Easily accessible by public transport from central Cardiff, this short hill-walk makes a perfect excursion for fleeing city-dwellers, and visits the peak that inspired Christopher Monger’s novel The Englishman who went up a Hill and came down a Mountain. From the open access land at the summit of Garth Hill, there are 360-degree views that reach right across the Bristol Channel to Devon on a clear day. Across the Taff Gorge, you make out Castell Coch, the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff’s other landmarks; and northwards are the Taff Ely wind farm and the Brecon Beacons. At your feet are Bronze Age burial cairns, which are all Scheduled Ancient Monuments.
[1] Exit Taffs Well rail station (ST124832) and cross the A4050 and the River Taff over a bridge with excellent views of Garth Hill to your right.
[2] Continue along the footpath and turn right when you reach Main Road. Follow the pavement then turn right towards the village of Gwaelod y Garth (meaning ‘foot of the Garth’ in Welsh).
[3] Go straight ahead through the village and turn left just before the Gwaelod y Garth Inn (ST115939). Follow the road until you get to the hairpin bend, then turn right up a mud track behind a house. Ahead is a waymarked stile and metal gate. Follow this route uphill, through the woodland, until you reach Lan Farm (ST112846).
[4] At the far edge of the farm’s yard is a wooden post, directing you to the footpath on the left side of the hedge. This next section of the route can be quite boggy and is not clearly visible on the ground, but waymarked stiles point the way – all in a westerly direction.
[5] At a wooded field, follow the next waymarked stile on the left into an open field, aiming slightly uphill for the next stile. In the next field aim for the brow of the hill then follow the right side of the stone wall till you see a way marked stile (ST104844). Turn left up the grassy road, through a rusty gate, along a small bank and a line of trees on your right, and through a field of livestock.
[6] Beyond the waymarked gate at the end of this field is open access land. Follow a track on the ground to a mound with a trig point (307m/1,007ft) on your right (ST103835) and enjoy the views.
[7] For your descent, follow the Ridgeway Walk footpath, taking care on the steep sections.
The route has a hairpin bend (ST112836), where the view over the gorge below is particularly good.
[8] Follow the route until you reach a tarmac road, then turn left and follow the road downwards back into the village, past the Gwaelod y Garth Inn, to retrace your steps back to the rail station.