All walks › Rhayader & the Elan Valley
Rhayader & the Elan ValleyPen 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.
- Distance
- 3.1 mi / 5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 40
- Ascent
- 150 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
Cross the dam and pick up the paths through the woodland on the eastern shore, following the water before returning on the trail on the opposite side. Undulating rather than steep.
Worth knowing
- Sheltered enough to be worth doing in wind, when the higher dams are miserable.
- Pied flycatchers and redstarts in the oak woods from late April. The Elan valley is one of the best places in Wales for both.
- The island in the reservoir is the top of a hill that was not quite drowned.
What you’ll see
Sessile oak woodland, the straining tower on the dam, and waterfowl on the open reservoir.
Background
Pen y Garreg was completed in 1904. The oak woods around it are remnants of the much larger woodland that covered these valley sides before the reservoirs, now managed as part of the estate’s conservation work.