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A day spent completing a year or so of touring the Welsh mountains, with two of the less traditionally ‘glamorous’ ones, but (perhaps partly because the anticipation was so desperately low!) a far more picturesque and enjoyable walk than expected…
The drive in between and over the Elan Valley reservoirs is quite lovely, and the initial ascent on a good mine track up the wooded Marchnant valley easy and beautiful. The following climb up south-east from the old quarry is rougher, an intermittently decent path hanging precariously above the stream interspersed with spells of thrashing through waist-high reeds above damp and bumpy ground, but it’s pretty brief - once on the higher slopes of Gorllwyn, the ground turns firmer and grassier and good views open up again across the valleys and reservoirs.
![1 Afon Claerwyn & Moelfryn from near walk-start.jpg]()
- Afon Claerwyn & Moelfryn
![2 Dolymynach Reservoir.jpg]()
- Dolymynach Reservoir
![3 Marchnant valley, Gurnos behind.jpg]()
- Marchnant valley, Gurnos behind
![4 Falls and old quarry in Marchnant valley.jpg]()
- Falls and old quarry in Marchnant valley
![5 Claerwen Reservoir dam in close-up.jpg]()
- Claerwen Reservoir dam in close-up
![6 Claerwen valley from slopes of Gorllwyn.jpg]()
- Claerwen valley from slopes of Gorllwyn
![7 South towards Black Mountains from Gorllwyn.jpg]()
- South towards Black Mountains from Gorllwyn
![8 Gorllwyn summit.jpg]()
- Gorllwyn summit
![9 East from Gorllwyn.jpg]()
- East from Gorllwyn
The real test – and the true justification of these hills’ reputation as boggy horrors – is the stretch across the moor from Gorllwyn to Drygarn Fawr. The second hill is clearly in view almost all the way (in mist, both the best way onward and the motivation to complete the slog might be difficult to find) but it takes a long, long while before it starts to seem closer, and it may not be the best idea to look too often at the map and see that it’s actually over four miles away… There’s little variation in scenery or terrain for most of that stretch, and a bit of a teeth-gritter. The first stretch down isn’t too bad, with old boundary stones marking the way and most of the worse ground avoidable, but up from the vague col to the lower slopes of Drygarn Fawr is really tough going: hags, marsh (at the moment just wet feet and ankles, rather than knees and thighs, but even that palls after a while), long grass, and little or nothing in the way of pathing. After that, the quite rocky summit ridge is quite a surprise and the two huge and well-preserved cairns (quite what happened to the other of the titular ‘Three Large Cairns’ is unclear – perhaps sunk beneath the marshes??) undeniably spectacular.
![10 Close-up of Drygarn Fawr, over 4 miles of moor, from Gorllwyn.jpg]()
- Close-up of Drygarn Fawr, over 4 miles of moor, from Gorllwyn
![11 Boundary stone and Elan Valley bogs.jpg]()
- Boundary stone and Elan Valley bogs
![12 Start of final climb to Drygarn Fawr.jpg]()
- Start of final climb to Drygarn Fawr
![13 Carreg yr Ast.jpg]()
- Carreg yr Ast
![14 Drygarn Fawr from NE cairn.jpg]()
- Drygarn Fawr from NE cairn
![15 Drygarn Fawr summit cairn, the last Welsh mountain!.jpg]()
- Drygarn Fawr summit cairn, the last Welsh mountain!
![16 View north from Drygarn Fawr.jpg]()
- View north from Drygarn Fawr
![17 Gorllwyn in distance over NE top from Drygarn Fawr.jpg]()
- Gorllwyn in distance over NE top from Drygarn Fawr
The hard work of the day is over then, with a clear and very well-routed off-map vehicle track setting off north-east, skirting the boggiest ground and – with enticing views throughout of the rocky gorges to the left – finding the best way down to the broad mine track bridging the Nant Paradwys and heading back down to the valley.
![18 View back to Gorllwyn (R) across the moor.jpg]()
- View back to Gorllwyn (R) across the moor
![19 Descent track from Drygarn Fawr.jpg]()
- Descent track from Drygarn Fawr
![20 Craig y Llysiau over Nant Dyrys valley.jpg]()
- Craig y Llysiau over Nant Dyrys valley
![21 Nant Paradwys falls.jpg]()
- Nant Paradwys falls
![22 Mine track down to Claernant valley.jpg]()
- Mine track down to Claernant valley
![23 Rhiwnant valley.jpg]()
- Rhiwnant valley
![24 Craig y Llysiau from near end of walk.jpg]()
- Craig y Llysiau from near end of walk
Perhaps these will never be anyone’s favourite hills (and the stretch in between them is strictly masochists-only stuff), but this is a surprisingly beautiful area and both the ascent and descent paths (especially from the valley up to Drygarn Fawr) are good and enjoyable ones. Climb the two separately, either as ‘there-and-backs’ or finding shorter circuits, and they’re well worth the detour off the beaten tracks.
