For an amazing mountain biking challenge check out the new Slieve Bloom Mountain Biking trails. You won’t be disappointed. Ardmore Country House is the perfect place to stay in the village of Kinnitty which is one of the mounatin biking trailheads in the Slieve Blooms
The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike trails are a new addition to the great outdoor experience in the Slieve Blooms. These trails are a network of purpose-built singletrack trails and forest roads that are designed for use by mountain bikes on waymarked circular routes.
There are two trailheads, one at Kinnitty which starts in the village and the other at Baunreagh. The routes are graded blue (moderate) and red (difficult/severe).
At present there are 35K of loop trails completed at Kinnitty, one blue trail and 2 more challenging red trails. When complete, there will be more than 80kms of trails ranging from blue to black grade through vast swathes of beautiful forest and open land with fantastic views over Kinnitty Castle, the village and beyond. Forest road climbs lead you into tight twisty single track with loads of fast descents, ups and downs, tight turns and technical rocky bits, guaranteed to leave you breathless and smiling.
Facilities at Ardmore Country House for bikers include secure lock up storage, bike wash facilities and drying room. Check here to book. Bike hire is available on the premises at Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Centre We are just across the road from the Slieve Bloom Bar where they make some great craft beers.
This is a challenging trail throughout as the trails vary from fast and flowing to tight, technical and rocky, with numerous difficult sections along the route. The trail constantly twists and turns and rises up and down. This trail tests all a riders skills and abilities and is not for novice riders (red grade trail).
Over half of the loop is singletrack and these sections are narrow, sometimes steep and up to 800mm in width, with variable surfaces including rock, roots, mud, loose stones and gravel that may become slippery when wet. The singletrack also crosses walking trails and forest roads at a number of points so watch out for walkers here. The remainder of the loop is on forest roads and you should expect to encounter vehicles and other forest users at any time on these parts of the loop.
The trail is quite exposed on the upper slopes and can be very windy in poor weather. Please make sure your mountain bike is in good working order and that you have an appropriate level of fitness and skill level to undertake these trails. All riders should be appropriately dressed and wear a helmet at all times. Please ride with consideration for the many other forest users and control your speed.
Trail Information:
Trail Name: Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trail (Laois)
Start/Finish Point: Baunreagh Car Park
Length: 6km
Time: 60 to 90 minutes
Degree of Difficulty: Difficult/Severe
Meters Climb: 170
Trail Waymarking: Red
We are delighted to be ranked in the top 10% of hotels worldwide on Trip Advisor and receive the Traveller’s Choice Award 2020
Ardmore House is an absolutely fantastic place to stay in a great location along the Slieve Bloom Mountain Trail. The price was really affordable and great value for money.
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The choice of breakfast was great and Chris, our host, couldn't have been anymore accommodating. At 6’4 the rooms and facilities were brilliant and after a long day walking on the trail it was fantastic to come back and relax in this beautifully restored home.
We had two lovely pubs less than 2 minutes walk plus a beautiful little coffee shop that sold hot food.
I would recommend Ardmore House to anyone looking to enjoy a great breakaway from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Chris also helped us arrange transfers to the various drop off locations along the Slieve Bloom Trail which was one less thing for us to worry about.
Chris is an absolute lady, friendly and kind and always willing to help. It was a privilege to stay at her beautiful home and I look forward to returning in the future.
However: cleanliness in parts was not the best - shower flooded due to the amount of hair in the drain and the water bottle lid was covered in black mould.
The room was very good in terms of value, but (and I say this hesitantly given the rather cutting replies to any critical reviews), our welcome was not particularly warm. We had emailed the host prior to booking to confirm that we would be arriving half an hour later than the 7pm check in cutoff and were assured it was fine; however we received a phone call asking for our ETA (not sure if this email had been forgotten as sent several months prior). However upon arrival the host seemed quite hassled with us.
We were also pressured several times to pay in cash which we were not comfortable with. We were chastised as the card payment app “takes a percentage” and told to drive to Birr (a 30 minute round-trip) to get cash out. We refused and felt this put a dampener on the trip.
One more thing (which may be personal preference) but we locked our bedroom, and whilst we were out, someone came in to make the bed. I think it would be a nice touch to check before entering a locked bedroom (eg in hotels you can put a housekeeping request on the doorknob).
I’d say for the price paid the venue was fine, but I did not feel particularly welcome during my stay. More
The bedroom was a giant hug! The fluffy bed smelled slightly of lavender Her breakfast is fresh off the farm or at least it tastes like it is. I could fan girl all day about this place.
Thank you, Chris!
Chris is... read more no stranger to the adventures that surround Kinnity and filled us in on what was available . From horse riding to walking trails through the Sleeve Bloom mountains there is also a Bike trail with different levels to suit all ages and fitness levels. We were able to hire bikes right from the house . All of this and much more is so well organised that we were all at ease from the get go .
The lady of the house is a fantastic cook and I highly recommended her Homemade Brown bread !
Such a beautiful home with stunning gardens
We will be back !
Thank you More
Pros:
Price
Location
Comfortable sleep
Food
Cons:
She's a stickler for 4:00 arrival, sent us away at 3:42 pm, and told us to return at 4:00 pm. We had been traveling for 4 hours at that point. So, arrive after 4:00 to be sure.
Bathrooms and showers are small
No hot water upon arrival, then we had no water during the husband's shower the next day
The lovely gardens and rooms made our stay very enjoyable, Chris couldn't do enough for us... read more and made us feel very comfortable, giving us advise on walks and cooking up a fantastic breakfast . I couldn't recommend this place enough .
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