UKH

I’m moving house soon and I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for nice off road running within a 10-20 minute drive from the Colwyn Bay area?

The obvious one is Conwy mountain, although it doesn’t look like there is much scope to vary your route there. The Carneddau and the rest of Snowdonia are just a little too far for regular weekly long runs or shorter post work trips. Any other ideas for local areas that would be nice for regular 8-15k runs with a reasonable amount of ascent? Bonus points for free parking. 

You could have a look for Gladstone 9, Penmaenmawr, Tal y Fan race routes - bit longer but might give you some ideas?

Nice one, thanks a lot Steve. Just the sort of thing I was looking for. 

Hey Stuart.

I live in the area and can confirm there's tons of great off road running nearby. You're within a 15/20 min drive of the Sychnant Pass (3 different car parks in close proximity, all free) which gives you access to Conwy Mtn on one side of the col, and everything on the south side of the col is great terrain (good advice from Steveriley - those races tramp over this area). From there, you can make it across to Tal y Fan and back well within your 15km and there are numerous combos you could do with the trails that tot up to quite a lot of ascent for distance covered. I find a decent route is to do a figure of 8 centred on the Synchnant Pass, around Conwy Mtn tops over the pass and around some features on the south side, which is a good compromise of what you've asked for of distance/ascent/accessibility.

Going as far as Tal y Fan will probably keep you entertained for a while but if you want more ascent for distance then you could do the drive round to the car park between Tal y Fan and Drum (about 40min from Colwyn Bay), which gives you easy access to Drum and the Cardneds proper. Bit far to go for a regular run perhaps but definitely worth the effort every now and again. 

Good luck with the move. It's a brilliant place to be located as a runner, and even Conwy Mtn is a gift to have right there. A lot of the trails are quite soft and knee-friendly (aggressive lugs are your friend!). You could also take a look at a Strava heatmap or similar for an idea of where folks go. 

Feel free to drop me a line when you move to the area if you want some more tips or fancy getting out.

Yeah not done the race but I’ve done the Tal y Fan course a couple of times. The line off the summit heading NW is fantastic. Plenty of other options up there and you can park up high if you want to avoid steep climbing out of the valley. 

Thanks for such a detailed reply Mike, that's super helpful and much appreciated. I'll be losing having Moel Famau on my doorstep so it's really good to know there's still going to be some decent options close to home when we move. Thanks for the offer of dropping you a line too - I may well once we're settled.