Cwm Gast Loop from Isfryn

This is a 4 mile (7km) walk over the ridge you can see opposite Isfryn, on the other side of the main road. The route is on mainly good tracks but there are a few wet areas so boots are recommended. It involves about 250m of ascent and should take 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours.

Cwm Gast, (Valley of the Bitch) is just behind the ridge you can see from Isfryn.

The Route:

1) From Isfryn, walk to the main A470. Turn right alongside the road and follow it for 300m until you reach the first farm on the left.

2) Turn into the farm, taking the track through the farm buildings into the farmyard. In the yard turn right and take the track through a gate in front of the farmhouse. If they’re in, say Hi to the farmers Glyn & Nia and their sheepdogs.

Follow this track as it winds uphill, keeping left (uphill) at the first gate at a junction and left again at a second gate higher up, by a 2-storey barn. You should consider stopping for a breather to enjoy the views of the Dyfi valley, across to Aberangell village, the Angell Valley and Cader Idris beyond.

3) Eventually the track flattens out as you draw level with a copse of trees on your left. At the fence line a few hundred metres ahead there are two gates next to each other. Take the smaller left hand gate into a field of soft rushes. There is no clear path., but follow the right fence line for 100m before striking diagonally left, aiming for a gate about 250m ahead. Go through that onto a broad farm track.

100m to your left is a little man-made lake you might want to take a diversion to, but the route goes right from here on that broad track. In a few hundred metres go through a gate and then immediately bear slightly left, away from the main track, which climbs the hill, towards an old gate and a stile visible ahead.

4) Cross the stile and then bear slightly left - the track is initially a bit indistinct but it becomes clearer within 100m or so. Don’t take the slightly sunken track straight ahead with a tumbledown wall on its left - your route goes left of this.

About 200m beyond the stile, follow the track through an old gate and around a left bend, to more great views of the Dyfi valley. Stick on this track for a few hundred metres, ignoring a steep track descending on the right, until it peters out. Keep going in the same direction across the field for 150m, aiming for the top corner of a patch of trees visible ahead.

5) Go though the little victorian iron gate in the stone wall right at the edge of the tree line and descend steeply, following the fence beyond, with the trees to your right, until you reach another farm track just past the trees.Turn right down the track, though a gate, and then immediately bear left for a caravan and a house 100m below you. Take the good track heading down from the house, towards the main group of farm buildings.

6) At Pengwern farm buildings keep left of the farm and its concreted yard area by going through a farm gate in front of you and walking downhill for 150m until you reach the farm lane. Walk down the lane to the main A470. Turn left here and walk alongside the road for 400m until you reach the Aberangell turning.