Leisure MTB trails south Dublin/Wicklow

54and56

Hi all,

Myself and my wife are in our 40's and want to do some weekend cycling. On holidays we enjoy renting MTB's and doing 2-3 hour (40km - 50km) type spins on forest trails and dedicated bike paths typically along the coast.

Are there any such MTB friendly trails (not too technical/challenging) in South Dublin / Wicklow?

Is there a set of maps or a website with MTB trails listed? We'd like to be able to put the bikes on the car rack and head off to various trails for a few hours. Anything within a 45 minute drive of Junction 14 (Sandyford/Dundrum) on the M50 would be ideal.

Thanks.

dev100

Look up biking .ie and mtb ballinastoe Coillte .

Bigus

Ticknock is right beside you , in fact you should see the mast from where you are now.

http://www.biking.ie/index.php/bike-hire

54and56

Thanks guys,

Both of those look relatively technical/challenging or am I being too conservative? I have a hard tail MTB with hydraulic brakes etc but my wife has a "Forme all terrain hybrid". Would she be able to tackle Ticknock and Ballinastoe on that?

easygoing39

Nope,or very very slowly.

PaulieC

Plenty of fire road trails around ticknock, you can avoid the MTB trails altogether if you want

dev100

You can hire bikes in ballinastoe or if you want to try the trails , You will get around the main tracks in ballinastoe on a hard tail . Your wife may need to hire a bike though

54and56

PaulieC wrote: »

Plenty of fire road trails around ticknock, you can avoid the MTB trails altogether if you want

Yes, I think fire road trails and bike paths are actually what we're looking for rather than pure MTB type trails.

I've been searching online for an hour and can't find a list of fire road trails or bike paths for south county Dublin/Wicklow.

I'd really like a list of locations where I can park up, get on the bikes and head off on well defined fire road / dedicated bike path loops. Do I just need to load up the bikes and head off looking for locations???

smacl

I use OpenStreetmap for exploring the fire roads and Coilte trails on the CX bike. They're the white dashed double lines, and most of them are doable on anything with reasonably wide tyres. Some of them a pretty steep though and strenuous to climb, so if you're looking for a mellower spin search for ones that run parallel to the contour lines rather than crossing them at a sharp angle. You may also have to chuck the bikes over the occasional locked gate, and as there are many dead ends, it pays to plan the route in advance. Most of them are also quite short, so I'd pick a route that includes a mix of roads and trails. Favourite one to date is coming from Laragh running parallel to the Glenmacnass river.

If you want something flatter, the Grand canal run from say from Dublin out to Leinster Aqueduct is a nice spin with a mixture of paved / gravel and grass.

54and56

smacl wrote: »

I use OpenStreetmap for exploring the fire roads and Coilte trails on the CX bike. They're the white dashed double lines, and most of them are doable on anything with reasonably wide tyres. Some of them a pretty steep though and strenuous to climb, so if you're looking for a mellower spin search for ones that run parallel to the contour lines rather than crossing them at a sharp angle. You may also have to chuck the bikes over the occasional locked gate, and as there are many dead ends, it pays to plan the route in advance. Most of them are also quite short, so I'd pick a route that includes a mix of roads and trails. Favourite one to date is coming from Laragh running parallel to the Glenmacnass river.

Thanks Smacl, that's great info. I'm sure once we find one we'll get talking to people and find some other/similar routes.

The ideal would be to drive no more than 45 minutes (Laragh is perfect), park up, get out on the bikes for 2-3 hours on a big loop or out <-> back, bikes back on the rack and grab a bite to eat or a beverage with the lungs full of air and the legs feeling tired.

smacl wrote: »

If you want something flatter, the Grand canal run from say from Dublin out to Leinster Aqueduct is a nice spin with a mixture of paved / gravel and grass.

Might be a good starter all right. Where would you recommend as a starting point in Dublin i.e. good place to park up and return to?

smacl

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Might be a good starter all right. Where would you recommend as a starting point in Dublin i.e. good place to park up and return to?

I cycle from the house and pick the canal up at Dolphins barn, but not sure where there's safe parking around there. If I was driving, I'd probably skip the town section and start here. Main downside to the canal is that if it has been raining heavily it can be muddy and tough going unless you've knobbly tyres. In this case I'd probably start at Hazelhatch although you'll still hit a few muddy bits here and there, which to be fair can be great craic in their own way.

54and56

^^ Thanks again Smacl, I'd say we'll be fair weather cyclists but I do agree, getting a bit muddy can be good craic and once you're wet you might as well keep going eh??

Carawaystick

Phoenix park has trails too, for the short handy spins.

Macy0161

They're not too long, but there's a few routes around Avondale House, near Rathdrum. Easy enough that I've taken the children on them - there's some steps on some routes, and a few routes have hike a bike sections. Again, I've got over them with a gang of children!

smacl

A Wicklow Greenway was also on the cards, but not sure of its current status. I know there is one chunk open in around Tinahely but haven't been on it myself yet.

54and56

^^ Thanks for the suggestions Macy and Carrawaystick, much appreciated.

smacl wrote: »

A Wicklow Greenway was also on the cards, but not sure of its current status. I know there is one chunk open in around Tinahely but haven't been on it myself yet.

The proposed Greenway is exactly the type of leisure riding I'm looking for. No or little traffic, combination of traditional roads/bike paths with some forest trail/fire roads. Nothing too technical but climbing over the odd gate or navigating the odd rocky or muddy patch is fine.

We were in Faro recently and spent 3 days on MTB's generally following trails by the coast getting lost and then finding a snack bar in the middle of nowhere to have a relaxing lunch and glass of wine before carrying on. Absolutely enjoyable and beats sitting by the pool doing nothing hands down.

Carawaystick

If you want to go on forestry roads, There's loads in Wicklow, but they're not very flat...
There's a good few around Arklow if you want to travel that far, which are flat, and there's some from Clara Vale down to Rathdrum.
Also around the copper mines in Avoca there's roads/tracks where we used go mountain biking on non-suspension bikes back in the day. not flat though.