[Closed] Glyncorrwg (Afan) - Old Skyline Loop - much left?

I never rode it before it got windfarmed but I did end up getting misdirected onto a chunk of the old loop that had survived, and it was more or less a big flat circle. Charming enough in a meandering through the countryside way

I also never rode the full trail before the closures but have recently joined bits from the Rhondda valley to glyncorrwg and it’s open and running well, also noticed new looking signage so I’m hoping it will reopen.

there are bits left on the top that are still maintained, they can be reached as an extension to the blade trail. How much is left of the whole loop I don't know but I can only Imagine a fair chunk as alot of the distance was made up with fire road.

see if you can find an old map or gpx and follow the original route, would be good to know as it was an all time classic trail.

Good to hear the old bits are still there!

Yes, I've got a GPX form an old ride and an old trail map so I can go exploring.  It was also 50% fireroad so that will be rideable, it's all on Google Earth complete with the new turbines and fewer trees.  Will take a wander round it next week if the weather isn't foul and report back.

I think Grand Canyon is still there - at least it was when I rode it last year (?).

Excaliber and Southpit are still rideable, although very overgrown in places, Handy Andy was trashed when they cut the trees down, unfortunately, not sure about Grand Canyon though.

rode it 12months ago, well the signposted bits. some is fenced off and the very far reaches are no longer on the route. I guess locals might maintain some of It but?

The last time I rode it previously was about 10years ago and it is fair to say the character is very different!

Handy Andy being trashed rings a bell actually, think it may have gone a year or so before they closed the whole loop.  There was one section that got abandoned before the rest but I thought that was Rhondda as it was short and easily bypassed on the parallel fireroad.  Think it was the same time Granada got cleared and the rusting hulk that gave it it's name was removed.

Bits of it are still there:

Rode it today.  Did Blade up until the new short Skyline split off from it and then followed that.  You can't ride Heartburn the original way as Blade uses it in the 'wrong' direction now.  Short n' Sweet, Riding High and On The Edge are still active although their gates are missing so motorbikes have been along them in places so they're not as they were.  Then you're meant to come back along the bridleway to rejoin Blade but I didn't, I cut around the diversion fence that went in nearly a decade ago according to the date on the scrappy bit of laminated notice stapled to it!

A real mixed bag on what's survived and what hasn't.  The original trail that turns right after the end of On The Edge is fine bar a few trees that have got a bit unruly.  The trail surface is still there and it's 100% rideable.  The best surprise was Excalibor/Excalibur (one spelling on the map, another on the gate!), As you ride up to it it looks like it always did!  The yellow Skyline arrow on the post is there in perfect condition, the gate is there to stop the motorbikes and that too is in great condition, even still has the original trail name sign with the EDF logo with an Afan Forest Park sticker on it.  That must be well over 10 years old by now.  The whole section ran really well, just with a carpet of needles over it.  Amazingly as it's completely in the trees there was only one tree down across the trail, looked like the local riders had cleaned it of branches too as it was easy to get over.  It could genuinely be reopened tomorrow without any real work, just needs a section cut out of the tree and a drain under a stream bridge digging out.  Sadly South Pit that runs straight after it is in desperate need of clearing as, while no trees have grown though the trail, the trees have grown right at the edge so all their branches meet across it.  I now know how my car feels going through the roller car wash!

Handy Andy was as I remember it last time I rode it, trashed.  The gate is still there but any sign of the original trail was destroyed in the felling 10 years ago, surprisingly the only thing to regrow on the whole area are brambles.  No new pine trees.  A few native trees are starting to show in places though.  Grand Canyon follows straight on from where Handy Andy ended and initially I thought it had survived as the first bit was untouched, still had it's gate with the original trail name and the surface was there too without any growth over it.  Unfortunately there's now a fire road (which has been abandoned!) gone in to get the bits to one of the turbines so it has had the final 3rd cut off, you can see the trail continue on but it's covered in new trees and brambles so you can just divert down the fire road down to the lower old fire road and continue that way.  The final old section is Fast Forward but that has just been left to grow over too, possibly it could be rescued but it's impossible to see where it went and I think one of the bridges over a stream has gone.  Like Excalibor, the gate is in great condition and even has it's original sign!  A bit strange it's been abandoned as the signs for the original July shortcut are still present, one has even recently been moved as it's above the new fire road and nicely visible.  The signs for the diversion are still on Granada too which is still in use on the short Skyline (but it has been trashed by motorbikes), strange how they didn't remove them.  If they had kept maintaining Fast Forward it could have easily been added on to the return leg of the shortened Skyline before putting you onto Joyrider which is now part of Blade.  The Skyine Diversion misses out this section, joining a bit further on so they could have kept a bit of singletrack easily with a bit of thought.  But then I remember how shoddy the original build was on Blade with Vattenfall doing the bare minimum to keep their promise of a new trail in lieu of Skyline being lost.

I missed the Rhondda section as the GPS of the old loop I had didn't have it and by the time I realised I was short on time so didn't cut back to revisit that one, next time I will.  It is active on Strava and is a climb so no harm done.  I only got back to Glyncorrwg at sunset as it was!

It was a great little adventure exploring the old trail, remembering what was round the next corner and where stuff had happened on previous rides.   It genuinely wouldn't take a massive effort to get 90% of the trail back open again and there is plenty of scope for new sections to replace what has been lost or to cut out the fire road drags it's remembered for.  Sadly I don't think there's much call for long XC trails anymore and anyone who likes a longer day at Afan/Glyncorrwg just does W2, I do it a lot!  Maybe I'll ask the ranger about it sometime but there must be a reason it was so readily abandoned in the first place.  It was never the most popular trail, lacking the draw that Y Wal, White's and Penhydd had but it was different to the others.  For that I miss not having it as an option.

Pictures are here, still can't get them to show up on the new forum!:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmwgcBa1

Nice one Milky. Have we met?

Not that I know of but if you've ridden anywhere in South Wales semi-regularly in the last decade I'd be amazed if our paths haven't crossed at some point seeing as I'm out 2-3 times a week in all weathers.

@milky1980, Is there enough to to make it worth the effort? I enjoyed the old trail and would be nice to ride it, it there is enough left. A little bit of bramble bashing is ok, but hour after hour less so.  I have found some old rides on Strava so i have a route to follow which is a start.

You'd basically be doing the loop to ride Rhondda and Excalibor as the rest is fire road really, apart from the beginning of Grand Canyon it's pretty much walking or no-go.  If you've ridden the big loop at Nant Yr Arian it would be a similar experience to that, lots of fire road after you leave the trail centre trails but you'd get Excalibur half way round.  The only bit of bramble-bashing would be towards the end of South Pit but I'd personally just cut down to use the fire road to the left of it instead at that point.  The other sections that are no longer part of the new shortened loop are unusable.   I wouldn't recommend doing it in lieu of other trails, I did it purely as an exploration and a trip down memory lane.  From looking at Stava Excalibor has only been ridden 28 times this year and most by locals looping up to it from Blaencwm way, not from Glyncorrwg itself, makes sense using it as part of a local loop.

That’s a great summary of what’s left @milky1980. Did the shorter ‘new’ Skyline a few weeks ago but was not impressed with a very rocky return that is used mainly by motorbikes.

Gosh, felt a bit teary looking at the pictures.  Some great days out followed by chilled evenings at the Drop-Off.  For me, nowhere has quite recaptured that vibe.