Walks you can reach from Skewen by train

Recommended

Walk details: Railwalks.

Recommended

Walk details: Railwalks.

You can see all the way around Swansea Bay and across the sea to Exmoor on a clear day. A scenic, very largely off-road walk on woodland and hill trails, climbing high onto Mynydd Dinas to the national coast path with sweeping views over Swansea Bay and the steelworks and across to Exmoor. A steep descent into Port Talbot with many wooden steps; trails are tree-rooty and muddy in short sections. Follows the Wales Coast Path along the top of Mynydd Dinas; picks up Baglan and Briton Ferry as jumping-on points.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 3h30–7h

Lunch: Shops at Briton Ferry are a short detour off-route.

Warnings: A steep descent with lots of wooden steps into Port Talbot; short tree-rooty and muddy sections hinder wheeling. Keep an eye out to get under the M4 and cross a busy road correctly near Port Talbot.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Mainly flat and on tarmac, following a former railway/tram route (National Cycle Network Route 4) through woodland for about six miles and with a couple of short stony sections that are well bedded in. Good for wheels; some parallel off-tarmac paths offer variety on foot. Follows National Cycle Network Route 4. The route runs alongside Parc Slip nature reserve and is buzzing with wildlife; Aberkenfig near the end has shops, pubs, cafes and a bakery.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 2h30–5h

1 lunch spot: Parc Slip Visitor Centre café

End-of-walk reward: Aberkenfig, near the end, has shops, pubs, cafes and a bakery.

Warnings: One alternative track in the Fountain Parkland section is narrow, boggy and rough underfoot; the surfaced cycle track is the better option.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Impressive; panoramic views. Mountain paths and with strenuous climbs and descents; surfaced.

Time: 4h–8h

Warnings: Can be very muddy or boggy.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Great views. Disused railway path with woodland and open moorland.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 3h–6h30

Walk details: Railwalks.

Delightful walk; wide views. Disused railway path with woodland and with substantial climbs; surfaced.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h30

Walk details: Railwalks.

Time: 4h30–9h

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a quarter of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 3h–6h30

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A walk of two parts: well-defined paths and ginnels through the Brackla housing estate, then off-road field, woodland and quiet country-lane walking. Some sections are steep, with stiles and steps and ground that can be boggy in the woods even in dry weather. Part of the route follows the Bridgend Circular Walk. Pencoed has trains to Bridgend, Swansea and Cardiff, so the walk can be done in either direction.

Time: 2h–4h30

Lunch: Pubs, cafes, shops and supermarkets at Brackla triangle and in Pencoed.

Warnings: Heol Simonston is busy with fast traffic and the crossing points have poor sight lines; cross with great care. The high-banked lanes near Coed y Mwstwr have no verge. There are several stiles and steep, difficult ground approaching the M4 tunnel; using the underpass at Princess Way is simpler and safer than the road crossing. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A valley route whose second half from Pontrhydyfen to Maesteg is good, but whose first half is problematic: proposed detours to avoid the B4287 cross ground that is not a right of way and is in places impassable and the descent into Maesteg is across pathless scrubland.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 5h–10h

Warnings: The first half is hard to follow and partly impassable; some detours cross land with no right of way. The descent into Maesteg has no obvious path. The B4287 has no pavement.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Easy and largely flat, with only one unpaved section along the canal between Jersey Marine and Port Tennant. The stretch from Briton Ferry to Jersey Marine is a dull flog alongside the dual carriageway and but the wide shared cyclepath is safe; the approach into Swansea over a suspension bridge is more scenic than the road route. The canal path continues all the way under the road bridge at Giant's Grave; well waymarked and frequently used though not shown as a right of way on OS maps.

Time: 4h–7h30

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.