102 walks across Powys

• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Llandrindod Lakeside Loop

  A flat surfaced circuit of the boating lake on the southern edge of town. Benches most of the way round, a café halfway, and about as gentle an introduction to walking here as you will find.

  1.0 mi30 min Easy
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Rock Park and the Chalybeate Spring

  Victorian pleasure grounds in a wooded dingle below the town, built around the mineral spring that made Llandrindod’s name and paid for most of its architecture.

  1.2 mi40 min Easy
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Water-break-its-neck

  Twenty minutes up a wooded gorge in the Radnor Forest to a waterfall dropping into a dark, fern-hung amphitheatre. Superb after heavy rain and frankly a bit pointless in a dry August.

  1.5 mi45 min Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  The Whimble

  You will have noticed this one from the road: a near-perfect cone of a hill that catches the eye from every direction in eastern Radnorshire. Steep, short, and the summit view takes in most of mid Wales.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  The Warden, Presteigne

  Woodland on the edge of town above the River Lugg, with a bowling green at the top that has been played on for centuries and a border you can step across without noticing.

  1.6 mi45 min Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Knighton and the Dyke

  One of the best-preserved stretches of Offa’s Dyke climbs straight out of Knighton. You can put your hand on an eighth-century earthwork ten minutes from a railway platform.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Llandegley Rocks

  Low ridge of hard rock above the A44 that returns a wildly disproportionate view for the effort involved. Twenty minutes of climbing buys you most of Radnorshire.

  2.5 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Abbeycwmhir and Llywelyn’s Grave

  The ruins of a Cistercian abbey in a deep, quiet valley, holding the grave of the last native Prince of Wales. One of the most affecting places in the county and almost always empty.

  3.4 mi2 hr Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Pilleth and Bryn Glas

  Owain Glyndŵr destroyed an English army on this hillside in 1402, above a church that still sits alone in the fields. The ground reads like a battlefield if you stand in the right place.

  2.8 mi1 hr 40 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Old Radnor and Hanter Hill

  Hilltop village with one of the finest parish churches in Wales, and a short climb onto the old volcanic hills that mark the border.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Glascwm and the Radnorshire Commons

  Big, empty, rolling common land above a hamlet with a church and not much else. This is the Radnorshire that people who live here mean when they talk about the hills.

  5.0 mi2 hr 45 Demanding
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Stanner Rocks

  Some of the oldest rock in Wales, carrying plants that grow nowhere else in Britain. The reserve itself is closed to the public, so this is a walk to look at it rather than climb it.

  1.9 mi1 hr 10 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Llananno and the Upper Ithon

  Go inside the church first. It holds the finest medieval rood screen in Wales, and the quiet loop through the Ithon valley behind it comes after.

  2.5 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Beguildy and the Teme Valley

  Upper Teme farmland right on the border, about as far from a main road as Radnorshire gets. Sheep, hedges, hills and almost nobody.

  4.0 mi2 hr 20 Moderate
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Cascob and the Forest Edge

  Remote church with a Norman motte in its churchyard, and a climb onto the eastern edge of the Radnor Forest through plantation and open hill.

  4.7 mi2 hr 45 Demanding
• Llandrindod & Radnorshire

  Llanbister Hills

  Long, quiet circuit on Glyndŵr’s Way over the hills above the Ithon. Steady climbing, huge skies and the sort of emptiness that surprises people who thought Wales was crowded.

  5.6 mi3 hr 10 Demanding
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Elan Valley Dams

  The Victorian dams above Rhayader, on good paths with water beside you most of the way. It is the sheer scale of the masonry that stays with people.

  4.0 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Elan Valley Trail

  The old dam builders’ railway, resurfaced and traffic-free the whole way. Do a mile of it or all nine. It is one of very few genuinely wheelchair-usable routes of any length in the county.

  9.0 mi3 hr 30 Moderate
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Craig Goch Dam

  The highest and prettiest of the Elan dams, a curving wall of arches at the top of the valley with moorland opening out beyond it.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Moderate
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Pen y Garreg

  A wooded circuit around the middle reservoir, with an island, a tower and enough tree cover to make it a good choice when the tops are unpleasant.

