All walks › Tywi Valley and Carmarthen
Tywi Valley and CarmarthenDolaucothi Gold Mines
The only known Roman gold mine in Britain, in wooded hills above the Cothi, with open-cast workings, aqueducts and later Victorian levels all on the same hillside.
- Distance
- 3.1 mi / 5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 50
- Ascent
- 180 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- 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
Waymarked trails climb through the woods past the Roman opencasts, the aqueduct channels and the twentieth-century mine buildings, returning to the visitor centre.
Worth knowing
- Underground tours run in season and are booked separately; the surface walks are free to National Trust members.
- The Roman aqueducts run for seven miles along the contour and stretches are still traceable.
- The woodland paths are steep and slippery when wet.
What you’ll see
Roman opencast workings, aqueduct leats, mine buildings and machinery, and the Cothi valley.
Background
The Romans mined gold here from around 75 AD on an industrial scale, using water power to strip the hillside. Mining resumed in the nineteenth century and ended in 1938.