Elan Valley Visitor Centre – Puke Hill loop from Elan Valley Visitor Center

Mountain biking trails

Elan Valley Visitor Centre – Puke Hill loop from Elan Valley Visitor Center

Hard

4.5

(13)

190

riders

Elan Valley Visitor Centre – Puke Hill loop from Elan Valley Visitor Center

06:19

72.5km

1,330m

Mountain biking

Hard mountain bike ride. Very good fitness required. Advanced riding skills necessary. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 26, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Claerwen National Nature Reserve

Elenydd SSSI

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

19 m

Elan Valley Visitor Centre

Highlight • Monument

Visitor Centre below Caban Coch Dam is a good place to learn about the remarkable building of the dams and the alternative ways to explore

Tip by

5.65 km

Puke Hill

Highlight • Trail

Get ready for a big climb! It isn't called puke hill for nothing! Top views overlooking the reservoirs reward you.

Tip by

15.7 km

Gravel Path Along Claerwen Reservoir

Highlight • Viewpoint

The Claerwen Reservoir is the largest and the newest of the four Elan Valley Reservoirs. Once you reach the top, another "wow“ experience awaits you!

The view over the huge lake is simply breathtaking. And the best: A really nice gravel path leads along it. Without any traffic, without people, without cell phone network. Here you have your peace.

Tip by

20.7 km

Gravel track along the Claerwen Reservoir

Highlight (Segment) • Lake

Excellent quality gravel track with stunning views of the reservoir.

Tip by

23.7 km

Gravel Trail Along Claerwen Reservoir

Highlight • Viewpoint

Here it is simply fantastically beautiful!
The trails are sometimes really demanding, sometimes slippery and sometimes so exposed that you have to push your bike a few meters.

Pure adventure, including crossing a stream. Plan that you are very slow here and remember that you probably don't have cell phone reception.

Tip by

23.9 km

Claerddu River Crossing

Highlight • Trail

Can be quite flooded & fast flowing after rain - take care

Tip by

27.4 km

Winding Road Through Cambrian Mountains

Highlight • Trail

A wonderful fast and smooth road

Tip by

29.8 km

Smooth Gravel Climb from Teifi Pools

Highlight (Segment) • Climb

Beautifully smooth gravel, the sort fit for a Gravel Princess!

Tip by

72.5 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

33.6 km

27.4 km

6.15 km

4.46 km

857 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

21.7 km

19.9 km

16.5 km

7.98 km

5.00 km

843 m

599 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (490 m)

Lowest point (180 m)

Weather

Monday 5 October

18°C

11°C

46 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 12.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

June 19, 2023,50.6 Mile Elan Valley Estate Loop

What an Adventure consists of off roads, hill, pool of water and vast open terrain on a push bike (this is not an e bike)

April 2, 2024,Wales day 2: Elan Valley ✨

Easier day overall, less boggy fields and some actual gravel roads!
Finally got to pedal that famous stretch past Claerwen reservoir - quite a sight. Amazing riding along the water’s edge.
An awful lot of emptiness, and was lucky to enjoy most of it in dry weather until the rain arrived in the afternoon. The heavens opened just as I …

August 9, 2024,Stage 2: Elan Valley to Nant Rhys Bothy — Trans Cambrian Way

TCW Day 2 - Expectations vs Reality. The Sunken Road was not as flooded as I feared, but it is a lot more rocky than I expected - expect lots of hike-a-bike. The Claerwen gravel track is not the flat pootle I expected - good fun though and lots of birds (Wheatears, Larks and a Red Kite that followed me). …