Carngafallt

We are slowly opening our reserves and facilities in Wales in line with government guidance on Covid-19. Please check reserve pages for specific details.

Address: Carngafallt Reserve, Glanrafon, Elan Valley, Rhayader LD6 5HW

Grid ref: SN936652

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

If you're looking for ancient oak woodland with stunning veteran trees, wood pasture and moorland, then Carngafallt is the perfect place to visit. Lichens and bryophtyes cloak the woodland in shades of soothing green, woodland birds fill the air with a dawn chorus and red kites soar effortlessly above.

Plan your visit

Car park and trails open.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Car park cost

There is a parking charge for Elan Valley Centre car park.
Please phone RSPB Ynys-hir on 01654 700222 or the Welsh Water Dŵr Cymru Elan Valley Centre on 01597 810880 for more information.

Facilities

Car park
Refreshments
Picnic area
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop is closed

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Llandrindod Wells (13 miles or 21 km away).

By bus

Rhayader (3 miles or 5 km away). Postbus/taxi to Elan Village via B4518 or walk/cycle via rural, metalled walking/cycling trail.

By bike

Sustrans route 6 runs adjacent to the reserve.

By road

The main access point is at the eastern end of Elan Village where the village road crosses a cattle grid and enters woodland. Once across the cattle grid you are in the reserve. Elan village is just off the B4518 approximately three miles (5 km) south-west of the town of Rhayader, which straddles the A470 and A44, in central Wales. There are no car parking facilities on the reserve, however parking is available at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre, for a small charge and is only a 5 to 10 minute walk away through the quiet road of Elan Village.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

There is a very pleasant rural, metalled walk and cycle path that links Rhayader town and Elan Village (3 miles or 5 km) and continues on into the beautiful Elan Valley. Minor roads surrounding the reserve make good walking and cycling.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Contact Carngafallt

Carngafallt Reserve, Glanrafon, Elan Valley, Rhayader LD6 5HW
carngafallt@rspb.org.uk
01654 700222

What will you see?

Our star species

Pied flycatcher

It is easy to see how this bird gets its name on a spring walk around the woodland at Carngafallt.

Red kite

Red kites are very nearly unmistakable - check the long, forked tail and graceful, lazy, gliding flight.

Redstart

Watch out for them in spring and summer shivering their reddish tails.

Whinchat

Whinchats arrive on the moorland from Africa and are subtly pretty little birds with a warm orangey buff breast and fetching white eye stripe, often spotted perching on tall stems of bracken.

Willow warbler

Listen for the song of the wood warbler coming from the oak canopy from late April into June.

Nature spectacles

Carpets of lichens cover the trunks and branches of all the trees. Look out for Witches Beard or Usnea florida, with its tangled tresses and ‘eyes’.

A visit from Mid April through to early July in early morning is rewarded with the sounds of the dawn chorus and views of some of most iconic migrants such as pied flycatchers, redstarts, woodwarblers and spotted flycatchers.

The moorland is full of colour, the purple offset beautifully against a blue sky on a good day and with a chance of spotting birds of prey such as the red kite, hobby, hen harrier and peregrine, is worth the more difficult trek.

While our migrants have left us, the change of colour and the stark limbs of the veteran trees make a great contrast against the big skies, and ravens tumbling and 'kronking' overhead add to the atmosphere.

Migrants such as redwings and fieldfares can be found feasting on the winter berries, and a visit on a clear night is a great time for star gazing in a genuinely 'dark sky'.

About Carngafallt

Habitat

Ancient wood pasture with veteran trees and oak-dominated Celtic rainforest are globally significant for lichens especially. A walk through the woodland at any time of year brings different experiences from the dawn chorus in spring and early summer, to the wonderful colour change in autumn, to the sounds of ravens and red kites overhead in winter. The moorland is at it's best in late summer when the heather is in full flower and the views are stunning; it is a long hike up to the moorland, but worth the effort for the intrepid.

Conservation

The ancient wood pasture and Celtic rainforest is one of the rarest and most important habitat on site particularly for lichens, dead wood invertebrates as well as the classic woodland birds. Management here aims to restore and create the more open light conditions of wood pasture which is vital for much of this priority wildlife, especially the lichens. The veteran trees are an ecosystem in themselves, supporting a cornucopia of niches and a diversity of fungi, lichens, invertebrates and birds and therefore keeping the trees open grown and well lit is vital.

Management is focused on removing thickets of young saplings while planning the next generation of trees, reducing the extent and density of the bracken on site and managing grazing to create the right ground conditions.

We manage our upland heath and mire for the benefit of birds such as hen harriers and whinchats, as well as for the condition of the heath and its associated plants themselves. We aim to improve the heath’s structure by supporting mixed and selective grazing, carrying out heather cutting where appropriate to create a mix of age structures, controlling invasive species as necessary.

Our partnership with our farming tenants is an important one. We work with our tenants to manage our hay meadows and other grassland habitats for the benefit of their rich plantlife, invertebrates and birds. This involves beneficial farming practices such as the traditional making of hay and by carefully managing the use of grazing and fertilizers.

We are constantly learning more about the site which helps inform our future management. We have a five-year system of monitoring and surveys, targeting priority habitats and key species – such as the greater butterfly orchids.

Site information

Carngafallt is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to it's importance for wildlife.

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