Gwenffrwd-Dinas

Address: RSPB Gwenffrwd-dinas, Nr Ystradffin, Llandovery SA20 0PG

Grid ref: SN788471

Come to Carmarthenshire and enjoy a walk through enchanting alder and oak woodland, past fast-flowing and spectacular rivers. Set in the heart of glorious mid-Wales, the Gwenffrwd-Dinas reserve is home to all manner of birdlife including red kites, pied flycatchers, redstarts, common sandpipers, dippers and grey wagtails.

Plan your visit

Open from dawn to dusk.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Car park suggested donation: £2 for non members.

Facilities

No visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets off-site
No Refreshments
Picnic area
Nature trails
Shop off-site

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Llandovery is the closest station, approx. 10 miles (16 km) from the reserve.

By road

You'll find us on 10 miles (16 km) north of Llandovery on the minor road to Llyn Brianne.

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.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

4 degrees, Heavy rain

Contact Gwenffrwd-Dinas

RSPB Gwenffrwd-dinas, Nr Ystradffin, Llandovery SA20 0PG
gwenffrwd.dinas@rspb.org.uk
02920 353000

What will you see?

Our star species

Pied flycatcher

This is one of the best places in Wales to see pied flycatchers, which alight on branches near nest boxes along the boardwalk route from the car park.

Redstart

Look for redstarts shivering their tails, a flash of colour in amongst the green.

Tree pipit

Whilst neatly camouflaged to blend in, the cascading song of the tree pipit is an iconic part of the woodland chorus.

Willow warbler

The attractive but unobtrusive wood warbler is the largest Phylloscopus warbler in Europe.

Goosander

Look for these smart looking, fast, freshwater ducks on the river, unfazed by the rapids.

Yellowhammer

Look for this golden yellow bird singing its ‘a-little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese’ song from the tops of trees and bushes in spring and summer.

Marsh tit

A smart little bird with a glossy black cap and white cheeks. Listen out for its sneeze-like ‘pitchoo’ calls.

Nature spectacles

A visit to the woodlands of Dinas in May is an opportunity to see the carpets of bluebells, a stunning violet haze beneath the trees. 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’.

In May to early June, carpets of blue bells astound and the dawn chorus makes an early morning visit really worth the effort.

You should have no problem spotting a red kite and in the summer there'll also be pied flycatchers, redstarts, common sandpipers, dippers and grey wagtails.

The changing colours of the leaves send the hillsides ablaze and the river is often in full spate - a spectacular sight.

The rushing river brings noise and life whilst the branches of the ancient trees and craggy hill tops stand out starkly against the sky.

About Gwenffrwd-Dinas

Habitat

Set in the heart of mid Wales, Gwenffrwd-Dinas nestles along steep sided valleys clothed in woodland and bisected by fast flowing rivers. The reserve contains important habitats of oak woodland, wet alder woodland and scrubland subject to high levels of rainfall and with fast flowing rivers.

These conditions are perfect for many of our iconic woodland birds, but also provide the perfect habitat for important lichens and bryophtyes. Above the woodland there are large expanses of upland grassland and moor, and between the valleys, traditional farming practices of making hay provide meadows spectacled with wildflowers.

Conservation

The Atlantic Oak Woodland or Celtic rainforest supports important populations of lower plants, particularly of lichens and bryophytes. These green carpets cover the trees, ground and boulders making everything verdant and damp.

The woodlands are managed for the diversity of lower plants as well as for their key populations of woodland birds, many of them migrants, such as the pied flycatcher, tree pipit, wood warbler and redstart. Management seeks to create the right conditions of humidity and light with a variety of structures from more open wood pasture through to scrubby wet woodland to provide all the niches for the range of different birds.

Grazing is an important conservation tool helping manage woodland structure and preventing all areas of woodlands from becoming dominated by bramble and scrub and keeping some areas open including the staggeringly beautiful bluebell carpets.

Site information

Gwenffrwd-Dinas reserve is a large reserve with more than 600 hectares of sweeping upland, lowland farmland and verdant Atlantic Oak Woodland.

The reserve sits within the Cwm Doethie–Mynydd Mallaen Site of Special Scientific Interest, The Cwm Doethie–Mynydd Mallaen Special Area of Conservation and the Elenydd-Mallaen Special Protection Area.

Activities and events

Leisure activities

The Dinas trail is open from dawn till dusk, and the trail around the Dinas takes about 2 hours to complete. There is a boardwalk at the start of the trail from the carpark, however the majority of the trail is rugged, steep in places and next to a fast flowing river and to fully complete requires some scrambling.

There is a short steep trail from the main footpath up through the Dinas to Twm Sion Cati's cave, the Welsh Folklore figure often often referred to as the Welsh Robin Hood, where he was reputed to have hid to avoid capture from the authorities.