Old Colwyn and Llanddulas

A walk from Old Colwyn, following the North Wales Path through the Fairy Glen. The route continues through fields and woodlands inland to Llysfaen before making a descent through a deep-cut valley to Llanddulas. An easy stretch of the Wales Coast Path is followed back to Old Colwyn.

Route detail

Distance: 7.6 miles or 12.2 kilometres
Start location: Victoria Road car park, Old Colwyn
Start Grid Ref: SH 86685 78363
Start What 3 Words: overheat.wished.pioneered

Transport to the start

Parking
Parking at Victoria Road car park in Old Colwyn. Coastal car park near Llanddulas.

Bus
Daily bus services to Old Colwyn and Llanddulas from Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Rhyl.

Train
Colwyn Bay Railway Station is 2.2km / 1.3 miles from Old Colwyn via the promenade. Daily North Wales Coast train services link Colwyn Bay with coastal stations between Chester and Holyhead.

Map and GPX link

The circular route is marked in dark pink in the map image below. The purple flags show the start and finish point. View the route online and download GPX link (Old Colwyn Llanddulas)

Detailed Route Description

1. Start in Old Colwyn at the Victoria Road car park, which is close to bus stops for regular bus services along Abergele Road. Cross over the road to be on the same side as the Plough Inn, then walk down the road into the village centre. There are blue railings alongside the road as it crosses the River Colwyn. Turn right down a flight of stone steps and follow a brick-paved riverside path upstream, passing a row of cottages. This is part of the North Wales Path, so look out for signposts and waymarks highlighting the route.

2. Turn left as signposted up a tarmac path and a flight of steps, away from the river. Cross the narrow Mill Drive and immediately turn right along the road marked ‘Fairy Glen’, passing stone-built cottages. The road gives way to a tarmac path down into the wooded Fairy Glen. Don’t cross a footbridge over the River Colwyn, but turn left up a gravel path and follow it upstream through the woods.

3. Join another tarmac path and turn right to follow it, staying close to the narrow channel of an old mill race, eventually reaching a weir and a footbridge on the river. Don’t cross the footbridge, but follow a riverside path further upstream, reaching a noticeboard and Cefn Coch Road. Turn right along the road and follow the pavement past a few houses, then turn left as signposted between houses, along a short path. This leads to a kissing gate at the edge of a golf course. Turn right along a path at the bottom of the golf course then turn left uphill, joining a road at a signpost.

4. Turn left up the road and almost immediately turn right up a track, then quickly turn left through a gateway onto another part of the golf course. Keep to the left-hand side of the course and follow a gorse bush hedgerow gently uphill to reach a signpost and a kissing gate. Go through the gate and turn left up a track flanked by hedgerows. Turn right as signposted through a kissing gate beside a big gate, then walk downhill beside a field. Turn left as signposted at the bottom and go through a kissing gate as marked into another field. Walk straight ahead, rising and descending a little, to reach the edge of a wood. Look carefully to spot a path going into the woodland and watch for marker posts on the way through. 

5. Go through a kissing gate to leave the woodland and head diagonally uphill to the left, across a field, to find another kissing gate. Go into another wood and follow a path uphill. Leave the wood and cross another field, again heading diagonally left uphill, to find a signpost and another woodland path. Walk down through the wood, through a kissing gate to cross a tiny stream, then go through another kissing gate and join a track leading uphill. Go through two small gates as marked at a farm then follow a tarmac road uphill. Continue along a dirt road past a few houses, then turn right as signposted along the tarmac Bwlch-y-Gwynt Road.

6. Pass houses in the scattered settlement of Llysfaen, keeping straight ahead at a road junction, reaching another junction on Dolwen Road, where there is a bus shelter. (Daily bus service, except Sunday, to Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Conwy.) Turn right and follow the road up past the Tabor Baptist Chapel, then turn right at a triangular junction to follow a patchy tarmac road past a few houses. A track continues downhill, but turn left through a kissing gate instead.

