Cwmcarn Trails

Cwmcarn Trails is a purpose-built mountain bike centre in Cwmcarn Forest near Newport, South Wales, run by Caerphilly County Borough Council in partnership with Natural Resources Wales. The centre offers waymarked trails including a blue XC trail, two red XC loops, two downhill tracks, and a pump track.

Pwca Trail (Blue XC)

• Pwca is Cwmcarn's blue-graded trail, opened in 2021 to give newer riders a proper option at a centre that had previously been red-and-black only. Built by Architrail and designed by Phil Saxena, it shares the opening section of the Twrch trail before peeling off onto flowing, bermed singletrack with no drops or exposed roots to catch riders out. Length is quoted differently between sources (roughly 2km up to a 3.3km full loop with the climb back up), so treat it as an approximate 2-3km lap rather than an exact figure.

Twrch Trail (Red XC)

• The Twrch Trail is a classic South Wales red route through mixed broadleaf and conifer woodland and open ridge tops, with views over the Bristol Channel on clear days. Current published figures put it at around 13.3km with roughly 440m of climbing and about 1.5 hours to ride, though earlier figures for this trail have varied and are not fully settled. It combines open, flowing sections with tight, technical and rooty climbing.
• A 6km phase-one connection between Twrch and Cafall is also rideable, bringing you back on yourself from the Twrch without yet linking through to Cafall.
• Named sections along the route include Airstream 1 and Airstream 2, Giant's Finger, Mabinogion, Odin, Gate Keepers, Archie's Lift, Dragon's Teeth, Dragon's Tongue, Angel's Post, and the Finish Section.

Cafall Trail (Red XC)

• Cafall is Cwmcarn's other red-graded loop, climbing to over 600 metres altitude on currently available figures (around 15km with roughly 560m of ascent, about 1.5 hours to ride). It combines tough, remote climbing with tight hand-built singletrack and technical descents, and riders should be self-sufficient for changing hill weather.
• Named sections include the Hideout, Rocky Valley, Heartbreak Ridge, Powder House, and K Jam.

Y Mynydd DH Track

• The Y Mynydd downhill track splits into two runs, a red and a black, both dropping through the hillside with berms, switchbacks, doubles, a tunnel, rock steps, and a quarry gap. Originally designed by Phil Saxena of Architrail and built with local riders including Rowan Sorrell.
• Trails at Cwmcarn are subject to periodic closures and diversions for maintenance work. Always check Cwmcarn Forest's Facebook page or the NRW destination page for current alerts before travelling.

Pedalhounds DH Track

• Pedalhounds is a black-graded, 1.4km downhill track dropping around 200 metres through the northeastern side of Cwmcarn Forest, reached via the Cafall XC trail or by uplift (book through cwmdown.co.uk). It opens with a rooty, technical section through the trees, picks up speed through wooded terrain with drops, roots, rock and stumps throughout, and finishes with a fast, open jumps section.
• Pedalhounds recently had a full top-to-bottom refresh, with new features added across all three sections of the track. The work was carried out by On Track in collaboration with SB Rural Contracting and RW Trail Works.

Pump Track

• A small pump track beside the main car park, aimed at younger riders and beginners as a warm-up before heading out on the trails.

Getting Here

• The trailhead car park is at Cwmcarn Forest Drive Visitor Centre, signposted off the A467 at Cwmcarn, around 10 minutes' drive north of Junction 28 of the M4 near Newport.
• Cwmcarn Forest Drive has several car parks along its length, but the visitor centre car park is the one for the mountain bike trails, pump track, bike hire, bike wash and cafe.
• By train, the nearest station is Crosskeys, reached from Cardiff (platform zero); it's about a 7-8 minute ride by bike from the station to the trailhead.

Groups and Clubs

• Cwmcarn Trail Crew maintain the trails, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and Caerphilly County Borough Council.
• Cwmcarn Forest on Facebook for trail status and updates.

Also in This Valley

• The same hillside is also home to Risca Bike Park, a network of rider-built unofficial trails maintained by Risca Riders volunteers. The Risca lines drop off the far side of the ridge toward Risca village and are accessed by climbing via the Cwmcarn trail network.

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• If you have ridden the trails at Cwmcarn then post a picture, video or write a short review and share your experience.