4x4 Routes

Mid Wales, UK - Some byways and tracks near Llandrindod Wells

Some photos to go with these routes can be found in the Photos section here. Our group camped for the weekend in a village called Rhayader, we camped at Gigrin Farm which although cheap (£3 per person per night when we went) and fine for our purposes has no facilities other than toilets - i.e. no showers etc. It does offer B&B and self-catering cottage accommodation too. There is also another camp site in Rhayder which may offer better facilities. Rhayder is quite centrally placed to access the byways I had identified on my maps. As it turned out one of the bigger byways had been closed by the council until the end of 2003 and a couple of byways had had their status changed since my maps were published because the byways only went as far as a county border. However, we still found a number of legitimate byways and tracks and had an excellent time.

Overview of Routes

The map below shows the routes I had planned and some of the problems we encountered - if you look at an up-to-date OS Landranger map (or a Multimap map at 1:25,000) you should see that the byways change at one side of a county border (around the "No longer byways" circle on the map below).

All of the routes we did can be done without damage to vehicles as long as you are careful - there were no extreme climbs or obstacles although of course the weather conditions can change routes quite severely during the year.

Here are some brief details of the routes:

Route at left of map

When we went to drive this long looping route we found the top section had been closed by the council until 2004, so we drove around to the bottom part which runs along the edge of Claerwen Reservoir. Very nice views but not very challenging and also you can now only go so far because the byway across the county border has now had its status changed.

Route just NW of Rhayder central on the map

An excellent track with some great views and a bit more challenging and varied terrain to cover.

Route at top-right of map

We did not actually get around to driving this route.

Route at bottom-right of map

A nice long track with some great views and some quite varied terrain - lots of gates though!

Route at bottom-left of map

A superb route that criss-crosses a small river at a number of places and winds through woods etc. The road around the reservoir to the south has some superb views too - worth a visit. Not entirely sure how far North you can legitimately take this byway but it joins forest roads which you can take (legitimately or otherwise) right up to Strata Florida.

Disclaimer

Please remember the status of byways/tracks are often changed by councils (even on a seasonal basis) so I cannot say for sure that these routes are still valid or legal to drive on. Maps get out of date so even if you see byways on maps please ensure your routes are still legitimate to drive before doing so and adhere to any notices or signs that may be posted. No liability can be accepted for loss, damage or injury caused by any errors in, or omissions from, the information given above.

If you think any information is incorrect, confusing, misleading or incomplete, please feel free to contact me.