RSPB - giving nature a home
Search
Close
Skip to content
Shop | Community
Log in | Sign up
  • About the RSPB
      About us
    • Our history
    • Our mission
    • How the RSPB is run
    • RSPB Media Centre
    • RSPB job vacancies
    • At home & abroad
    • International
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Get in touch
    • Contact us
    • RSPB offices
    • Connect with us your way
      Our activities
    • Gardening for wildlife

      Gardening for wildlife

      See our ideas to keep you connected to nature during coronavirus

    • Connect with us your way

      Connect with us your way

      From our regular emails to your favourite social media, there’s more than one way to keep in touch with nature

    • Martin Harper Blog

      Martin Harper Blog

  • Our work
      Nature conservation
    • Conservation and sustainability
    • Projects
    • Landscape scale conservation
    • Centre for Conservation Science
    • Satellite tracking birds
    • RSPB News
    • RSPB News
    • 'Our work' blog
    • Our positions and casework
    • Our positions
    • Casework
    • State of Nature report
      Featured news
    • Mindful mornings

      Mindful mornings

      If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app?

    • How nature can help protect our homes

      How nature can help protect our homes

      Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector.

    • Casework

      Casework

      Catch up with the RSPB’s own nature detectives on the case as they look to save some very special places.

  • Birds & wildlife
      Wildlife guides
    • Identify a bird
    • Bird A-Z
    • Other garden wildlife
    • Guide to birdwatching
    • UK conservation status explained
    • Nature's Calendar
    • Nature's Home magazine
    • About Nature's Home magazine
    • Birds and wildlife articles
    • RSPB Podcasts
    • Nature's Home blog
    • Advice
    • How you can help birds
    • Gardening for wildlife
    • Ask an expert
    • Wildlife and the law
    • How to report crimes against wild birds
    • Bird songs
    • Which bird song is that?
    • Most popular bird guides this month
    • Which bird song is that?

      Which bird song is that?

      Find out how to identify a bird just from the sound of its singing with our bird song identifier playlist.

    • Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Read more advice about what to do if you find a bird that needs help

    • In for a duck

      In for a duck

      It’s nesting season for our waterfowl too but what are the rules you need to follow for ducks, geese or swans?

  • Get involved
      Activities
    • Big Garden Birdwatch
    • Nature on Your Doorstep
    • RSPB Competitions
    • Dolphinwatch
    • Community & advice
    • Join our local groups
    • How green are you?
    • RSPB Community
    • Get involved blog
    • Volunteering & fundraising
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraise
    • Help nature thrive as a corporate partner
    • Our grant funders
    • Campaigning
    • Revive our World in Scotland
    • Revive our World in Wales
    • Revive our World in England
    • Revive our World in Northern Ireland
    • Climate change effects on nature and wildlife
    • Protecting wildlife sites
    • Campaign with us
    • Five actions to Revive Our World
    • Let nature sing
    • OxCam Arc
    • Your Actions for Nature
    • Top activities to do
    • Nature on Your Doorstep

      Nature on Your Doorstep

      Great ideas on how your garden, or even a small backyard or balcony, can become a mini nature reserve

    • How green are you?

      How green are you?

      See some of the ways you can get into green living.

    • Campaigning

      Campaigning

      See our toolkit for ways to campaign with us to protect nature and save wildlife.

  • Reserves & events
      Reserves A-Z Events, dates & inspiration
    • Events
    • COVID-19 information
    • Dates with nature
    • Places to visit blog
    • #ThanksToYou
    • Find a reserve
      Top reserve this month
    • Marshside

      Marshside

      This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region.

    • Lytchett Fields

      Lytchett Fields

      The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds.

    • Arne

      Arne

      Heathland home to more than 2565 species.

  • Fun & Learning
      For teachers
    • Supporting resources
    • Wild Challenge
    • School outreach visits
    • Big Schools Birdwatch
    • Sign up for the newsletter
    • School trip ideas
    • For families
    • Big Wild Sleepout
    • Wild Challenge
    • Nature reserves for families
    • For kids
    • Fun factoids for all the family
    • Games and activities
    • Kids stories
    • RSPB kids competitions
    • Latest kids' activities
    • Wild Challenge

      Wild Challenge

      Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Get out, get busy and get wild!

    • Fun factoids for all the family

      Fun factoids for all the family

      Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window.

    • Youth membership

      Youth membership

      As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home.

  • Join & Donate
      Join us
    • Choose a membership
    • Family membership
    • Youth membership
    • Gift membership
    • Discover RSPB Life Fellowships
    • Renew your membership
    • Our 2020 film
    • Donate
    • Our appeals
    • Make a one-off donation
    • Make a regular donation
    • Memorial donations
    • Plant a memorial tree
    • In memoriam booklet download form
    • Thank you
    • Leave a gift in your Will
    • Other people's gifts
    • Legacy donation FAQs
    • Legacy administration
    • Legacy booklet download form
    • Other ways to help
    • Gift Aid
    • Support us when you shop
    • RSPB Images
    • RSPB second-hand binocular scheme
    • Win with the RSPB
    • Payroll Giving
    • Stamp out albatross deaths
  • Login to your account Sign up for an RSPB account
  • Shop
  • Community
  • Home
  • Reserves & events
  • Reserves A-Z
  • Mawddach Valley - Coed Garth Gell

Mawddach Valley - Coed Garth Gell

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.
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
Address
Can be accessed via public footpaths. No car park, but take the A496 from Llanelltyd (near Dolgellau) to Barmouth. Between the villages of Taicynhaeaf and Bontddu there are several lay-bys and parking places.
Grid ref
SH683192
See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

 

Nestled in the spectacular Mawddach Valley, Coed Garth Gell is a woodland and heathland nature reserve which is internationally important for the rare mosses, liverworts and lichens which grow amongst the ancient oaks. Pied flycatchers, redstarts, wood warblers and lesser horseshoe bats all call this wonderful place home.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Car park and trails open.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but you can help us continue our work here by becoming a member.
Children
Free, but you can help us continue our work here by becoming a member.