7. Follow a stone wall along the top of a limestone hill, later turning left to go through a kissing gate beside a big gate. Turn right down a track flanked by fences, marked for Ty Canol. Before reaching the house, go through a kissing gate on the right and turn left to continue along a grassy path, following a stone wall, passing in front of mobile homes. Go through another kissing gate to reach a three-way signpost and turn right downhill a short way. The path soon turns left, rising and levelling out, passing between gorse bushes and brambles, leading to yet another kissing gate.

8. Turn right down a track, until it bends right, and instead turn left as signposted through a kissing gate. Follow a grassy path, turning left at a marker post, then walk uphill through a kissing gate and continue a little further uphill afterwards. The path levels out, weaving between areas of grass, bracken and bushy scrub, going through another kissing gate. The path splits, so keep right to walk through an area of bracken. Reach a signpost close to a rounded hill with a rocky face, called Craig y Forwyn, and look down through a deep valley to spot the sea beyond.

9. Walk down a narrow, grassy path through bracken, later passing limestone scree slopes and woodland, passing through a gate. The path later levels out in dense woodland, where it passes through a few rock cuttings. Cross a narrow road and a step stile to continue down a narrow path through bramble-tangled bushes. Cross another step stile and continue gently down through a field. Go through a kissing gate and walk down through a field close to houses. Another kissing gate leads onto a short tarmac road. Don’t follow the road, but follow a path parallel to it, just behind a fence. The narrow path passes between houses to reach the Valentine Inn on Mill Street on the outskirts of Llanddulas. (Regular daily buses to Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno.) A history of the inn is fixed to the wall.

10. The North Wales Path crosses Mill Street and turns right to follow the pavement to a nearby junction, then turns left down Beach Road. However, it is worth noting that St Cynbryd’s Church could be visited first. The church was built in 1868 but there has been a church on this site since at least the 13th century. Part of the churchyard is managed as a wildlife haven, having gained a Green Flag Award, and walking all the way through the churchyard offers a short-cut to Beach Road.

11. Follow Beach Road gently downhill alongside the River Dulas. Sometimes, there is no need to walk along the road as there are paths available beside the river. Pass beneath the busy A55 road and a railway viaduct, then turn left to follow the Wales Coast Path past the Old Lifeboat House, toilets and car park. The coast path is a tarmac footpath and cycleway, so be aware of cyclists and walk on the right-hand side, closest to the beach. Views stretch from Rhyl and Prestatyn Hillside to Great Orme’s Head.

12. The coastline is rock-shielded at first then the path makes a short, steep climb, later crossing a concrete spillway before heading back downhill. Jumbled heaps of concrete ‘dolos’, some 20,000 in total, weigh 5 tons each and are each inscribed with a number. Their function is to defend the coastline from erosion. The path climbs again to cross a conveyor belt at Raynes Jetty, where quarried limestone is loaded onto ships. The path climbs again to pass the quarried Penmaen Head. While passing, a short detour to the left can include the graceful span of the Rainbow Bridge, overlooking the busy A55 road.

13. The Wales Coast Path runs closer to the rock-shielded beach again, and the tarmac gives way to an older concrete sea wall, eventually reaching a six-arch railway viaduct. The recently refurbished promenade can be followed onwards to Colwyn Bay, but to return to Old Colwyn, walk beneath the viaduct, closely followed by walking beneath the A55 road. The North Wales Path is signposted across a road, where a tarmac path runs upstream beside the River Colwyn through the Fairy Glen.

14. Stay close to the river but note that there are other paths available through the Tan-y-Coed Gardens. After passing a house called Glanaber, look out for a castle-like building, which is all that remains of the former mansion of Tan-y-Coed. The riverside path finally leads underneath buildings in Old Colwyn, where all that remains is to turn left up a flight of steps used earlier in the day, and turn left again to return to the Victoria Road car park or bus stops.