  3.1 mi1 hr 40 Moderate
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Claerwen Dam

  The furthest, largest and emptiest of the Elan dams. Once you are past the wall there is very little between you and Ceredigion but bog, grass and sky.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Demanding
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Gilfach Nature Reserve

  A Radnorshire Wildlife Trust reserve in the Marteg valley built around an old upland farm, where salmon leap in autumn if you time it right.

  2.2 mi1 hr 15 Moderate
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Rhayader and the Wye

  Short loop out of the oldest town on the Wye, taking in the falls the town is named after and a stretch of riverbank. Good for an hour when you have driven a long way and want to stretch.

  1.9 mi55 min Easy
• Rhayader & the Elan Valley

  Abergwesyn Pass and the Devil’s Staircase

  The old drovers’ road over the mountains between Abergwesyn and Tregaron, and the hairpin climb that gives it its name. Empty in a way that is hard to find in Britain now.

  3.7 mi2 hr 20 Demanding
• Builth & the Wye

  The Groe, Builth Wells

  A level path along the Wye through the town’s riverside common. Flat, surfaced and easy, while still feeling as though you have been somewhere.

  1.5 mi35 min Easy
• Builth & the Wye

  Aberedw Rocks

  Terraced rock ledges high above the Edw and the Wye, with a cave linked to Llywelyn’s last days. Steep in places and a scramble near the top.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Builth & the Wye

  Cilmeri and the Irfon

  The last native Prince of Wales was killed here in 1282. Short walk from the monument out along the Irfon and back, quiet and gentle and heavier than its length suggests.

  2.2 mi1 hr 10 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Erwood and the Wye Valley Walk

  A stretch of the Wye Valley Walk following the river north from a converted railway station with a good café and a suspension bridge downstream.

  5.0 mi2 hr 45 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Llanwrtyd Wells and the Irfon

  Out of the smallest town in Britain along the Irfon, through oak woods and back. Quiet on all but a handful of days a year.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Llangammarch and the Cammarch

  Gentle circuit from a former spa village where two rivers meet, climbing to open ground for the view and dropping back through farmland.

  3.7 mi2 hr 10 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Llanelwedd Rocks

  Short steep climb above the showground for a view straight down the Wye valley, with Builth laid out beneath you.

  2.5 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Painscastle

  Enormous castle earthworks in a small village, and a quiet farmland circuit around them with the Black Mountains filling the southern skyline.

  3.4 mi1 hr 55 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Newbridge-on-Wye

  An easy riverside and farmland loop from a village on the Wye between Rhayader and Builth. Nothing dramatic, and a good honest hour and a half.

  2.8 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Disserth and the Ithon

  One of the least altered churches in Wales, beside the Ithon, with a short loop through the fields around it.

  2.2 mi1 hr 10 Easy
• Builth & the Wye

  Llyswen and Boughrood

  Two villages on opposite banks of the Wye, linked into a loop, with the Black Mountains along the whole southern horizon.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• Builth & the Wye

  Llandeilo Graban

  Scattered upland parish above the Wye with big views and almost no traffic. The sort of walk where you meet a farmer and nobody else.

  3.1 mi1 hr 55 Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Brecon Canal Towpath

  The Monmouthshire and Brecon canal starts here and runs level all the way to Pontypool. The first couple of miles out of Brecon are flat, surfaced and easy to turn round on.

  2.5 mi1 hr Easy
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Pen-y-crug Hillfort

  An Iron Age hillfort on the hill directly above Brecon, with the best free view of the Bannau you will get for forty minutes of effort.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Pen y Fan from Pont ar Daf

  The busiest mountain in Wales, and still worth doing. Pitched stone almost the whole way, which is straightforward underfoot and relentless on the legs.

  4.7 mi3 hr Strenuous
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Pen y Fan from Cwm Gwdi

  The long way up from the Brecon side, on the Cefn Cwm Llwch ridge. Twice the walk of the tourist path and a fraction of the people.

  6.8 mi4 hr Strenuous
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Llyn Cwm Llwch

  Walk to a glacial lake sitting in a deep hollow under the north face of Corn Du, without the commitment of going to the summit.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Llangorse Lake

  The largest natural lake in south Wales, with a reed-fringed shore and a reconstructed crannog offshore. Quiet on a weekday, busy with boats in August.

