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Risca Bike Park and Cwmcarn Trails

Risca Bike Park and Cwmcarn Trails
Avg 4.71
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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Number of Reviews (151)

*You can claim this trail if you are the trail owner

  • Information:
  • Type: Purpose Built Centre
  • Grades: Blue,Red,Black,Ungraded
  • Riding: Cross Country,Downhill,Pump Track,Wild Trails
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash,Bike Hire,Bike Shop,Uplift
  • Distance(s): 1-5km, 5-10km, 11-20km
  • Country: Wales
  • County: Near Newport
  • Website: Cwmcarn Trails and Risca Bike Park
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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.

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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

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.

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beardedbiggs:
Avg 3.85
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

fast and fun

i rode The Twrch Trail at the end of a week long visit to wales so was pretty shattered but i still enjoyed it. i found the 1st section a bit of a slog but i putrt that down to the tiredness. when i visited there was a huge diversion which seemed to take away roughly half the trail. we were diverted from marker 4 and rejoined at marker 11 so was unable to visit the freeride park. was quite frustrating as the diversion was along a road and just kept climbing. rather dull! once rejoining the trails at marker 11 the descents were fun and fast, the trails are coated in rocks so it makes for a very shaky ride but the speed that can be carried is breathtaking! there was not anything to challenging on the areas of cwncarn we rode but i as half the trail was shut i couldnt comment on the whole loop. all in all a good ride and will come back when there are no diversions

What do you like?

fast descents nice facilities

What could be improved?

alot of rocks massive diversion (when i visited)

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

10/05/2015 - over 10 years ago

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2
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tjmoore:
Avg 4.00
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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Lots of red trail with big climbs and fun DH on offer

What do you like?

A variety of trails satisfying the xc/trail rider and also the DH riders, with the possibility of doing a bit of both in a day. Twrch - killer climb, fun generally flowing trail there on down. Good length even after the very long and tiring climb. Cafall - killer climb again (this is Cwmcarn). Trail is a little more natural feeling than Twrch, and does have more climbs after each descent, though it enables some fairly steep and fun descents. I'm no fan of climbing, but will say some of the climbs have a flow to them which works well. In that you reach a rise, it swoops down and up to the next rise a bit higher, down and up higher, and repeat. If you get the momentum right surprisingly there's a lot less pedalling. Y Mynydd DH - excellent and fairly all weather DH track that's relatively most abilities. Not beginner by any means, but you can roll it all pretty much with rollable options, but want to hit it hard you can get big air and fly off drops. Best running it with a day of uplifting but trail riders can have a go if they can get a spare spot on the uplift, or are up for climbing it. Armour recommended if you're hitting it hard. Pedalhounds DH - have yet to try it. Though it's accessible from Cafall if you want a quicker option down after all the climbing. Other points: Nice cafe / visitors centre, showers available. Uplift for the DH and you can ask to get off for the Twrch trail also. Can pay for one off uplifts if there's space (usually towards the end of the day). Friendly guys from Cwmdown. Nice woodland scenery and views (despite the view of Newport)

What could be improved?

Bike wash is an area with tap with no hose and flooded, and stinks. Cwmdown sadly is down to one bus, and they can't run up to Pedalhounds at the moment.

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

08/11/2014 - about 11 years ago

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1
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f:
Avg 3.32
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Twrch trail

What do you like?

Excellent free ride park at the top of the Twrch, shame you can't use the toll road as an uplift (Nazi guards at the start threatened to damage my car if they caught us trying). Red standard trail, all uphill followed by all downhill (which I prefer) . Good views from the top as long as you don't look towards Newport!

What could be improved?

Unfriendly rangers.

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

29/10/2014 - about 11 years ago

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0
^
:
Avg 3.76
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Wet day, enjoyed the ride

Worth a visit as part of a bigger day out.

What do you like?

Visited the trail October 2013 on our way to Brechfa, despite recent heavy rain the trails were in reasonable condition, plenty of features.

What could be improved?

Summit was strewn with rubbish. I know banana skins are biodegradable, but not in that quantity. Black run at the top is a bit Mickey Mouse, red was more of a challenge as narrower.

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

18/03/2014 - almost 12 years ago

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1
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MtbTwix:
Avg 4.76
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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Cafell Trail

Really enjoyed Cafell, so much so we went straight back up and did it again.

What do you like?

Cafell: Good to see Cwm Carn getting some new trails and a newly built trail always feels great, before lines have really established themselves and fully bedded in (and people have'nt started shortcutting!. The downhill sections are fast and varied, one minute piling between trees and the next out in the open negotiating quick switchbacks and popping off conveniently placed rocks and roots.

What could be improved?

Not many really, it is a long climb and there are some short steep climbing sections but to be honest what do you expect? What goes up must come down! The last section to the car park isn't amazing and on the second run we did the last section of the Twyrch that has always been a goodun!

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

12/03/2014 - almost 12 years ago

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0
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Matt Saunders:
Avg 4.12
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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One of the Originals

What do you like?

IT's great to see Cwmcarn finally getting some investment with the development of new trails. I hope to ride them in the near future. That said, the existing downhill track and XC will always be a firm favourite of mine. The original XC still offers a great techy climb which if tackled fast can be a challenge for even experienced riders. The last descent flows well - especially the last section which offers great, fast, fun. The downhill will always be a firm favourite. Okay, so the uplift takes a long while when compared to the newer lift assisted centres but, it is a great descent. The top section offers a real mix of riding which feels great and a lot of speed can be picked up before the fire road, ploughing through the rockier sections. Then, after the fire road, there's no doubting that this descent is home to one of the best berms in the MTB world: jump off the lip before the bridge, speed under it and go high up one of the most satisfying berms around - a great buzz.

What could be improved?

Uplift is well run but that road is long and winding. Hoping that the Cwmdown crew are given better access to the new downhill and can mix up by alternating between the two.

Would you recommend?

Yes

Date written:

06/03/2014 - almost 12 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

0
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