Afan Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Do your homework before you come. I just drive expecting to work it out when I got there. What I didn't realise is there are 3 different centres. You need to work out which centre you need to go to for the riding you want to do. Anyway once I worked that out I had an amazing time. There are so many miles of trails you can easier spend a weekend exploring rather than a day. Worth a visit. Lastly the locals are so friendly and helpful. Enjoy....

First time visiting Afan Forest. Easy place to find and park. Had good clean facilities at the car park and the shop which was well stocked. I managed to pick up an Endura summer top and the chap in the shop price matched wiggle, which was a nice touch. The trails were good however there was a large diversion in place to due to some forestry management and trail repairs that was happening. This wasn’t the issue it was the fact the diversions weren’t sign posted well at all. Considering the fact my friends and I hadn’t been to Afan before it was difficult to find our bearings and back to car park. The trails were good and the red trail “The Wall” was quite technical and more challenging ride than we expected. I think if the closed sections were open it would have been a lot better experience. Travelling up from Cornwall it’s a long way up past Cardiff on to Port Talbot, would I return probably. I would once all the work there is complete.

I visited in the week after Easter 2023 and found it to be excellent physically (great hilly woodland with may paths) but abysmal in regards to information regarding trail closures. BEWARE: main circular walking routes are not circular at the moment but there are no warnings of this online or on the ground when you get there! It was my first visit so I went to their website. It is quite good but a bit clunky. It gives a recommendation to download information regarding current trail diversions/closures -- which I did. The pdf document was dated 2021 and stated that a bridge closure meant that most of the longer trails could only be accessed from a smaller free car park on the other side of the river from the main centre (which includes the South Wales Mining Museum). I decided to park at the main centre and ask at the visitors centre if this was still applicable (and re-park if so). Note: it transpired that there are no "Information" staff at the centre! We asked the café staff (very nice cafe, by the way with indoor toilets in addition to the block outside where there are also showers) but they didn't know anything about trails/closures etc. The fixed boards outside gave the same information as online (general trail maps plus diversion due to bridge closure). I had a quick look around and discovered the bridge was fully open (with much clean new wood) so set out to walk some of the longer routes. After crossing the bridge and turning north I soon found my way barred by fencing: "No public access due to tree felling"). I turned South and followed the river noticing other closures at various points on trails leading up to the west. I did most of the Green loop at the southern end but found the very last section leading back to the bridge and my car was also blocked near the privately owned camp site. The only legal route back was the way I'd walked (over 3 hours) or phone a taxi. Staff at the site said cyclists (who at least had diversion signs on their routes) were complaining that the diversions kept taking them around in small circles. In short: nice scenic place made accessible to walkers and cyclists by humans in the past and now turned into a waking nightmare by the current humans running it. The website information needs updating and all trails need to indicate if they are no longer circular and how far you can get along then before being blocked. I still recommend visiting as it's a very nice spot, and if the closures are removed then you'll find the trails well marked and correctly graded for difficulty (information online and on site on boards). The highlight of my visit ended up as the bacon sandwich and cup of tea I got at the café.

Nice trail center with something for everyone good facilities cafe bike shop toilets large carpark with reasonable charges situated in between valley's so there is a fair amount of climbing but the downhills make up for it don't expect pampered trails there more of a natural vibe plenty of lose shale in the burms to keep you on your toes