Upper Wye Valley
Llanwrtyd Wells and the Irfon Hills
Hill paths above the smallest town in Britain, which is also where people race horses against runners and bog-snorkel for sport.
- Distance
- 4.3 mi / 7 km
- Time
- 2 hr 35
- Ascent
- 300 m
- Difficulty
- Demanding
- 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
Climb from the town onto the hills above the Irfon and return by farm lanes. Steady climbing with open views.
Worth knowing
- Llanwrtyd claims the title of smallest town in Britain and invented both the Man versus Horse Marathon and the World Bog Snorkelling Championships.
- The Heart of Wales railway line stops here, which makes it reachable without a car.
- The Irfon valley upstream is genuinely remote.
What you’ll see
The Irfon, hill sheep country, red kites, and the town in its hollow.
Background
Llanwrtyd grew as a spa around a sulphur spring, and reinvented itself in the 1970s with a series of increasingly eccentric events.