Wales
Moelfryn
522M
1713FT
About Moelfryn
Standing at 522m in the so-called 'Desert of Wales,' Moelfryn offers a grandstand view of the Elan Valley reservoirs without the suffocating crowds found further north. It’s a rounded, grassy affair where the silence is only broken by the wind and the judgmental bleating of resident sheep.
Key Statistics
Rank
99th Highest in Wales
Parent Range
Wales
Prominence
?
62m
Nearest Town
Llansantffraed-Cwmdeuddwr
Geology
You are walking on the Rhayader Mudstones. This rock foundation was created from layers of ancient mud that compressed and hardened over time.
Nearby Fells
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SN935721
Latitude
52.3366°N
Longitude
3.5645°W
Did You Know?
- •The hill sits within the historic commote of Cwmwd Deuddwr, a medieval administrative area that now forms part of the vast and sparsely populated Elenydd plateau.
- •From the summit, you can overlook the Victorian engineering of the Elan Valley dams, which were famously built to supply Birmingham with clean water.
- •Moelfryn is officially classified as a Dewey, a list of peaks over 500 meters that hikers tackle when they have finally run out of larger, more famous mountains.
- •The name translates literally to 'Bare Hill,' a naming convention that suggests the ancient Welsh were far too busy surviving to bother with poetic flourishes.
- •Navigation here usually involves a high-stakes game of 'Is that a path or a sheep track?'—a game you will inevitably lose while sinking ankle-deep into a hidden peat bog.