Esgair Cloddiad

About Esgair Cloddiad

Rising above the western reaches of the Elan Valley, this broad, grassy ridge offers a quiet escape into the Cambrian Mountains. Reaching 532m, the terrain is characteristically wild and often pathless moorland. It provides a superb, lonely vantage point over the Claerwen Reservoir and the distant, rounded tops of the mid-Wales wilderness.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is Welsh in origin; 'Esgair' means a long ridge or shank, while 'Cloddiad' refers to digging or ditching, likely pointing to historical peat cutting or ancient boundary markers found on these upland slopes.
• •The hill is located in a remote region of the Cambrian Mountains frequently referred to as the 'Desert of Wales' due to its lack of roads, settlements, and the vast, rolling nature of the moorland.
• •The summit offers a specific and uninterrupted perspective of the sprawling Claerwen Reservoir to the east and the high, stony plateau of Drygarn Fawr to the south-west.
• •Despite being a Tump—a hill with at least a thirty-metre drop on all sides—the summit is so broad and subtly rounded that you may spend ten minutes wandering in circles just to be sure you have stood on the highest point.