Dyfi Forest    Back to: Dyfi Forest      Home

Situated to the North of the River Dyfi at Machynlleth, the Dyfi Forest is much larger than the not too distant Coed y Brenin Forest. It has loads of great trails too, with a little help from the locals...
Get Lost?
Untamed, unending, unhinged. venture in to the outer reaches of the darkest Dyfi (pronounced 'Dovey') and you may find yourself saying 'I'm a mountain biker, get me out of here!'. A basic GPS and an OS Landranger would be the minimum to avoid disorientation and humiliation as leader of your group. It's not that the Dyfi is darker or more foreboding than it's other woodsy Welsh counterparts, it's just it's vast length, breadth and ultimately height that make unguided rides so tricky. The Dyfi Enduro has been run here for the past 2 years and has introduced hundreds of new riders to the area. So why do we think it's worth visiting over the machine and hand built trails of Coed-y-Brenin?
Doing it naturally
Well to be honest, we like both locations. The Dyfi has more technical doubletrack descents over Coed-y-Brenin's single, which allows for more overtaking, (yeehah). CyB has Dolfwrynog tea garden, versus the Dyfi's natural feel. Live a little, do both. When we visited the forest in the Spring and early Summer it had been raining, a lot. This is where the Dyfi shows what it's made of: and what it is made of, is solid slate. Mud really isn't much of a factor here and you'll reach your maximum velocity on every descent, or at least go as fast as you dare. There are plenty of long downhill runs, some of which will scare you silly taken at speed. Overtaking takes on a new danger level as flying slate shrapnel whizzes by and threatens your kneecaps. At least it does when Tegid passes you on a line you thought didn't exist. This is one place where high flying riders won't feel out of place wearing pads.
Radio head
On the day we visited we were shown around by Tegid Humphreys from Reditreks cycle holidays, who had assembled the most mixed ability group you could wish for. Tegid's leadership and route plans kept the whole group happy with easy diversions for the less adrenaline pumped and constant altitude changes for the rest of us. The whole plan was kept together with the aid of those cute little walkie-talkies I'd never thought there was a serious use for (wrong). One thing we didn't miss whilst riding the more challenging trails was the by now trademark IMBA-friendly flat hairpin turns. These are becoming a bit of a pet hate of ours as the major, artificially enhanced venues add trail miles that will need minimum maintenance. We would rather not change direction at all than practically stop in a super-tight bike unfriendly hairpin. What there are a lot of are humps, bumps and fades. This makes for exciting descending which never gives you that 'downhill on a boring forest road' feeling. If you're the more adventurous type, some of the trails Tegid will show you will fry your nerves and leave you laughing as the adrenalin fades and you've made it to the bottom in one piece. This is what we asked for of course. If you're looking for a more leisurely ride Reditreks have an almost unlimited network of trails revealing spectacular views without risking your limbs or upsetting your riding partner. Highly recommended.