Caeris two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 75.00% of reviewers

March 2024. Direction: Risca to Caerphilly.

There was some great scenery along the way, especially looking up the Rhymney Valley from the slopes of Mynydd Machen and also around Rudry Common. I had a couple of difficulties navigating this route... Finding the mountain road from Dan y Graig Road leaving Risca, as there were several footpath options, non of which resembled the rights of way shown on my map. From the mountain road it was straight forward until Machen... Leaving Machen and taking the footpath into the forest was the other problem area. I couldn`t find the exit into the fields. After a while going round in circles, I eventually found a footpath, but as I later learned it was not the right one and it came out lower down on Cwmnofydd Lane. I`ll have to tag this as a "maybe" route, since I couldn`t verify the whole route. Outside of these two sections though, it was very straight forward.

This is probably not a great route for anyone using a paper map, as the terrain was not recognisable in the above sections against the OS 25,000:1 map.

Photo 1 - Mynydd Machen
Photos 2 & 3 - Views of Machen and up the Rhymney Valley
Photo 4 - The River Rhymney at Machen
Photo 5 - A famous son of Caerphilly.

Walked from Caerphilly to Risca. Great route, pretty easy to follow, mostly off road with great views.

Directions Risca start.

Gorgeous walk through the hills with amazing views from the Machen. All uphill from Risca up to the just below the Machen that was easy to find the route for. I had to keep turning around to stop and take photos, slowed me down a lot; but very worthwhile.
After turning left below the peak of Machen the route is all gently heading down with more gorgeous views surrounding you.
Heading towards Waterloo I followed a worn trail, but quickly realised I was heading off course, so aim to go downhill and aim for a pink house here. Then in Waterloo it's easy following the route again.
Once you head past the equestrian centre and get to the seating, you will head into a trail that leaves only room for one, but it's all flowers so my choice of shorts was fine.
After crossing the river and coming to an open field my GPS was telling me there should be a trail, but I walked diagonally through the field and then was back on the trail again. Also wanted me to go through another lane at the top which looked too overgrown, so I kept to the hedge in the field to the right and just headed general direction.
Was a great walk, might work better from Caerphilly for the views on the ridge.

This is a very nice route - easy paths, good views and not much tarmac & traffic. There’s also a bit of historical interest as it follows part of the Machen Forge Trail. There are a couple of small supermarkets where the route passes through Machen if you need supplies.

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