Carmarthenshire - Abergorlech Forest Walks

The car park is just outside the village of Abergorlech and is the starting point for all three waymarked walking trails as well as a mountain bike trail. There's also a forest garden, where Forestry Commission employees in the 1950s planted a selection of trees from all over the world – giant redwoods from California; eucalyptus from Australia; nothofagus from South America; firs from all the continents; and a variety of European species like sessile oak, walnut and spruce.

The Riverside Walk:

This is an easy 1 mile walk that's perfect for families. This mainly level woodland trail goes alongside the river Gorlech, over a bridge and then returns along the forest road. Although it's a fairly easy walk, wear shoes with good grips as the paths can be slippery in rainy weather.

The Gorlech Walk:

This moderate-level route is 3.5 miles and climbs uphill through beautiful woodland following the Gorlech River. Again, paths can be slippery so take care. It takes around 2 hours to complete.

The Forest Garden Walk:

This more strenuous walk is around 5.5 miles long and is the hardest of the three. Waterproof shoes are definitely recommended. Paths can become slick when they are wet, including the Gorlech Walk climb, which is required to reach the Forest Garden Trail.

Brechfa Forest covers some 6500 hectares and is looked after by Natural Resources Wales for the benefit of people, wildlife and timber production. Stop off long the riverside sections of the trails to see if you can spot some strangely shaped stones. Many of which are placed in the front gardens of cottages in the surrounding villages.

The car park has portable toilets, a picnic area, and a play area for kids.