heels the whole way round.

??? Surely you would be nipping at their heels, at least on the ascents?

In my own experience, I've seen a lot of said people in the car park at [b]DEGLA[/b] 😉 and a few of them pushing/gasping/waiting on the big climb, but I'm not sure where they are on the descents. They certainly don't catch/overtake me, even if I am on the XC 29er.

I enjoyed it when I rode it as part of a weekend in Wales. Penmachno Saturday morning then Marin in the afternoon followed by The Beast at CyB on Sunday before heading home for a roast in the evening. I live in Northampton so it's a minimum 3 hour drive but worth it for 2 days of riding.

I went to the Marin Trail a couple of weeks ago, for the first time in about 10 years, at the end of a weekend riding at CYB and clambering on the Snowdon Massif.

The Marin Trail was ok. The new bit was excellent, but much of the rest was fire road and/or quite forgettable. Some of the southern part was quite pleasant.

-As one of my friends pointed out, it illustrated just how far things have improved at other trail centres.

Interestingly, as somebody who often has a good recollection of these things, I had hardly any memory of the Marin Trail at all, other than the (good) Dragon's tail(?) and the (fairly good) final descent, from the previous 2-3 times I'd been there.

I wouldn't make a special effort to drive to the Marin Trail, but would to Penmachno and CYB.

always worth pushing up the last decent to do it again

Incidentally, has anyone ever managed to clear that steppy, footpath section

My understanding was that it was designed to make you walk it, as it goes through/near? to a SSSI. I'm sure there were signs at one point.

Marin is a great trail, one of my favourite in North Wales. Yes there are fireroads, but the descent are well worth it, and the new bit is loads of fun.

funny that whenever the Marin comes up for discussion on this forum it's always marmite.

aye, true dat, almost as bad as Penmachno

I love the Marin tbh. I get the criticism too though. It's not so much about quality often as value- the descents are awesome but you do have to work for them, it genuinely does feel like it has more climbing than equivalent centres elsewhere... But that doesn't mean the ride isn't good, it just means it's more expensive in terms of effort. Therefore, value, return on investment.

I remembered expanded the Marin trail by adding a descent by one of the lake on the west side of the trail. "Natural" and man made trail on the same day, best of both worlds.