Moel Famau Walk from Moel Famau Car Park
By Dave Roberts
Posted as a walk in – Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, Denbighshire, Europe, Wales
Moel Famau Walk from Moel Famau Car Park
Route Essentials
Route Summary
This is a straightforward walk to the summit of Moel Famau, the highest point of the Clwydian Hills. This can be a very popular walk, and is one of the most viewed routes of all time on Mud and Routes. Little did we know how popular this little hill can be to the locals.
Updated for 2023!
See the end of the article for local information about parking, public transport facilities, pubs and cafes.
Distance
6 kmAscent
280mTime
2 hoursCalculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.
Start Location
Moel Famau Car Park
Difficulty
Easy Moderate Walk
Hazards
Largely a straightforward walk with straightforward navigation. However, the summit is 300m higher than the car park and so it will be significantly colder and windier by the time you reach the summit, especially windchill.
Weather Forecast:
Met Office Weather for Moel Famau
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Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need.
Moel Famau Walk from Moel Famau Car Park Ordnance Survey Map and GPX File Download
Moel Famau Walk from Moel Famau Car Park
This is a pleasant and steady walk up Moel Famau (not Moel Fammau), the Clwydian Range’s highest point at 554m with good walking trails all the way. This summit is topped by the Jubilee Tower, which was begun in 1810 to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III but was never completed. A storm in 1862 destroyed most of the tower, with only the base remaining today. Skip to the summit below to see a video of what it would have looked like. This walk is also known as the Jubilee Tower Circular walk on the Natural Resource Wales website (download a pdf here).
Moel Famau is generally accepted to mean the Bare Hill of the Mother and at under 600m, Moel Famau isn’t a mountain – but who’s counting? It’s actually classed as a Marilyn hill, which is any hill with at least 150m drop each side. The hill sits in it’s own Moel Famau Country Park, which attracts around 200,000 visitors a year. On a fine day, you’ll be convinced that they’ve all come at once! The Moel Famau County Park consists of woodland and a number of heather clad hills covering around 8km², with wildlife such as the black grouse, red grouse, European stonechat and Eurasian curlew of particular interest.
The Jubilee Tower Circular walking route is only 6km, so this is an ideal quick easy walk for when time is at a premium. If you’ve got more time then combine it with one of the many other routes in the Clwydian Hills on the site. Not only do you get to climb a hill, you get to walk along Offa’s Dyke LDP for a short distance as this crosses the entire Clwydian Range.
There are a number of other Moel Famau walks to choose from, including from Loggerheads Country Park, from Cilcain or the Moel Arthur Car Park. All the routes will include a section of Offa’s Dyke National Trail.
How to get to Moel Famau – The start of this walk can be found on the minor road just outside the Loggerheads Country Park heading towards Bwlch Pen Barras. The Post Code for Moel Famau car parking is CH7 5SH and there is a charge of a few pounds – visit the Coed Moel Famau site for official details of the latest charges or the local information for this walk at the bottom of the page.
The Walk up Moel Famau from the Car Park
This is a reasonably straightforward walk to follow, it’s even way-marked to the summit of Moel Famau.
1 The walk starts off at the Moel Famau car park. The walk is waymarked and you need to follow the purple arrows, with an easier option being denoted by a purple arrow with a white circle inside it.
2 It heads off straight uphill and is a little relentless for a short while. At the top of this initial slog, you now have an easier option to your left that brings you out to the south of the summit but then involves a dog-leg to the summit. We prefer a circular route, so continue on the harder route straight up. If you’re used to hill walking, then it’s not particularly steep or difficult.
3 As you gain height, the views open up as with plenty of views off to the right as even if the maps show forestry, it’s mainly felled. This includes the summit dead ahead. There’s no false summits, that really is it.
4 A final junction in the path which even spells out that the option to the left is more pleasant and easier, however we went straight up as it’s the more direct route up.
5 There’s no missing the summit of Moel Famau as it’s dominated by the Jubilee Tower, with a full account of it’s history available on Wikipedia. Walking onto the remains of the tower, you realise that it’s a viewing platform with a plaque displaying the names of all the landmarks that form the panorama from this excellent viewpoint. Being where it is, your view encompasses Snowdonia in the West and a large proportion of North West England to the North and East. We were pretty certain that the Lakes were visible in the distance today.
For those who might be interested in what this ruin would have looked like, here’s a video showing a reconstruction of the Moel Famau Jubilee Tower.
The trig point is painted in green, red and white to make it look like ‘Mistar Urdd‘ who’s the symbol of the welsh youth movement Yr Urdd. This is unmistakable to those from this side of the border, but is probably lost on others.
6 The descent from Moel Famau back to the car park can be as easy as returning the same way. A much more interesting way is to follow Offa’s Dyke national trail to Bwlch Penbarra. If you wanted an even easier walk to the top, then if you start at Bwlch Penbarra you’re practically at the top before starting. Our route followed one of the alternative trails, but it makes little difference.
There’s a useful signpost that notes it’s only 1.5M (I’m assuming this is an old sign and they mean miles not metres) to Bwlch Penbarra, and just in case you overshoot slightly it’s another 155 odd to Chepstow. It’s an excellent track, and is good going all the way to Bwlch Penbarra (and not to bad to Chepstow either) but there are a number of options that follow the ridgeline that you can also follow to the same destination.
7 After around 2km, you’ll arrive at Bwlch Penbarra. It’s now downhill all the way. You don’t need to follow the road either as there’s a waymarked green trail to your left that parallels the road and you’re back at the start in around 1km, or 15 minutes.
Featured Image with thanks to Eryri Drone Media.
Local Information and Recommended Maps and Guidebooks
Route Summary:
This is a straightforward walk to the summit of Moel Famau, the highest point of the Clwydian Hills. This can be a very popular walk, and is one of the most viewed routes of all time on Mud and Routes. Little did we know how popular this little hill can be to the locals.
Updated for 2023!
Route Start Location: Moel Famau Car Park
Distance |
Ascent |
Time |
6 km | 280m | 2 hours |
Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.
Activivity Type: Easy Moderate Walk
Summits and Places on this Route
Facilities
We don’t think the Shepherd’s Hut is at Bwlch Penbarra any longer. There are toilets at the car park.
Hazards
Largely a straightforward walk with straightforward navigation. However, the summit is 300m higher than the car park and so it will be significantly colder and windier by the time you reach the summit, especially windchill.
Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need.
Parking : CH7 5SH
There’s plenty of parking spaces at the Moel Famau Car Park at Coed Fammau.
You are charged for the length of time you park and pay by card on the way out. Current fees (March 2023): £2 for 3 hours, 40p for every additional 30 minutes and a maximum charge of up to £5 per day
Public Transport:
None to the car park
I remember going here on a school trip over 50 years ago. We had to pay a massive amount of 10/- which took a lifetime to save up. To the young ones 10/-equivalent to 50p in today’s money. Every year there was a trip to what we called Movamma, to us children aged between 6 and 10, it was a magical place, we would be so excited as we boarded the coach. The long coach trip from Liverpool, took us through countryside where we saw ‘real live’ cows and sheep….. We would lay bets and dares on who would climb this big high ‘massive mountain’ first…….. As I stared to grow older and told tales of my youth to my grandchildren, I remembered Movamma, and it was only a few years ago I actually found out where it was…… I smile now when I think of what we believed as you children…… Believe me when I say…… It’s a magical place to take them 😀
You can avoid the road section by walking along the track in the woods. See on map.
How far is it to walk form Moel Famua to the TV scanner at Moel Y Park ?