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Best 5 Woods and Water Walks Upper Towy Valley Carmarthenshire

tanya • Jun 14, 2019

Walk through Celtic Rainforest,
alongside waterfalls or by river canyons
in Carmarthenshire

1. RSPB Gwenffrwd Dinas & Twm Sion Cati cave
The OS grid reference is SN788471
Gwenffrwd-dinas, Nr Ystradffin, Llandovery SA20 0PG SN788471
From Llandovery, follow the brown signs to Twm Sion Cati Cave.

This is a fantastic walk, half of which is through ancient oak and alder woodland, which is covered in acres of bluebells in spring alongside the stunning River Tywi. The Celtic rainforest, or Atlantic Oak woodland, supports important populations of lower plants, particularly of lichens and bryophytes. These green carpets cover the trees, ground and boulders making everything verdant and damp.

Twm Sion Cati Woodland Walk Carmarthenshire

There’s a boardwalk through the alder woodland and then you walk – and in places scramble – alongside the river. Birdwatchers are likely to see dippers, red kites, pied flycatchers, redstarts, sandpipers and grey wagtails. The river rolls slowly along in the early part of the walk and then it picks up speed and thunders through a spectacular canyon of rocks.

About halfway along you can take a detour and steep climb up to Twm Sion Cati’s cave. Twm Sion Cati is a legendary Welsh figure, the equivalent to the English Robin Hood and reknowned for daredevil stunts and mischief. It is thought he hid here for quite some time. You can crawl into the cave and there are hundreds of names of visitors etched in the rock.

2. Llandovery Cilgwyn Woods
The OS grid reference is SN 752 297.
Take the A4069 from Llandovery to Llangadog. After 1 mile turn left along an unclassified road signposted to Myddfai and continue for another mile. At the junction continue straight ahead and, after ½ mile, the entrance to Cilgwyn Wood is on the left just after Cilgwyn Manor Farm.

This peaceful woodland has a lovely mix of different trees, including large Douglas fir, old beech and spruce. In spring, the banks at the start of the walking trail are carpeted with bluebells. The walk begins on the forest road which climbs steadily and has far-reaching views over farmland. It then turns off onto a narrow grassy track through the woodland.

The track winds past beech trees and majestic conifers on a steady climb up to a pond and bench in a shady glade of beech trees. The trail then crosses the forest road and goes alongside a bank of old beech trees before dropping back down to the starting point on the forest road.

3. Cwm Rhaeadr Waterfall Walk

The OS grid reference is SN 765 423

Follow signs for Cilycwm from Llandovery then continue northwards out of Cilycwm towards Llyn Brianne Reservoir until the sign for Cwm Rhaeadr.

Cwm Rhaeadr means valley of the waterfall. The walk to the waterfall meanders up through forestry and you can catch glimpses of it, the closer to you get. There are also good views of the waterfall and back down the valley to the Carmarthen Fans if you head up through the forestry on the stone trails.

There are horse trails here which lead onto the mountain and link to the bridle path on Mynydd Mallaen. There is also a 6.7km red run for mountain bikes, as well as a choice of walking and accessible trails which are suitable for wheelchairs with a 1/20 gradient. Downloadable Maps are available on link at top.

4. Llandovery and Twyi river walk
The Grid reference is SN 767343 and the walk is approximately 2 miles.
From the Llandovery Museum and Visitor Gateway turn right for a short distance along the main road (A40), then turn left and walk northwards up Stone Street. This meets the A483 road, which you cross and walk north along the Cilycwm Road.

Dolauhirion Bridge, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire

On a prominent rise to the right you’ll see St Mary’s Church, a Grade 1 building listed "as a substantial medieval church with intricate history of building and change from the C12 to the C16, with fine W tower and high degree of survival of medieval architectural features." It stands on a mound that was once the site of a Roman fort. After a mile, turn left to the similarly Grade 1 listed Dolauhirion Bridge. Just before the bridge, turn left onto the path alongside the river Tywi and walk with the river at your right-hand side. When you reach the main road, turn left and return to the centre of town.

However, if you’d like to extend the walk a little, cross the road and continue following the path downstream. After a mile, you’ll go under the railway track. Soon afterwards turn left past Llwyn Jack Farm and continue until you reach the road, before turning left and heading back towards town.

5. Llyn Brianne

The grid reference is SN 8005 4965

From Llandovery, follow signs to Llyn Brianne.

Constructed in the 1970s, Llyn Brianne was designed to control the flow of the River Towy to enable consistent water extraction further downstream. The dam is 299 feet high and 951 feet long. The capacity of the dam was increased from 13,400million gallons to 14,200 million gallons. The normal flow is 1.5 million gallons a day during the summer driving a single turbine. During the winter and spring there are three turbines operating, producing 4.3 Megawatts of electricity.

There is a viewing point for the spillway, but if you drive a little further on, there is a public car park on the left. You can walk from here along the top of the dam and carry on along the forest tracks and walk around the reservoir to get different views of it. There is a large amount of coniferous forestry surrounding the dam, but there are also a number of deciduous woodlands around the edge right next to the water, which are very attractive. This is not a circular walk, although there are options here to take a circular route via the entrance to the Doethie Valley.

Caving.co.uk have a great suggestion for a scenic drive/walk or bicycle outing to the Nant Ystalwyn Waterfall walk.

6. Sustenance!

There are three lovely pubs in the Upper Tywi Valley, which you may wish to include in as part of your visit. All serve food. The Neuadd Arms in Cilycwm, The Towy Bridge Inn, Rhandirymwyn and The Royal Oak, Rhandirmwyn. They are all dog friendly. It's best to check their opening times before you visit.

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