  2.8 mi1 hr 15 Easy
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Mynydd Illtud Common

  Open common on a plateau with the whole Bannau skyline laid out in front of you. Almost flat, and the best view-per-effort ratio in the national park.

  2.5 mi1 hr 10 Easy
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Craig Cerrig-gleisiad

  A national nature reserve in a glacial hollow where arctic-alpine plants survive on ledges no sheep can reach. Steep, rough, and far quieter than Pen y Fan a mile away.

  3.7 mi2 hr 30 Strenuous
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Fan y Big and the Gap Road

  The old Roman-era route through the heart of the Bannau, with a climb onto the ridge and the famous diving board rock at the top.

  5.6 mi3 hr 30 Strenuous
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Talybont Reservoir

  Long, easy circuit of the reservoir on tracks and quiet road, with a good bird hide and two decent pubs at the end of it.

  5.6 mi2 hr 50 Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Blaen-y-glyn Waterfalls

  A compact set of falls in a wooded gorge below the Bannau ridge, reached on made paths and steps. Excellent value after rain.

  2.5 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Llanfrynach and the Canal

  An easy loop from a pretty village between the Usk and the canal, joining the towpath for part of the way. Flat, green and undemanding.

  3.1 mi1 hr 40 Easy
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Hay Bluff

  Up onto the northern nose of the Black Mountains, where the ridge drops away to the Wye valley on one side and runs south into England on the other.

  4.0 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Hay-on-Wye and the Warren

  Out of the back of the bookshops onto the Wye, with a shingle beach at the Warren that half the town swims from in July.

  2.0 mi50 min Easy
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Table Mountain, Crickhowell

  Crug Hywel, the flat-topped hill that gives Crickhowell its name, crowned by an Iron Age fort whose ramparts you can walk. Steep pull, short walk, very good payoff.

  3.4 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Pen Cerrig-calch

  The long climb behind Table Mountain onto a limestone-capped plateau, with the whole eastern Bannau opening out as you gain height.

  6.2 mi4 hr Strenuous
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Waun Fach

  The highest point of the Black Mountains, reached over long grassy ridges. Historically a peat bog of legendary awfulness, now largely paved with stone slabs.

  7.5 mi4 hr 30 Strenuous
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Mynydd Troed

  A steep, shapely hill standing apart from the main Black Mountains ridge, giving a summit view out of all proportion to the walk.

  3.1 mi1 hr 55 Demanding
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Talgarth and Pwll y Wrach

  A short loop from a working watermill to a wooded waterfall reserve, the Witch’s Pool, in a steep dingle just outside town.

  2.5 mi1 hr 20 Moderate
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Llangattock Escarpment

  A limestone cliff line above the Usk valley, with old quarries, a tramroad and one of the largest cave systems in Britain underneath your feet.

  4.3 mi2 hr 40 Demanding
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Tretower and Cwmdu

  A gentle farmland circuit from a medieval court and castle, through the Rhiangoll valley with Mynydd Troed above.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Allt yr Esgair

  A wooded ridge between the Usk valley and Llangorse Lake, with a Roman road running along it and a view from the top that takes in both.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Capel-y-ffin

  A climb from a tiny chapel in the Vale of Ewyas onto the ridge above, in one of the quietest valleys in the Black Mountains.

  5.0 mi3 hr 10 Demanding
• Hay & the Black Mountains

  Llanigon and the Black Mountain Foothills

  Rising farmland between Hay and the mountains, with dingles, old lanes and a steady climb towards the ridge without committing to it.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Moderate
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Four Waterfalls, Ystradfellte

  The classic waterfall round, including Sgwd yr Eira where the path passes behind the falling water. Slippery, rooty and genuinely tiring, and people underestimate it constantly.

  5.3 mi3 hr 30 Demanding
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Henrhyd Falls

  The tallest waterfall in south Wales, reached by a steep flight of steps into a wooded gorge. Short in distance; the climb back out is the whole walk.

