A Scenic Welsh Journey from the Sea to the Lakeland of Wales

This 39 mile (63 km) crossing of Mid Wales packs a remarkable amount of country into an hour and a half: it leaves the seaside promenade of Aberystwyth, climbs to the stacked bridges and plunging falls of Devil's Bridge, crosses one of the highest and loneliest mountain roads in Wales through the old lead-mining valley of Cwmystwyth, and descends into the Elan Valley, where a chain of Edwardian dams built to water distant Birmingham created a landscape now called the Lakeland of Wales. The engineering is as beautiful as the setting: Craig Goch's elegant curved crest and arched spillways were designed to ornament the wilderness, not just hold it back. Red kites, once down to a handful of Welsh pairs, wheel over the whole route, and the valley's protected skies make it an International Dark Sky Park: finish at dusk and stay for the stars.

Key Stops

Aberystwyth. The university-and-promenade capital of the Cambrian coast: the cliff railway up Constitution Hill, the ruined castle headland, and the last dependable fuel and supplies before the mountains.

Devil's Bridge (Pontarfynach). Three bridges stacked one atop another across a 300 ft wooded chasm, the lowest medieval, with the Mynach Falls thundering below: the punchbowl walk is steep, brilliant, and ticketed. The Vale of Rheidol steam railway from Aberystwyth terminates here if half your party prefers rails.

The Arch and the climb to Cwmystwyth. The B4574 passes a stone arch raised in 1810 for George III's jubilee, then drops into the Ystwyth valley as the trees thin and the mining country begins.

Cwmystwyth mines. The haunting spoil heaps and roofless barracks of what was once the greatest metal mine in Wales, worked from the Bronze Age to the 20th century: park and wander carefully; the ruins are fragile and the shafts real.

The mountain road summit. Open moorland at over 400 m with barely a fence in sight: this lonely single-track crossing regularly makes lists of Britain's best wilderness drives. Watch the sky; kites and buzzards patrol it constantly.

Craig Goch dam. The uppermost and most beautiful of the Elan dams: a curved gravity dam with arched spillways that turns to lace when the reservoir overtops after rain.

Pen y Garreg and Garreg Ddu. The middle reservoirs, linked by a road that crosses Garreg Ddu's submerged dam on a Victorian viaduct: woodland, lay-bys, and the prettiest picnic spots on the route.

Caban Coch dam and the Elan Valley Visitor Centre. The lowest dam, most dramatic in flood, with the visitor centre below it: exhibitions on the drowned villages and the 73-mile gravity aqueduct that still delivers this water to Birmingham, plus café and trail maps.

The Elan Valley Trail. A traffic-free path along the old railway between Rhayader and the dams: even a short stroll from any car park earns the water views without the windscreen.

Rhayader and Gigrin Farm. The market town at the journey's end, and just beyond it Gigrin Farm's famous red kite feeding station, where hundreds of kites drop from the sky each afternoon: one of Britain's great wildlife spectacles.

Driving Tips

Treat the mountain road as single-track. Long stretches are one vehicle wide with passing places: pull in for oncoming traffic, never park in the passing bays, and expect to reverse occasionally without resentment.

Expect sheep everywhere. This is open hill-grazing from Devil's Bridge to the dams: lambs in spring double the caution required.

Time Gigrin Farm's feeding. The kites are fed daily in the afternoon (the hour shifts with the season): arrive at Rhayader with that slot in mind and the day ends on its high note.

Visit the dams after rain. The spillways transform when the reservoirs overtop: what is a quiet wall in a dry August becomes a curtain of white water in October.

Stay for the dark. The Elan Valley is an International Dark Sky Park: on a clear night the Milky Way over Craig Goch justifies the whole trip. Bring a flask and red-light torch.

Mind the narrow dam-side roads. The reservoir roads are walled, winding, and shared with walkers and cyclists from the trail crossings: valley pace, not A-road pace.

Expect no signal. Phone coverage vanishes between Devil's Bridge and Rhayader: download maps offline and tell someone your route in winter.

Make it a loop if you have the evening. Return over the moors via the Aberystwyth mountain road's northern twin (through Ponterwyd on the A44) for different light on the same wild country.

For more information visit: Elan Valley (Official Site)