All walks › Rhayader & the Elan Valley
Rhayader & the Elan ValleyElan 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.
- Distance
- 9.0 mi / 14.5 km
- Time
- 3 hr 30
- Ascent
- 130 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- There and back
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
The trail runs from Cwmdauddwr on the edge of Rhayader up the valley to Craig Goch, following the old railway formation. Gradients are railway gradients, which is to say barely noticeable. Turn round at any of the car parks along the way.
Worth knowing
- The surface is firm and even throughout, and the gates are designed to let wheelchairs and trikes through.
- Nine miles each way is a long day. Most people go as far as Garreg Ddu or Pen y Garreg and come back.
- Shared with cyclists, who are generally courteous but move quickly on the descents.
What you’ll see
Reservoir views, cuttings and embankments from the construction railway, oak woodland and open water.
Background
Birmingham Corporation built a standard-gauge railway up the valley purely to construct the dams, hauling stone, cement and men for a decade, then lifted the track once the work was done.