Cynon Valley - Down the Valley up , up the valley down

Starting from the (free) main car park in Mountain Ash (next to the railway station) we make a long fairly steep climb out of the valley in a South Westerly direction. Once we reach the top the views open out in all directions we are now in land of fields , narrow lanes and dry stone walls. We take the lanes and we make a gradual ascent towards Abercynon. Just above Abercynon Its then a steeper ascent through woodland to the Abercnon cemetery. Still heading down we pick up the (virtually flat) Cynon trail which takes alongside the river Cynon through copses and woodland back to Mountain Ash.

The first mile of this walk is all uphill and we will stop frequently , there is a lot of walking on tarmac and when we leave the tarmac the paths are quite good. There are only two stiles on the walk.