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Country Trail
https://paarladventuretrails.co.za/
https://www.trailforks.com/skillpark/specialized-paarl-skills-park/
4/5
Best suited for: Beginner, Intermediate and Experienced riders
What we love about it: You get bike shops and then you get bike shops that are heavily invested in riding. That’s Specialized Paarl, which was the first Specialized Experience Centre in South Africa. An experience centre offers more than just retail and is either an active trailhead or includes trails, tracks and a pump track. Specialized Paarl Experience Centre is a blend of those and offers something for everyone when it comes to mountain biking. Besides the on-site riding tracks, it’s also one of four official trailheads for the Paarl Adventure Trails network. If you’re super fit and strong, you could try and ride the whole network in two days, but it will likely take you longer. That’s why it’s been segmented around the Paarl Mountain so that you can sample a bit of each section in 2-4 hour chunks.
The trails: The trails at Specialized Paarl Experience Centre include:
Yellow Trail: 1.5km
Green Trail: 5km
Blue Trail: 15km
Skills area: 150m pump track
The Yellow Trail is ideal for kids as it’s on the property and includes a flowline with 12 rollers and 15 berms. It’s been very well built, offering authentic flow and is one of those routes that kids (an adults) can repeat for hours.
The Green Trail takes you up the slope behind the store and into the local farmland. It’s a great route for families and beginners and incorporates a range of features with the flowline delivering a fun ending…
The Blue Trail was completed during the hard lockdown in 2020. Sections bench-cut into the slope in the peaceful forest seem to go on for ages, keeping you engaged in the cool shade while breathing lungfuls of earthy scents – it’s a sensory adventure.
As with the rest of the Paarl Adventure Trails network, the singletrack at has been very well built so that you always feel a good level of control, even at speed. The climbing is generally done gradually with switchbacks that are thoughtfully designed, while the twisty, bermed descents are super fun and just reward.
The signage is good, but was due to be updated in January 2022 with new signage.
The trails aren’t specifically graded, but are predominantly green trails with some blue sections according to Trailforks. We agree.
The Specialized Paarl store is built in an old wine cellar with a high roof and loads of space. It’s adjacent to Knus Karoo Café, a daytime restaurant that also makes a killer coffee while you wait for your bike to be washed…
There aren’t many high-end bike shops that you can visit that offer such an array of riding straight out the door. Specialized Paarl Experience Centre offers more than just retail, it offers fresh air, fun and flow on its trials for all levels and ages of bike riders – rather unique, quite special.
Day Pass (Weekdays) Adults – R80.00 | Day Pass (Weekdays) Kids & Pensioners –
R50.00 | Day Pass (Weekends) Adults – R100.00 | Day Pass (Weekends) Kids & Pensioners – R80.00
Trail Ratings
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