All walks › Rhondda and the Western Valleys
Rhondda and the Western ValleysCyfarthfa Park
Parkland around the ironmaster’s castle, looking down on the furnaces that made Merthyr the largest town in Wales and the iron capital of the world.
- Distance
- 3.1 mi / 5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 40
- Ascent
- 70 m
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
Surfaced paths loop through the park and down to the river and the ironworks remains. Level and easy.
Worth knowing
- Cyfarthfa Castle was built by the Crawshay family in 1825 and is now a museum, free to enter.
- The blast furnace remains are below the park and are being conserved.
- Merthyr was the largest town in Wales in 1801, bigger than Cardiff and Swansea combined.
What you’ll see
The castle and museum, parkland and lake, and the Cyfarthfa furnace remains.
Background
Cyfarthfa ironworks was the largest in the world by 1810, and the Crawshays built their castle overlooking it deliberately.