Walking the Coedwig Cymru Trail: A walk through nature and gentle restoration

When the Welsh Government launched the pilot section of the Coedwig Cymru Trail, it marked the beginning of a new long distance walking route that winds for 78km from Porthkerry Park in the Vale of Glamorgan to Pont Walby viaduct near Glynneath. Along the way it connects 12 National Forest for Wales sites and a total of 24 woodlands, offering a rich mix of landscapes.

This first section of the trail has been brought to life with the support and expertise of Natural Resources Wales (NRW), and our teams helped shape, design and deliver the route. Our dedicated National Forest for Wales Team has supported the project from the outset, ensuring the trail follows existing rights of way wherever possible, works well on the ground, and reflects the ambitions of the growing National Forest network.

The trail is divided into manageable sections for most visitors - though ambitious challenge seekers could take on the full route in around 24 hours! Because it follows the existing rights of way and cycle networks, many parts are already suitable for wheelchair users, cyclists and horse riders.

The work to develop this pilot route has been coordinated throughout by our dedicated National Forest for Wales Team, drawing together expertise and support from across the organisation.

The trail builds on three years of work by the team, who have helped more than 80 woodlands join the growing National Forest for Wales. As the network expanded, the idea of a trail linking these sites became possible. Our South Central officer designed and surveyed the route, supported by colleagues across NRW and partners ranging from local authorities to Llais y Goedwig, the Ramblers and the British Horse Society.

With around 30% of the Coedwig Cymru Trail running through woodland managed by NRW, walkers will pass landscapes where our teams are managing woodland, restoring nature, improving habitats and uncovering ecological stories that are only just beginning to reveal themselves.

Two such places lie along the route.

 

Hensol Forest

The trail through Hensol Forest is generally accessible with plenty of amenities along the trail. Many of the sections are suitable for young families and wheelchair users.

Only 15 miles west of Cardiff, Hensol Forest has a quiet story to tell - one that our colleagues have helped bring gently back into the light. What appears to be a simple clearing to the north‑west of the path is, in truth, a place where the careful work of recent years has given nature the space to heal. Here, the landscape is beginning to recover its balance, and nature is once again doing what it was meant to do.

When larch trees were felled here in 2020, the newly opened ground breathed freely for the first time in decades. Then, heathland plants started to return. These were not ordinary plants, but species linked to lowland heathland, one of the UK’s rarest habitats. Some seeds may have waited underground for more than half a century, biding their time until the light returned.

Our officers quickly recognised the significance of these early shoots. Instead of replanting with trees, they chose to help the old heathland come back. Brash left from felling was cleared, encroaching scrub was nudged back, and sunlight once again found the forest floor - exactly what delicate heathland plants needed to re‑establish.

Today, anyone walking the trail passes a place where the landscape is gently rediscovering itself, guided by the care, curiosity and initiative of our colleagues.

 

Pen y Cymoedd Forest

In stark contrast to Hensol Forest, Pen y Cymoedd Forest is the remote and rugged crown at the end of a steep ascent, however you approach it. This section is among the most remote along the trail, so be prepared for inclines and a more challenging walk.

The landscape opens into the wide uplands where our teams, working alongside our partners are helping damaged peatlands heal and thrive again.

Supported by a £3‑million fund from the nearby Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm, this 25‑year restoration effort is transforming former conifer plantations into a mosaic of recovering upland habitats.

In areas of blanket bog, non‑native Sitka spruce is felled and old drainage channels are blocked to help water rise back to the surface. This recreates the cool, wet conditions that Sphagnum mosses and other bog‑forming plants need, while also providing valuable habitat for water voles, nightjars and other iconic species.

Elsewhere, habitats such as wet heath, dry heath and marshy grassland are being allowed to return naturally, guided by long‑term monitoring and gentle interventions.

Walking this section of the trail gives visitors a glimpse of uplands learning to breathe again - slowly, steadily, and with the help of colleagues committed to their long recovery.

A walk through restoration

The Coedwig Cymru Trail offers more than a long‑distance route: it is an invitation to step into landscapes where nature is returning, habitats are healing and quiet, careful work is unfolding just beyond the path. It is a way to get to know a new corner of Wales - or to see a familiar place from an entirely different perspective.

Whether you walk a short section or take on the whole route, make sure to pause, look closely, and let the surrounding woodlands spark your curiosity. Nature is busy at work along the Coedwig Cymru Trail - and there is no better way to experience it than on foot.

As we continue to work with the Welsh Government and other partners to develop this first stretch throughout the year, it will lay the foundations for the trail’s next phases.