All walks › Dee Valley and Llangollen
Dee Valley and LlangollenPontcysyllte Aqueduct
Walking a towpath a hundred and twenty feet above the Dee on a cast iron trough with no railing on the water side. A World Heritage Site and a genuinely unnerving experience.
- Distance
- 3.7 mi / 6 km
- Time
- 1 hr 50
- Ascent
- 40 m
- Difficulty
- Easy
- 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
Cross the aqueduct from Trevor Basin and continue along the towpath towards Llangollen, turning back whenever suits. Flat and surfaced the whole way.
Worth knowing
- There is a railing on the towpath side and nothing at all on the other. People with a fear of heights find the crossing hard.
- The towpath continues to Llangollen, about four miles, on the level the whole way.
- Boats cross too. Standing aside for one on the aqueduct is part of the experience.
What you’ll see
The aqueduct itself, the Dee far below, and the Vale of Llangollen opening westward.
Background
Thomas Telford and William Jessop completed it in 1805. It is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain and was given World Heritage status in 2009.