Walks in the Vale of Clwyd
The Different Walks Offered
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I offer three types of Walk - Day Walks on a Friday, Shorter Walks on a Saturday, and a longer Moel Famau walk on a fifth Friday or a fifth Saturday. I can also offer any of these walks for private groups on different days of the week, subject to advance booking and availability.
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DAY WALKS:
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St Saeran’s Walk. (11am -5pm)
£15
Moderate (13.7 km/ 8.5 miles)
A Beautiful walk following the Rivers Clywedog and Clwyd, and visiting the church of St Saeran at Llanynys on the site of the largest Celtic monastery in the area. The Church includes the 15th century St Christopher painting.
This walk is abundant in peaceful low lying countryside and is particularly serene.
We’ll have our packed lunch in the church yard as it is the half way point on the journey.
Bring a packed lunch.
There is an optional diversion to pick up a Chilly Cow ice-cream (a local ice-cream firm on a dairy farm) on the way home!
Lady Bagot's Drive. (11am -5.15pm)
£15
Moderate with ascending sections (15km/ 9.3miles)
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The Lady Bagot’s Drive walk follows a country road - with fantastic views of the Clwydian range - coming down into Rhewl, where there is an optional stop for tea and cake at the Sugar Plum Tea rooms. It then follows Lady Bagot’s drive along the most hidden part of the River Clywedog, before cutting into forestry and farmland to take us round and back down into Rhewl. Here we will choose one of a number of possible routes back into Ruthin. Though it doesn’t go particularly high, this walk has some steep climbs. The first part of the walk includes a particularly steep climb.
Bring a packed lunch.
(In April and May, we will use an alternative route through a hidden bluebell wood).
Llangynhafal Walk. (11am -5.30pm)
£15
Moderate with ascending sections (15.1 km/ 9.4 miles)
Starting from Ruthin, we head up into the Vale. After climbing a path up to the lower edge of the Clwydian ridge, just north of Moel Famau, we will find a spot to have our Lunch, along a path with stunning views over the Vale, and out towards the North Wales Coast. Then we make our way to Llangynhafal and stop in the ancient church and church yard for a peaceful 5 minutes and look around. There is an optional stop for a drink in the Golden Lion Pub, before returning to Ruthin via the village of Gellifor, and the River Clwyd.
Bring a packed lunch.
Lower Clwydian Walk. (11am -4.45pm)
£15
Moderate with ascending sections (12.1 km/ 7.5 miles)
We walk up to Llanbedr DC, before climbing even higher into Coed Ceunant - a beautiful Woodland Trust managed woodland. We stop by a natural pond for Lunch. Then we head north along the lower western edge of the Clwydian ridge, through farmland and footpaths, before descending and coming out at a local farm, and heading back towards Ruthin.
Whilst this walk feels quite high - we don't go further than half way up the ridge - but it's high enough for amazing views. The slightly strenuous climbing is worth it for the views!
There are optional detours to Chilli Cow or to the Sugar Plum Tea rooms, but they are fairly long detours with this walk, so we will only do this if the group is particularly keen! It may end up better waiting to visit the pub back in Ruthin!
As with all the day walks, bring a packed lunch.
SHORTER WALKS:
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Llangynhafal and Hendrerwydd round walk (10am -1pm).
£10
Moderate-easy with 1 ascending section (5.9 km/ 3.7 miles)
A beautiful short walk from Llangynhafal, across fields to the lovely hamlet of Hendrewydd, passing the White Horse Pub - hopefully we won't loose any of our walkers in there!! We then follow a lane, and some fields passing just north of Gellifor. Finally we climb a bridleway and come back down lanes and fields, via St Cynhafal's Church back to the the Golden Lion Pub, where there is an option of finishing with a refreshment. Bring snacks and drinks.
St Saeran's shorter walk (10am-1pm)
£10
Moderate-easy (8.1 km/ 5miles)
This is a shorter version of the longer walk, and includes all the best sections, with wonderful low lying farmland, two rivers - if lucky, dippers, kingfishers, grey wagtails and herons - and a Church with a fascinating history, that goes way further back than the present building.
Bring Snack and Drinks.
Lady Bagot's Drive shorter walk (10am-1.45pm)
£10
Moderate with 1 ascending section (9.3 km/ 5.8 miles)
Again, this is the shorter version of the longer walk. We meet in Rhewl, and start with the drama of Lady Bagot's Drive and the fast flowing section of the Clywedog, where the river cuts through the rock. We then ascend through forestry, and back down via farmland and a beautifully quiet and scenic section to return to Rhewl and the option of tea and cake at the Sugar Plum Tea Rooms.
Bring snacks and drinks.
And possibly lunch too if 1.45 is too far away!
Ruthin to Rhewl walk (10am -1pm, or 10am-1.45pm longer route)
£10
Moderate-easy (7.5 km/ 4.7 miles, or 8.7 km/ 5.4 miles longer route)
A beautifully simple and relaxing walk along the River Clwyd and back to Ruthin via peaceful country lanes, with the Clwydian Hills visible at all times. A shorter version finishes just before Rhewl and turns back via an old watermill, or a longer version goes into Rhewl for a tea break at the Sugar Plum Tea Room.
We will decide if we do the longer or shorter version according to what the majority decide.
Bring snacks and drinks.
LONG MOEL FAMAU WALK:
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Moel Famau Walk (9am - 5.30pm)
£20
Moderate-hard with a lot of ascending (19.1 km/ 11.9 miles)
This is a bit of a mammoth walk! It can take anything between 8 and 10 hours. It's not hugely complicated, but we climb 554 metres during it, and it is a long walk. It does need a slightly higher level of fitness than the other walks.
It's worth it though! The scenery we pass through is incredible, and after ascending gently all the way from Ruthin, via lanes, roads and a short section of Offa's Dyke Path, we come to the final short steep climb up to the Jubilee Tower on the top of Moel Famau. We then clamber down Offa's Dyke for another half a mile, until turning left, down a little known mountain path, to skirt our way along to the outskirts of Llangynhafal, before finally turning south, and following a route back to Ruthin via bridal paths, fields and lanes.
Bring a particularly large packed lunch with plenty of snacks and drinks for this walk, to keep up energy and hydration levels.
We can detour to the Golden Lion in the final section of the walk, if drinks are needed!
