Llan Ddu Fawr [Carnyrhyrddod] [Waun Claerddu]

About Llan Ddu Fawr [Carnyrhyrddod] [Waun Claerddu]

Deep within the 'Green Desert' of the Cambrian Mountains, this remote moorland plateau epitomises the wild character of Mid-Wales. Its vast, peat-scarred summit requires careful navigation but grants a rare sense of solitude, with the high ground providing an uninterrupted perspective over the Elan Valley’s expansive watershed.

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Did You Know?

• •The name Carnyrhyrddod translates from Welsh as 'Cairn of the Rams,' while Llan Ddu Fawr translates as the 'Great Black Enclosure,' likely a reference to the dark, peaty soil that dominates this high ground.
• •Situated far from any metalled roads, this is one of the most isolated Marilyns in Wales, sitting in the heart of the vast upland wilderness between the Elan Valley and the Teifi Pools.
• •The summit offers an earned view of the Claerwen Reservoir to the south and the sprawling Pumlumon massif to the north, providing a sense of scale for the emptiness of the Cambrian range.
• •The top is marked by an Ordnance Survey trig pillar and an ancient stone cairn, which serve as essential navigational handrails in an otherwise featureless and often mist-shrouded landscape.
• •Navigating here in low cloud is an excellent way to test your compass skills; the terrain consists of endless, identical peat hags and hidden pools that make a straight line almost impossible to maintain.