  0.9 mi40 min Moderate
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Craig-y-nos Country Park

  Victorian estate grounds in the upper Tawe valley, with meadows, lakes and riverside paths, and a good proportion of it firm and level.

  1.9 mi55 min Easy
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Cribarth

  The sleeping giant above the upper Tawe, a limestone ridge riddled with old quarry workings and tramroads, with a fine view down the valley.

  3.7 mi2 hr 20 Demanding
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Fan Gyhirych

  A steep-sided whaleback in the western Bannau, seen by thousands from the A4067 and climbed by very few. Empty, boggy and worth it.

  4.3 mi2 hr 45 Strenuous
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Sarn Helen and the Roman Fort

  A stretch of the Roman road that ran the length of Wales, and the earthworks of the fort at Coelbren beside it.

  4.0 mi2 hr 20 Moderate
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Ystradgynlais and the Tawe

  A riverside loop from the largest town in southern Powys, through a landscape that was industrial and is quietly going back to green.

  2.8 mi1 hr 25 Easy
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Glyntawe and the Cave Country

  Upper Tawe limestone country above the show caves, with sinkholes, dry valleys and the sound of water running somewhere under your feet.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• Ystradgynlais & the South

  Cray Reservoir

  A quiet circuit of a small reservoir in the western Bannau, with Fan Gyhirych filling the view and almost nobody about.

  3.1 mi1 hr 40 Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  The Taf Fawr Reservoirs

  A chain of three reservoirs in the valley below Pen y Fan, linked by forest tracks. Sheltered, easy and a sensible choice when the tops are unwalkable.

  3.7 mi2 hr Moderate
• Brecon & the Usk Valley

  Llangynidr Moor and Canal

  Up from the canal onto open limestone moor scattered with shakeholes and old workings, and back down to the towpath.

  4.0 mi2 hr 20 Demanding
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Llyn Clywedog

  A long finger of water in the hills above Llanidloes, with the ruins of a lead mine directly below the dam and the tallest concrete dam in Britain holding it all back.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Moderate
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Source of the Severn

  Follow the Severn upstream from a forest car park to the patch of peat bog on Pumlumon where Britain’s longest river begins as a trickle.

  6.8 mi3 hr 30 Demanding
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Pumlumon Fawr

  The highest ground in mid Wales and the source of three rivers. Big, bleak, boggy and completely deserted compared with anywhere in Eryri.

  6.8 mi4 hr Strenuous
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Dylife Gorge and Ffrwd Fawr

  An abandoned lead mining settlement high on the mountain road, a spectacular gorge and one of the tallest waterfalls in Wales dropping into it.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Llanidloes and the Young Severn

  A short loop out of the first town on the Severn, picking up a stretch of Glyndŵr’s Way where it passes through.

  2.2 mi55 min Easy
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Y Fan Lead Mines

  The remains of what was briefly the richest lead mine in the world, on a hillside above Llanidloes, now grassed over and almost silent.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• Llanidloes & the Cambrians

  Llangurig and the Upper Wye

  The highest village on the Wye, with a quiet loop through the valley farmland and along the young river.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• Newtown & the Severn

  Newtown Riverside

  Level surfaced paths either side of the Severn through the town’s parks, linked by footbridges so you can make the loop as long or short as you like.

  1.9 mi45 min Easy
• Newtown & the Severn

  Gregynog Estate

  Waymarked trails through parkland, an old-growth wood and a sunken garden on a national nature reserve estate north of Newtown.

  2.5 mi1 hr 10 Easy
• Newtown & the Severn

  Dolforwyn Castle

  A Welsh-built castle on a wooded ridge above the Severn, raised by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in deliberate defiance of the English king.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• Newtown & the Severn

  The Kerry Ridgeway

  A prehistoric ridge route running fifteen miles along the watershed to the English border, walkable in sections with views both north and south the whole way.

  5.6 mi3 hr Moderate
• Newtown & the Severn

  Berriew and the Rhiw

  One of the prettiest villages in Montgomeryshire, with a short loop taking in the river, the aqueduct and the canal.

  2.8 mi1 hr 30 Easy
• Newtown & the Severn

  Caersws and the Roman Fort

  A flat riverside loop from a village built inside the outline of a Roman fort, with the Severn alongside for much of it.

