Walks from Rhymney

An excellent walk overall. A scenic valleys walk, mostly along a fully paved Sustrans cycle path, with a steady uphill from Bargoed through Cwm Darran Park and around Ogilvie Lake. A steep road climb with no pavement above Pontlottyn and a short boggy quagmire of clumpy marsh grass near Fochriw. Mostly a fully paved Sustrans route. Worth the extra walk around Ogilvie Lake.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Time: 3h–6h

Lunch: The visitor centre at Parc Cwm Darran is a good place to break for cake and coffee.

Warnings: A short, steep road climb above Pontlottyn has no pavement; the field path into Fochriw can be a boggy mudbath (easy to give up and walk down the streets instead).

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Great views. Open moorland with woodland; boggy in places.

Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Time: 3h–5h30

Warnings: Can be very muddy or boggy.

Walk details: Railwalks.

An adventurous-feeling walk through Rhymney, then a stroll through farmland and across barren moor-like hillside before merging onto the roadside and passing opencast coal mining into Merthyr. On the hillside the path is very hard to follow directly.

Time: 3h–6h

Warnings: On the open hillside the path is very difficult to follow directly.

Walk details: Slow Ways.