A 135-mile horseshoe through the quiet hill country of mid-Wales, from Knighton round to Welshpool by way of Machynlleth
Indicative — sampled from open terrain data along the simplified route.
Glyndŵr’s Way starts in Knighton on the English border and finishes 135 miles (217 km) later in Welshpool, two towns only about 22 miles apart as the crow flies. The National Trail takes the long way round, looping west in a broad horseshoe through the hills of mid-Wales to Machynlleth and back again. It’s a quiet walk through some of the emptiest country in Wales, over open moorland, sheep pasture and forestry, with plenty of climbing along the way. The highest point is Foel Fadian, a little over 500 metres, above the old lead-mining hamlet of Dylife.
The route is named after Owain Glyndŵr, who led a Welsh rising against the English king Henry IV that began in 1400. In 1404 he held a parliament at Machynlleth and was crowned Prince of Wales, and the Owain Glyndŵr Centre in the town is on the site of that parliament. The path was made a National Trail in 2000, six hundred years after the rising began.
Heading west from Knighton, the path passes the scant ruins of Cwmhir Abbey, goes through the small market town of Llanidloes and skirts the Llyn Clywedog reservoir before crossing the hills to Machynlleth. The return leg heads east past Lake Vyrnwy, the Victorian reservoir built to supply Liverpool, then down through Meifod to Welshpool. Acorn waymarks, the symbol of every National Trail, show the way.
Knighton has a station on the Heart of Wales line, and Machynlleth and Welshpool are both on the Cambrian line, which makes the trail easier to walk in sections. Shops and beds are thin on the ground between the towns, so it pays to plan each night’s stop before setting off. The Offa’s Dyke Path runs through Knighton and close to Welshpool, so the two trails can be joined into one long loop.
