Ballinastoe Zipper

davegilly

Hi. Looking at taking the kids up to Ballinastoe over the weekend and came across the Zipper trail. We'd all be novices at this and kids are only 8 and 10 so I presume this trail is a good place to start?

Which car park is nearest this one? Any advise on this would be great. Thanks

prunudo

davegilly wrote: »

Hi. Looking at taking the kids up to Ballinastoe over the weekend and came across the Zipper trail. We'd all be novices at this and kids are only 8 and 10 so I presume this trail is a good place to start?

Which car park is nearest this one? Any advise on this would be great. Thanks

The car parking up near lough tay be handiest if you literally just wanted to do zipper as you would have the least amount of climbing to get to the trail.
Saying that if you are only starting out, I'd park at the biking.ie car park and do the lower trails like house bound, flatliner and home run first to get a feel for the trails. Added bonus of the coffee and snacks at the hut afterwards too.

mad turnip

davegilly wrote: »

Hi. Looking at taking the kids up to Ballinastoe over the weekend and came across the Zipper trail. We'd all be novices at this and kids are only 8 and 10 so I presume this trail is a good place to start?

Which car park is nearest this one? Any advise on this would be great. Thanks

All the main trails are designed for beginners and the kids are probably able for it. Best for the adults to ride at the back as some riders can go catch you quite fast on the expressway trail for visibility reasons.

davegilly

Thanks guys. Looks like the biking.ie carpark is the place to start. Should be there for about 1pm or so - I presume it will be busy on a Saturday around there?

Macy0161

I'd think cool runnings - flatliner - black forest - homerun would be plenty enough for a start?

Anyway, parking can be tight but you may be lucky at that time with spaces opening as people finish.

mad turnip

davegilly wrote: »

Thanks guys. Looks like the biking.ie carpark is the place to start. Should be there for about 1pm or so - I presume it will be busy on a Saturday around there?

Yes 1pm is kind of the cutover between the morning and afternoon sessions so an extra half hour later will be a big help I'd say. That said last year they opened a carpark in the forest beside biking.ie which I'm not sure how many people know about!

LagunaSeca

When my kids were that age I used to park up at Lough Tay and do Bump n Grind and Zipper. Minimal climbing involved and can repeat that mini loop until they are tired out ;-)

prunudo

LagunaSeca wrote: »

When my kids were that age I used to park up at Lough Tay and do Bump n Grind and Zipper. Minimal climbing involved and can repeat that mini loop until they are tired out ;-)

I'm not ashamed to admit it, but when I was starting out and my fitness was an issue this is exactly what I did. Don't think I ventured down as far as the hut or even started from the hut for a good few weeks.

davegilly

Thanks everyone. Had a great day - Cool Runnings, Double Trouble, House Bound, Flatliner and Home Run were the routes. Once the younger lad got over the initial climb up the hill all was great

Is Slade Valley similar does anyone know? It's much closer to us. Must try that one next

mad turnip

davegilly wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Had a great day - Cool Runnings, Double Trouble, House Bound, Flatliner and Home Run were the routes. Once the younger lad got over the initial climb up the hill all was great

Is Slade Valley similar does anyone know? It's much closer to us. Must try that one next

Slade valley is pretty easy, quite rooty but nothing big. Trails to watch yourself on are Dire Straits and a black trail that starts next to it, both are steep and technical enough. Everything else is doable by beginners.

muckwarrior

davegilly wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Had a great day - Cool Runnings, Double Trouble, House Bound, Flatliner and Home Run were the routes. Once the younger lad got over the initial climb up the hill all was great

Is Slade Valley similar does anyone know? It's much closer to us. Must try that one next

No, it's not really similar. It's not an official trail centre for a start. There's no signposted loop, it's just trails built by clubs and individuals through the forest. Unlike Balinastoe there's very little hard-pack gravel, it's mostly natural, so beware that after wet weather it'll be quite muddy with slippery roots everywhere. As natural trails go, most are relatively easy but could still be quite challenging for a beginner, especially kids.

ec18

muckwarrior wrote: »

No, it's not really similar. It's not an official trail centre for a start. There's no signposted loop, it's just trails built by clubs and individuals through the forest. Unlike Balinastoe there's very little hard-pack gravel, it's mostly natural, so beware that after wet weather it'll be quite muddy with slippery roots everywhere. As natural trails go, most are relatively easy but could still be quite challenging for a beginner, especially kids.

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/map/?activitytype=1&z=14.8&lat=53.24753&lon=-6.47517


yes avoid bomb hole and dire straits