Aberporth to Mwnt coastal path

Start – Parcllyn
Finish – Mwnt
Total distance – 4.2 miles (6.75km)

Where to start

The Aberporth to Mwnt coastal path begins in the village of Parcllyn, which sits next to the easier-to-find town of Aberporth where there’s a large Ministry of Defense base. The start of the walk begins along the road to the m.o.d base which is a turn-off from the road called “Erwlas” that runs through Parcllyn. Just look for the gate across the road before the m.o.d base that has signs on it that say no public access and turn left across the fields, there are public footpath arrows to mark the route.

(One of the many mushroom types that can be found growing in the woodland during the first section of the walk)

Difficulty (6/10)

The distance from the gate on the road leading to the military base to the end of the walk is around 4.2 miles and the path is made up of compact stone and dirt. The hardest thing about this route is that the path follows the cliff line but frequently dips back inland whenever there’s a stream, creating many spots where you’ll have to go further inland down a nice slope to reach the bridge before having to climb up something steep on the other side. The path is quite rocky and uneven in places, and combined with the total distance and frequently changing slopes, it should be considered a tough walk.

Dangers (7/10)

This section of the Welsh coastline is made up mostly of cliffs, with beaches being small and infrequent. The reason this walk gets a 7 out of 10 is because of how close it goes to the top of the cliffs, and the added danger of becoming slippery after it’s been raining. The cliff varies between 50 and 120 feet high along the walk and at many points, you come within spitting distance of the drop. There are parts of the path that become very slippy during rain and are sometimes gently sloped, making it easy to turn a quick slip into a 100-foot drop onto jagged rocks. If it’s nice and dry and you have good walking boots and stay sensible when on the route, you have nothing to worry about, just be careful of how close you get to the cliffs if you go off the path because there are many overhangs.

(Burdock can be found across most of the cliff section of the walk)

What to expect (8/10)

The views from the walk are stunning and on a clear day you can see for many miles along the Welsh coastline. Rolling cliff faces interrupted by small streams flowing into the sea is a sight you’ll find along the whole route, combined with an excellent selection of wild plants. The end of the walk is where the best sights can be found, and climbing the small hill at Mwnt to see them just feels like the prize for completing the walk. The start doesn’t have anything to offer in terms of activities other than walking, but Mwnt is a favorite spot for tourists and is worth spending an hour or two there. In the summer months, a small shop selling ice cream and drinks will be open, and the small but pretty beach is worth a visit.

If you’re into history there’s a very old chapel that sits on the field below the hill which is never locked and allows visitors to enter at any time. There’s also a lime kiln sitting on the slope above the beach and some further information boards dotted around that tell you about the wildlife in the area. If you’re really lucky and visit when it’s hot, there are often groups of porpoises splashing around in the sea close to the hill, something I’ve personally seen many times, and apparently the beach is a favorite spot for seals to breed on, though I haven’t been lucky enough to come across any yet.

(A huge rabbit population lives along the cliff tops, but the thick vegetation means they are rarely seen)

Wild food (7/10)

The best thing about the wild food on this walk is the variety, and I have never seen bigger parasol mushrooms anywhere in my life than the ones that grow each year along the last quarter of the walk. The first part of the walk between the start point and reaching the first cliff face is mostly through fields and a small woodland, which boasts all the regular woodland goodies as well as a few field mushrooms at the right times of year. The second part is along the cliff tops with farm fields on one side and a vertical drop on the other, leaving little room for wild food to flourish. All of the common wild foods can be found there such as your salad leaf plants and common berries, but one thing that’s especially common is the Blackthorn tree.

During mid-summer the amount of sloe berries that can be found on the first half of the walk is huge, it’s just a shame there isn’t really anything nice to make out of them. After the path opens up when it gets closer to Mwnt, there are plenty of parasol mushrooms that litter the field below the hill and the section of path leading up to it for about half a mile before the hill. The last part of the walk ends right next to the beach where some other tasty treats can be found, including good quantities of Laver, a type of seaweed used to make the traditional Welsh food Laverbread. The beach is too small to find cockles or razor clams there, but limpets, whelks, and mussels cling to the rocks on either side of the beach, and running beside the path leading down to the beach is a stream ram-packed with watercress.

(The view from the summit of Mwnt hill)

Important notes

Parking may be tricky unless you have someone to pick you up or you’re willing to walk all the way back to your car at the start. As for parking you can either park at Mwnt which has a car park but requires you to buy a ticket, or you can park on one of the streets in Parcllyn. The village is small and right next to the popular tourist spot of Aberporth so parking on the street shouldn’t be a problem.

I would strongly recommend against doing the route on a bike due to how close the path goes to the edge of the cliffs and how slippy it gets. The other reason would be that there are often steps on one side of some of the bridges which are very steep and impossible to ride up or down.

Just be careful, the walk is beautiful and offers a great variety of plants and things to see, but can be extremely dangerous in the wrong conditions.