Coed-y-Brenin
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Coed-y-Brenin (Welsh for King's Wood) is a forest in the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales near Dolgellau. It is well-known as a mountain bike resort, and has several man-made singletrack courses in a woodland setting, varying in length from 12 to 38 km (7 to 23 mi), and one dual slalom course.
The site is owned and operated by Forest Enterprise Wales, part of the Forestry Commission, and covers an area of some 9,000 acres (36 km²) around the valleys of the rivers Mawddach, Eden, Gain and Wen.
The site was identified as a potential mountain bike race course in 1990, and the first races were held there in 1991. The initial course had to be chopped out of an unpassable rock-strewn terrain.
Shortly afterwards an MTB hire centre, together with a visitor centre and café were opened at Maesgwm. Five waymarked trails were developed by Dafydd Davis who was employed by Forest Enterprise as a Forest Sports Development Adviser, grew Coed-y-Brenin into a major UK mountain biking center. Davis received an MBE in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours list for 'services to forestry' relating to his work on this resort.
A new £1.6 million visitor centre is under construction at the site, and is due to open in Spring 2006. There are also a number of waymarked walking trails around the forest.
[edit] Mountain Bike Trails
| Trail Name | Grade | Waymarking | Length | Time needed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afon | novice (green) | river | 8 mi | 13 km | 1.3 hours |
| Temptiwr | difficult (red) | apple | 5 mi | 9 km | 1 hours |
| MBR | difficult (red) | mbr logo | 11 mi | 18 km | 2 hours |
| Tarw | difficult (red) | Bull | 12 mi | 20 km | 2 hours |
| Dragon's Back | severe (black) | Dragon's back | 19 mi | 31 km | 4 hours |
| The Beast | severe (black) | Beast | 24 mi | 38 km | 4.5 hours |
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The mountain bike Mecca of Coed-y-Brenin forest is home to an ever increasing network of fantastic handbuilt all weather singltrack and even a dual slalom course. The technical roller coaster riding will have you grinning like a fool, with stunning mountain views of surrounding Snowdonia and the coast that'll take your breath away.
From the 'Temtiwr' & 'Yr Afon' trails, the famous Tarw and 'MBR' trails through to the strenuous technical singletrack of the "Dragon's Back" and The Beast of Brenin, there's days of fantastic riding for everyone from families to the World-class racers who train here regularly.
Nearby Dolgellau provides accommodation and there's plenty to do off the bike on the nearby beaches and mountain tops.
