Easy to follow but a bit tiresome walking alongside a busy road for quite a way. The viaduct is impressive...

sftuck

Photo 1 - The path up the Nant Cylla valley, Ystrad Mynach...

Paul Chilcott

The only down side of this walk is the part alongside the busy A472 road, until it reaches the former railway line part of the path at Maesycwmmer, then leading over Hengoed viaduct and on into Ystrad Mynach....

Paul Chilcott

After crossing the main A472 road the footpath is signposted to start with, but then nothing after that, except for a couple of waymarks at Whitehall Farm, so you need to follow the map carefully. After Whitehall Farm, the main problem for me was that there are farm gates everywhere, so it was easy to go wrong, which I did several times, but eventually found my way through the maze and out on to the lane....

Paul Chilcott

The route looks suitable for cycling with mountain or trail bikes (maybe not a road bike though), but the mountain track is fairly rough in places, as is the Heol Pont y Seison footpath leading from Penallta Park before it turns into the lane after crossing the A472 road. Also, the bridge over the A468/469 road at the bottom end of Court Road leading into Caerphilly is now open again (one of the changes from Ystcae1). Photo 3 - The mountain ridge track...

Paul Chilcott

As previously mentioned, the GPX is not quite right by the allotments in Pengam, the actual footpath is a little farther up the road...

sftuck

but nice walk there, maybe a bit muddy or uneven underfoot but relatively flat, no steps. A little muddy but mostly flat and well surfaced....

Tom Morris

Follow this path out to the road (there is a barrier to hop unfortunately) and then follow the road all the way up....

Tom Morris

Once you get past the farm, it gets much easier, basically following a track along the ridge and then making your way through Caerphilly to the station....

sftuck

Takes an older mud-route from Ystrad to Cefn Hengoed, despite the nearby completed tarmac pathway past Cwm Calon. Nevertheless the route is a lot more interesting than that newer one....

Tom Morris

As long as you stick exactly to the route provided, it's fine, as the shooting shoots away from the path towards coal tip....

Tom Morris

Fancied a walk over the top to caerphilly again on a crisp beautiful January afternoon but didn't relish the thought of scrambling up through the farm....

grifftinfoilhat

Photo 1 - The path through Parc Penallta Photo 4 - Bridge over the Bargoed Taff at Treharris...

Paul Chilcott

The highlight of the walk is the Hengoed Viaduct - worth taking some time out to explore it from underneath from Hengoed station....

Paul Chilcott

It covers part of the Sirhowy Valley Walk, the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk and the Taff Vale Extension path. Leaving Ynysddu and passing through the tunnel under the railway line cycle path, there is a steep climb up to the Sirhowy Valley Walk, which at this point passes through woodland and forestry, steadily climbing upwards. The first part of the walk is not suitable for wheeling, due to the rough ground (in parts) and kissing gates, but the section along the cycle path from Maesycwmmer to Ystrad Mynach is good for wheels of all types....

Paul Chilcott

This route is easy to navigate and follows good paths....

MaddyT

Nice easy route on paved cycle path. Very accessible and pleasant walk through Parc Penallta....

grifftinfoilhat

1) I couldn’t find the footpath leading uphill from the A4054 (just above Abercynon) so I stayed on the main road until the junction with the quiet road that twists up the hill....

MaddyT

This is an easy route, mostly along a wide, paved cycle route. No access issues....

MaddyT

From the farm to Caerphilly I give this route 3 stars, or 4 stars with less fly tipping on the ridgeway....

MaddyT

Lovely walk crossing Hengoed viaduct and then following river walk from Pontallanfraith into Blackwood. Nice and easy, mostly paved for the whole way....

grifftinfoilhat

Crosses Gelligroes roundabout instead of using footbridge....

grifftinfoilhat

Practical route connecting Ystrad Mynach and Pontllanfraith. Nothing amazing, but you do get to cross the impressive Hengoed viaduct....

grifftinfoilhat

It remains a public right of way on the OS map, but no longer appears on the caerphilly council definitive map. There's pretty definitive No Entry and No Right of Way signs up there too, so I wouldn't recommend trying it. I've created another route that uses the nearby Manager's Lane down to Wyllie that then joins the Sirhowy valley walk to Ynysddu....

grifftinfoilhat

The walk takes you over the mighty Hengoed viaduct to Maesycwmmer then through the meadows and over the mountain following the Rhymney Valley ridgeway path....

grifftinfoilhat

Nice route that follows paved off road cycle path from Ystrad Mynach to Nelson....

grifftinfoilhat

Good views of the ruins of the old Penally colliery, but two busy crossings of the A469, could be avoided by just walking along the pavement between Pengam and Tir-y-berth but not as nice. When you come out of Pengam station and cross the main road, the route seems to go through the allotments but the public footpath is slightly to the left. Could be easy to miss....

grifftinfoilhat

My experience of walking between Caerphilly and Ystrad Mynach mainly stems from my teenage self frequently missing the college bus and slogging it up the road through Llanbradach. Navigation wise it is pretty simple from now on, you are pretty much walking in a dead straight line to Caerphilly. Then it's just a short walk through the town to the train station....

grifftinfoilhat