Small, but beautiful is how I’d describe the woodland of Rhyd y Gaseg, it definitely has a Jurassic Park vibe to it and despite being only a mile or two south west of Ruthin, North Wales, it’s not a popular spot. On the walk you’ll see a small waterfall, play in streams and walk amongst towering trees.
Rhyd y Gaseg forms part of Clocaneog forest, a whopping 6000 hectares of forest planted in the 1930s, managed by Natural Resources Wales. At 15 hectares Rhyd y Gaseg (which means ‘The Mare’s Ford’) is just a small slice of the pie and this circular walk of 1.6km won’t take you long so I’d say either team this walk with another in the Clocaneog forest or bookmark it for when you are passing through that way.
If you put Rhyd y Gaseg into Google Maps you’ll be on your way towards Porthmadog! I’m not sure why it’s not listed on there yet, but still that’s probably not a bad thing, so as always use my Sat Nav link in the Info bar which will take you right there!
Like most of my walks, once you’re off the main road there’s a single track road you have to drive down for just under a mile! You’ll arrive at a small car park where you’ll see the green Rhyd y Gaseg sign so you’ll know you’re in the right place.
The paths are all hardstanding however there are some steep sections so all in all I wouldn’t recommend taking a pushchair here.
Normally I’d be giving you photo instructions of the walk but on this occassion it’s nice and easy as all you need to do is follow the little green footpath waymarkers.
The only instrution to follow is as you enter the forest from the car park you’ll come to this spot, where to start the walk you’ll follow the left hand path (not the right).
On the first part of the walk, as you go deeper into the forest you’ll be surrounded by some large douglas fir trees. Further on look for oak, beech, elm and cherry trees.
There are some dens along the way to stop and play in.
At about the half way mark you’ll come to a little wooden bridge where you can find the waterfall on your left hand side.
It’s a lovely spot to play for a while and the waterfall is only small so just right for children. Do be careful not to let them play on the opposite side of the bridge to the waterfall as it’s a bit of a steep drop.
Shout out to the ferns on this next section of the walk! I’m a bit of a fern fan but even if you’re not you couldn’t help noticing their splendour and size!
The path drops quite steeply (hence my advice on no pushchairs) down to another scenic section where they can play in the stream.
The path then climbs up from here and then leads to another part of the stream, albeit less pretty than the others!
Before you know it you’ll come out right back at the car park!
