Risca Bike Park and Cwmcarn Trails

Description

Cwmcarn mountain bike centre is in Newport, South Wales. There are five main trails, the Blue Pwca, the Twrch Red XC, the Cafall Red XC the Y Mynydd Downhill Track, and another Downhill track called Pedalhounds. Cwmcarn also has a pump track and a myriad of off-piste/enduro-style tracks in the Risca area referred to as Risca Bike Park. Risca Bike Park is unsanctioned and non way-marked.

Pwca Trail (XC)

• The blue grade Pwca Trail is 2.3km long. Great for novices and for a warm-up lap.

The Twrch Trail (XC) 

• The Twrch Trail is 18km long with 300m of climbing and takes about 1-2 hours to ride. It has one of the most technical and scenic climbs which rewards with a flowing, smooth and fast single track down. The ups are rooty and have numerous obstacles. 
• The first phase of a two phase project to connect Cafall and Twrch is also available to ride. This is 6km of red track which brings you back on yourself from the Twrch i.e. currently doesn't yet connect to Cafall.

Cafall XC

• The Cafall Red trail is 12.48km long. Climbing up to altitudes over 400 metres the new XC trail is called 'Cafall' after King Arthurs lead hunting hound that chased the wild boar 'Twrch'.
• It has tough climbs and tight hand-built singletrack sections combined with technical descents.

The Y Mynydd DH Track

• The Y Mynydd DH Track is built for those getting into downhill as well as advanced riders. It achieves this by having a course that splits into two sections (a red and a black). The black has a length of 1750 metres and a drop of 250 metres and the red has a length of 1900 metres and a drop of 250 metres.
• Both feature jumps, drops, kickers, berms, roots and rock slab drops. The course was built by Phil Saxena from Architrail.

Pedalhounds DH Track 

• A second downhill track (1.4km) is on the northeastern slopes of Cwmcarn Forest Drive through the Ebbw Forest. This downhill track follows the line of the old club-built trail down a steep side valley in the forest.
• Access is via the Cafall XC trail. This trail starts off with a handmade rooty section through the trees and soon picks up speed as it flows in and out of the wooded sections.
• There are plenty of drops and technical lines with lots of roots, rock and stumps. The trail finishes off with a steep and fast jumps section before arriving back. It's an extreme graded Downhill track.

Pump Track

• Small pump track targeted at kids. 

Risca Bike Park - Off Piste / Wild Trails

• Lots of wild trails in the area around Risca (such as Busy Lizzie, Wacko-Jacko, Mayhem). These drop down from top of Cwmcarn trails, unsanctioned and non way-marked. Local group Risca Riders.

Clubs and Groups

• CwmCarn Trail Crew make it all happen.
• Aberdare MTB Group has 180+ members with a regular 30+ on each ride and often ride Afan and CwmCarn.

Other Stuff

• PS cycles are the onsite bike shop/ hire. 
• Uplift bookings were available from CWMDOWN but shut in January 2023.

Share

• If you have ridden any of these mountain bike trails at Cwmcarn then why not post a picture, video, or even write a short review and share your experiences.