Ty Canol Wood is an atmospheric ancient woodland which can be accessed via an easy circuit walk. Wandering through the 6000 year old forest is a delight, with dense moss covered trees and rocks that give it a mysterious feel. It’s also a fantastic walk if you want to escape the elements. We visited on a seriously blustery day, and the forest canopy completely shielded us from the worst of the wind and rain.
Given how old and how beautiful the forest is, it’s surprisingly not well known, so you’re unlikely to share it with more than a handful of others, if anyone at all.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Ty Canol Wood.
The Ty Canol Wood circuit walk
The stats
Distance: 2.5 miles (4km) loop
Elevation gain: 110m
Difficulty: Easy
The walk around the woods is virtually all flat. Whilst there is no tricky terrain, the path can be uneven and it does get muddy in places after heavy rain. Whilst there are signposts along the trail, they aren’t always easy to follow, so we’ve included detailed directions below.
There are a couple of different routes you can take, including a longer version than the circuit we describe here if you have more time.
Starting the trail
You can’t actually park at the trailhead for the walk because it’s located on private property. Instead you have to park at a nearby lay-by (coordinates below) and walk to the private road, which you’re allowed to use if on foot.
From the lay-by you head south for 200m, along the road and then turn right/west, over the cattle grid and onto the private road (the wood is signposted here).
You’ll continue along the road for the next 600m (800m from the lay-by) before you arrive at the farm buildings.
Along the way you’ll pass some pretty scenery and there were plenty of sheep and ponies to liven up the otherwise unremarkable road walk.
The trail into the wood begins just past the farmhouse, after passing through the gate you’ll head left and then left again, there’s a big sign for the wood so you can’t go wrong.
Into the ancient woodland
After you’ve been walking for 1km (from the parking area) you’ll hit the start of the woodland. Just 50m later you’ll come to a signpost and head right, following the yellow arrow.
You’re now just 150m from where it starts to get especially beautiful, the mossy forest.
This is where it really feels ancient. You’ll walk on a dirt track which is nice and easy, but for the fact sections can become a little waterlogged.
It was nothing too dramatic, but if it has been wet don’t come in any shoes you want to keep pristine!
This part of the wood has a dense canopy and a definite mysterious vibe, especially if you’re visiting on a cloudy day.
The thick covering of moss on the rocks and trees are what makes it feel really special, and the next 150m walking through this particular patch of trees was my favourite of the whole walk.
Although the forest does open up a little as you walk further, it’s still very pretty.
Completing the circuit
At roughly the 1 mile (1.5km) mark you need to turn right - don’t continue on straight, which would take you over the stile.
As you continue along the flat path, you’re walking through more beautiful forest with occasional views out to fields and even the sea in the distance.
It’s so peaceful and the easiness of the walking makes it feel very relaxing.
After another 600m you’ll reach a junction. It feels like you should head right at the signpost as it looks like this would form a circuit, but you actually need to head left. You’ll almost immediately come to a gate and pass through it.
Roughly 400m later there is a particularly bad patch of mud that lasts for about 100m. It was hard to avoid squelching right through it, but again we were visiting after a lot of rain, so it might not always be so bad.
Roughly 600m from the junction where you headed left, you’ll come to another gate and take a sharp right after passing through it.
There is a tiny stream crossing just beyond. It’s only a few steps, but the stepping stones do submerge after heavy rain, it’s otherwise very easy to cross.
A couple of hundred metres beyond this crossing, the path splits and you need to head right, along the track towards the large signpost.
You’ll head slightly uphill through another patch of woodland before you are walking along a slither of forest with fields of sheep on either side. It’s a little uneven here, but still easy enough.
After around 500m you’ll pass through a gate and head out onto the private road. You head left and are just 150m from the cattle grid and 200m beyond this is the lay-by you parked at.
All in all, this is a short but very pretty woodland walk. The absolute best bit is that first section of mossy forest, so if you only want to see this bit you can shave almost 2km off the distance.
However, that does mean most of the walk would be on the road and only a short patch in the spectacular forest, so it’s worth doing the whole circuit.
Getting to Ty Canol Wood
There are various ways of accessing the wood, but the quickest way is the route described above. Parking is on a lay-by along an unnamed road that runs to the east of Ty Canol Nature Reserve, coordinates: 51.996852, -4.768923
It’s very close to the Pentre Ifan burial chamber, which is well worth a visit, and just a 130m walk each way from the parking area. The burial site is over 5000 years old and it’s one of those places a bit like Stonehenge where you wonder how these huge slabs of rock were moved there (incidentally the rocks are the same kind that you’ll see at Stonehenge). The views from here are also lovely.
You could make a loop walk to the wood from this area too, which we did consider, but it looked to involve a lot of traversing fields which didn’t appeal to us in the driving wind!
There are no facilities at the trailhead or along the walk (including toilets) so you’ll need to plan accordingly.
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