Slieve Bloom trails

boomdocker wrote: »

I believe these are two separate trails - one at Kinnitty and one at Baunreagh - is that right?
Are they joined together in any way - ie want to ride both on the same spin ideally

Any pointers?

They aren't officially joined together and are a fair distance from one another so it would be a long enough day. Personally I wouldn't be bothered with the Laois side the Kinnity side is much better since they extended it. Below is trail head to trail head but park at Kinnity castle and head out on the blue loop into the red loop. Alternatively they're a short enough drive if you want to do both sides with a transition between

boomdocker wrote: »

Thanks
What's the total distance covering the blue loop and red loop at Kinnity?

Last time I was there in September it was around 22km. Not sure if there are any more sections open since then. Lovely loop.

Did you try strava segments? Trailforks doesn't seem to show many.

Fatbhoy did you manage to do the loops after all? I plan on heading down tomorrow and thinking of sticking with the Baunreagh trails. About 30k I think to do the whole loop. Are the kinnity trails a lot better? Its a bit longer of a drive but if they are that much better I might go with that side.

fatbhoy wrote: »

No, not yet. Last Friday was supposed to be the day but we rain-checked it. Supposed to be going this Friday if it's dry.

I'll probably just stick to the sanctioned trails, although if we've time the plan is to head over to Stradbally to find some decent non-sanctioned stuff. I'm pretty sure the sanctioned SB trails will be uninspiring.

I haven't been over to the Laois side in a while but the Offaly side has actually
come on a good bit. There's some nice flowy trails now where you can get up a bit of speed also some trails which may be open now with some doubles and decent berms. You won't be long finding trails in stradbally but if it's a weekend there may be a lot of footfall but generally no hassle although you do cross foot trails a fair bit so watch for those.

bogmanfan wrote: »

I did the Kinnitty red loop last weekend..

Any features on the red loop at all? I did the Baunreagh loop today. Beautiful area but the trails are typical coilte and fairly dull. Nice long descent it has to be said if you link the upper trails. To be expected I suppose but when they do spice it up they can be great (expressway, skyline, afterburner etc).

bogmanfan wrote: »

They’re generally flowy, but plenty of doubles and small table tops if you want to get some air. I really like them, but I’m not a DH lunatic!

That seems to style of trails Coillte are building, the faster you ride them, they continue to reward. Expressway, metro and afterburner all seem to follow that pattern of features.

bogmanfan wrote: »

Anyone know what kind of distance is now open on the Laois/Baunreagh side? For a project that was supposed to be boosting tourism, it's incredibly difficult to get any info on these trails!

About 23k according to my strava. Thats doing the lower loop first then heading up the road to do the 7k descent from top to bottom.

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Was up there today and met walkers twice on the trails.
Am relatively new to MTB so not sure what's the etiquette. I was going at an easy pace with my daughter so were no close calls or anything but still, the normal guy or gal experienced that might be flat out and come around a corner to them.
What do ya do in this situation? One of the parties was not far from a 'strictly no walkers' sign.

Make it clear it crystal clear to them they're on a mtb trail. I met a hen party on the red trail once almost cleaned the lot of them out of it, feckin eejits just giggled away.

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Just to add, we've been up there a few times and this was the first time I met anyone on them.

I've been up a good few times and the hem party was the closest I came to crashing but not the first time I've met people on the trails. It's been at least three times up there.

Both the Laois and Offaly website maps have (at last) been updated below. On the Laois side, the climb to the top can be done on the 'Stairway to Heaven' section rather than the public road, although I did meet someone coming down this section. The high 'Thunder' section is beautiful but is a little soft at the sides in places.

https://www.coillte.ie/site/slieve-bloom-mtb-trails-offaly/

Any updates from down in the Sleive Blooms. Are there still construction teams working on extra trails or is it a case of what was opened the end of last year being it for the moment.

I haven't been but hope to head down there soon, but from the videos I've seen on YouTube it does look like rock gardens are used excessively.

I know its on the other side but jailbreak looks great.

Space jam is an awful trail imo. I love technical and tough challenging trails. But that trail is just boring with rocks piled everywhere with no rhyme or reason. The black over on the laois side is like night and day compared to it. They could have done so much better with that long route all the way down to the start. Probably not a popular opinion and I noticed some people getting hammered for saying similar on the Facebook page.

I did jailbreak for the first time today. It's a superbly crafted trail. I'll have to give it a few more runs before I start to figure it out, there's so much going on. I really enjoyed it.

Have to agree with you, space jam is not my favourite trail over there, its gets old fairly quickly, Jailbreak way more exciting!

FB peeps didn't seem to like that opinion 😬

Yeah, I really like twist and shout but it is very loose in the berms if you go off the main line. I'm actually amazed how few natural trails are in the area. There are about 2 or 3 above the road on the Kinnitty side and a few more below the lime kiln but there is so much potential.

So, finally got down to try out the Offaly and Laois trails. Didn't know what to expect, maybe something like Ballinastoe or Ticknock. I should probably start by saying I'm on a 160mm enduro bike so maybe if I had an ebike or short travel bike it would change my feelings.

The quality and construction is top notch but over all I was a bit underwhelmed, far too pedally for my liking, keep the climbing for the fire roads imo. Did the big red loop in Kinnity and the Jailbreak loop in Laois. Stairway to heaven climb keeps you honest on the Laois side but overly it felt like it flowed better, in Kinnity everytime I was starting to get flow the trail would end or there was a climb in the singletrack.

As above, wtf is Space Jam about, flat rock gardens for the sake of it. Jailbreak is a fantastic trail though and would like it repeat it a few times next time I go down.

I just find it all becomes too similar after a while, roller, berm, rock garden repeat. There are very little natural features used to make it more interesting. When I'm trail building I start by looking for some natural interesting features and build the trail around them. I do get that the trail builders are restricted by Coillte guidelines and it's quite boggy up there but really I'm only tempted to ride there in the winter to get the miles in and not be riding in slop. I'd take natural trails any day over it.

I really miss bikepark Ireland in that part of the country.

My suggestion for Baunreagh if you like a view is after climbing 'Stairway to Heaven' turn left (follow Red arrow) onto the road and turn right up the road (R440) to the top of mountain road and a little beyond at Wolftrap. Lovely views of Offaly and beyond from top. Turn back to return to start of 'Crystal Maze' (red) at top of mountain to return to blue track at 'Thunder'. Much nicer than taking the forestry track.

Hey folks. So I'm hoping I might get a chance to visit the Slieve Blooms over the Christmas break, and I was wondering what loop people would advise? Probably only be passing through, so 3-4hr in which to have a spin. Having read all the posts on this thread I thought the Laois side was a no-brainer, but then checking the Coillte site it says it's only a 9km loop which could be done in a bit over an hour. Offaly side shows 2 loops which when combined make 22km and maybe 2hrs riding, a bit better I guess. I've also checked segments on Strava and can't find jailbreak - is it a signposted official trail?

Opinions welcome.

That's brilliant. 28km is definitely better. Cheers for that.

Yes all the trails are signposted but the loops are not as far as I remember. I knew the trails to an extent so was able to do the loops myself to take in everything. You'll have to do the stairway to heaven climb twice.

As far as security goes, Kimnitty would be much safer as its busier and next to the castle. Baunreagh is quiet isolated and not as busy from my experience.