Facilities

  • Car park
  • Picnic area
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is at Barmouth. From Barmouth the reserve is 5.5 miles (8 km) to the east between the villages of Bontddu and Taicynhaeaf on the A496.

By bus

The nearest stop is at Taicynhaeaf on the Dolgellau to Barmouth (X94) route. The stop is 0.5 miles (0.75 km) from the reserve.

 

By bike

The Mawddach Trail runs nearby.

 

By road

From the A470 heading north from Dolgellau, turn left onto the A496 at the roundabout at Llanelltyd heading for Barmouth. After passing the village of Taicynhaeaf and before you reach the village of Bontddu, almost exactly 4km from the roundabout, there is a right hand turn into a horseshoe shaped layby with a small picnic area, managed by Snowdonia National Park, known locally as Fiddlers Elbow.

There are places for a small number of vehicles to park. The reserve can be accessed by walking from the layby up the public footpath along the private access road going immediately up the hill. As you walk up the access road, look for the RSPB sign on the gate on the left which takes you along the public footpath into the reserve.

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

Contact Mawddach Valley - Coed Garth Gell

  • Can be accessed via public footpaths. No car park, but take the A496 from Llanelltyd (near Dolgellau) to Barmouth. Between the villages of Taicynhaeaf and Bontddu there are several lay-bys and parking places.
  • mawddach@rspb.org.uk
  • 01654 700222

What will you see?

Our star species

    Dipper illustration

    Dipper

    Look for cheeky dippers feeding around the edges of the river.

    Male pied flycatcher

    Pied flycatcher

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

    Male redstart

    Redstart

    Redstarts are typical birds of Welsh woodlands. Watch out for them in spring and summer shivering their reddish tails.

    Wood warbler

    Wood warbler

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

    Woodcock illustration

    Woodcock

    From September onwards, they start arriving in the UK from across the North Sea to escape cold Scandinavia winters.

Nature spectacles

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

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Try to catch a glimpse of the secretive lesser-spotted woodpecker and the hawfinch - look up to the tree-tops or listen for the ringing call of the woodpecker or the loud robin-like 'tick' of the hawfinch. Late April and May are the most rewarding times for classic oak woodland summer migrants as they are all in full song. On the river, dippers and grey wagtails breed.

The heathland has breeding nightjars, which can be heard 'churring' on clear still evenings from as far away as the other side of the estuary. Open glades are very good for butterflies, including rarer species like the small pearl-bordered and dark-green fritillaries.

Redwings and fieldfares appear on the reserve as they travel westward to winter from their Scandinavian breeding grounds. Large flocks can be seen eating rowan berries at the top of the reserve. Woodcocks are also regularly seen in the wood and you may be lucky enough to see one as it flies quickly through the trees.

An excellent time to see ravens and their dramatic tumbling aerial displays. Great spotted woodpeckers are often heard but not seen, their sharp 'pic, pic' calls are the loudest calls in the wood.

About Mawddach Valley - Coed Garth Gell

Habitat

Coed Garth Gell is a woodland and heathland nature reserve. The oak woods, or Celtic rainforest are internationally important for their rare mosses, liverworts and lichens as the high light levels and humid conditions in the wood are ideal for them. The heathland at the top of the reserve supports migrant tree pipits and nightjars in the summer.

Conservation

The woodland has many ancient and veteran trees, especially oaks that were once more open grown. These trees and the wildlife which thrives on and around them, particularly the lichens and the woodland birds, prefer more open light conditions, and young crowding thickets of dense regeneration and holly threaten to reduce visibility and light levels.

In addition, rhododendron is a constant threat. We are working hard through mechanical interventions and trying to restore appropriate grazing to try and restore the right conditions across the site. An important part of this is ongoing work on the rhododendron to prevent it from recolonising the site.

Site information

Mawddach Valley - Coed Garth Gell is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK, and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Activities and events

Leisure activities

The visitor trails weave through beautiful oak woodland with a fast-flowing river in the valley bottom. Part of the reserve's nature trail follows the route of an old gold mining track, and the remains of buildings and other structures associated with the abandoned gold mines can still be seen around the reserve. The views at the top of the reserve along the Mawddach Valley and up to Cadair Idris are some of the most admired in Britain. The nature trail is rugged and steep in places, so sturdy footwear is essential.

Share this

  • Facebook Facebook Created with Sketch.
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

You might also be interested in

RSPB Mawddach Valley Nature Reserve, Wales.

Mawddach Valley - Arthog Bog

A wonderful place to see beautiful and rare flowers, grass snakes, butterflies, dragonflies and all manner of birds.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Become a Habitats Pioneer

Become a recovering lost habitats pioneer in order to help find new methods to bring life back to the UK’s farmland.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Join us - legacy

Become an RSPB member by signing up here.

We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • Online Community
  • Vacancies
  • Media centre

Information for

  • Teachers
  • Policy makers
  • Farmers & landowners
  • Scientists

Our work in

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • International

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

Partnering with

BirdLife_logo

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Find out more about the partnership

Fundraising Regulator logo OSCR logo

© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

  • Terms & conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Charter and statutes
  • About our site
  • Modern Slavery Act

Cookie Preferences

Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience

Edit settings
Accept all

Essential cookies are required

These cookies are required for basic web functions

Enable analytics cookies

Allow us to collect anonymised performance data

Enable marketing cookies

Allow us to personalise your experience

Save settings
Read our cookie policy