  2.5 mi1 hr 20 Easy
• Welshpool & the Border

  Welshpool Canal Loop

  The Montgomery Canal through the middle of Welshpool, flat and surfaced, with the restored sections busy with wildlife.

  3.1 mi1 hr 15 Easy
• Welshpool & the Border

  Powis Castle Deer Park

  Medieval deer park below one of the great castles of the borders, with veteran oaks and a fallow deer herd that has been here for centuries.

  2.5 mi1 hr 20 Moderate
• Welshpool & the Border

  Montgomery Castle

  Up to the castle ruins on their rock above one of the best-preserved small Georgian towns in Wales. Short, steep at the end, and a very good view for the effort.

  1.9 mi1 hr Moderate
• Welshpool & the Border

  Beacon Ring, Long Mountain

  An Iron Age hillfort on the ridge east of Welshpool, planted inside with trees in the shape of the letters E R for the 1953 coronation.

  4.0 mi2 hr 15 Moderate
• Welshpool & the Border

  Breidden Hill and Rodney’s Pillar

  A steep wooded hill standing alone above the Severn plain, topped by a monument to an eighteenth-century admiral. Sharp climb, enormous view.

  3.7 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Welshpool & the Border

  Llanymynech Rocks

  A vast abandoned limestone quarry on the border, with a Hoffmann kiln, an old tramway and a nature reserve on the cliff faces.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Moderate
• Welshpool & the Border

  Llanfyllin and the Cain Valley

  Farmland and woodland circuits from a small market town, climbing for views over the Cain valley and the Berwyn beyond.

  3.7 mi2 hr 10 Moderate
• Machynlleth & the Dyfi

  Machynlleth and Glyndŵr’s Way

  Out of town on the national trail, climbing away from the Dyfi with Machynlleth below you within ten minutes.

  3.7 mi2 hr Moderate
• Machynlleth & the Dyfi

  Foel Fadian

  The highest point on Glyndŵr’s Way, in genuinely remote country above the Dyfi, with a steep drop into the cwm below the summit.

  3.7 mi2 hr 20 Demanding
• Machynlleth & the Dyfi

  Dyfi Forest above Corris

  Forestry tracks climbing out of a slate village, past spoil tips and tramway inclines slowly disappearing under trees.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Machynlleth & the Dyfi

  Pennal and the Dyfi Estuary

  A quiet loop from a village with a Roman fort, a Glyndŵr connection and the Dyfi estuary opening out below.

  3.4 mi1 hr 55 Moderate
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Lake Vyrnwy Circular

  The full circuit of the lake on a quiet road, long but never steep and never in doubt. Shorter sections from any of the car parks if twelve miles is more than you fancy.

  11.8 mi5 hr Demanding
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Rhiwargor Waterfall

  A short steep loop to a waterfall at the top end of Lake Vyrnwy, with a viewing platform partway up. Very good value for the time it takes.

  1.2 mi40 min Moderate
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Pistyll Rhaeadr

  The tallest single-drop waterfall in Wales, at the end of a long narrow lane. Stand at the bottom in five minutes, or take the steep path to the top of the fall.

  1.6 mi1 hr Moderate
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Cadair Berwyn and Moel Sych

  The highest ground in Wales outside Eryri and the Bannau. Serious weather, poor paths in places, and one of the finest hidden lakes in the country.

  7.5 mi4 hr 30 Strenuous
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Craig Rhiwarth

  A steep climb from a slate village to an Iron Age hillfort on a crag, with old quarry workings on the way and the Tanat valley below.

  3.1 mi2 hr Demanding
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Meifod and the Vyrnwy Valley

  A gentle circuit from a village that was once the religious centre of the kingdom of Powys, through the broad green Vyrnwy valley.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Lake Vyrnwy & the Berwyn

  Llanwddyn and the Dam

  A short circuit below the Vyrnwy dam through the woods of the rebuilt village, with the old village lying under the water above you.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Moderate

These are route guides, not turn-by-turn directions. Take the relevant OS Explorer map, check the weather, and tell someone where you are going.