News

Event in Crychan Forest Mon 24th Nov to Fri 19th Dec 2025 – Updated

There will be activities taking place in Crychan Forest between Monday 24th November and Friday 19th December, 2025.

They will be using Brynffo for access to the forest.

Access to the forest trails will be maintained wherever possible. Any temporary restrictions required for safety will be clearly marked and manned.

Update:

The event will take place between the 8th – 18th December and leaving site from the 19th December onwards.

Message from NRW following Storm Darragh

In south west Wales, we’re facing an enormous challenge in recovering from Storm Darragh, one of the most destructive weather events in decades.

Our windblow surveys, which examine the numbers of trees that have been uprooted and blown over, have identified that the scale of the impact is vast, with up to 900 hectares of windblow on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate (WGWE) with Carmarthenshire and other areas of south west Wales impacted the worst.

Recovery will be a long-term effort that could take up to three years.

Despite the difficulties, we are making steady progress, prioritising safety, reopening access points, and supporting local farmers.

We truly appreciate your patience and cooperation as we navigate this complex recovery process.

Impact of Storm Darragh

Storm Darragh was a once in a 20-to-30-year event, causing significant damage across   Carmarthenshire with surveys to date recording up to 340 hectares of windblow – that works out at the size of roughly 480 football pitches.

Wind damage results from a combination of storm gusts, soil conditions, tree species, topography, and wind direction. Most of the damage this time was caused by north-easterly winds, which were unusual for the region.

• The Brechfa  and Caio areas were hit hard, with ongoing assessments to confirm the full scale of damage.
• Boundary fences have been impacted, and inspections are ongoing. Many fence repairs cannot begin until large scale tree removal has taken place
• Public access remains severely affected, with many Public Rights of Ways (footpaths, bridleways, Byways Open to All Traffic) inaccessible.  Surveys are ongoing to understand the scale of the impact and clearance work required.
• Many of NRW’s promoted walking trails are inaccessible and closed for safety reasons.
• We urge visitors to check our website for up-to-date information and follow on-site signage.

Forest Update: Carmarthenshire – 11th April 2025

We continue to make progress in our response to the recent storm damage affecting forest areas across Carmarthenshire.

Key updates include:

• Access assessment: initial assessments of rights of way are now underway to identify obstructions and prioritise clearance efforts.
• Working with farmers: we are actively working with local farmers to address issues along boundary fence lines.
• Coordination with Local Authority: engagement continues with the Local Authority, to coordinate safe access and clearance activities on highways, unclassified roads and byways.  Local Authority Contractors have cleared the Byway running through Graig Forest and are moving onto clearing the byway from Nant y Ffin to Gwernogle & Pant y Bettws.
• North Crychan: tree clearance along the unclassified road in North Crychan is progressing well and is on track to be completed by Wednesday 16 April 2025. NRW Forest Operations Teams will be moving from North Crychan into Brechfa Forest where they will be working to clear more areas of windblow from byways and sections of Bridle ways.

Crychan Forest Car Parks (Brynffo, Cefn farm and Esgair Fwyog) are open providing access along forest roads for walking, cycling, horse riding and carriage driving. All walking trails remain inaccessible. 

Halfway Forest is open, providing access for walking, cycling and horse riding along our forest roads. The Halfway Woodland Walking Trails (Nant y Dresglen and Melyn y Glyn Walking Trail) are open

Cwm Y Glyn (Halfway Horse Trail extension 12) Forestry Workings

Forestry work on the Cwm Y Glyn trail between 164 and 168 is now complete but the track has not been reinstated. So it is advisable to avoided this section by staying on the forestry road.

Felling in Crychan South

There is currently contractors felling in Crychan South. Please obey all signs.

There will we short term track closures as the contractors move from one block to another.

Cwm y Glyn Horse Trail in Halfway closed – Now Open

UPDATE

The Cwm y Glyn Horse Trail in Halfway is now all open.

Work at Halfway has finished, though they may be back later in the year to finish off.  The contractors had to leave site due to dormouse breeding timing.  The tracks have been cleared of debris. 

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The Cwm y Glyn Horse Trail in Halfway which is an extension to Cefn Arthen trail is closed for felling in the section between posts 164 and 168.

The closed section can be bypassed by staying on the main track down to post 154 to re-join the trail. Please be aware that this alternative forestry road will have timber stacked on it, and machinery stacking timber, and timber moving from site.

The felling has started (May 2023) and will last for the next couple of months.

Felling Operations in Crychan and Halfway

A felling operation to remove trees with Ash dieback has begun at Crychan Forest.

Ash dieback is a serious disease caused by a fungus called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

Their removal will ensure the forest remains a safe place.

Closures and diversions are in place.

Please obey all signs.

The work has currently started in Crychan at the moment with some work around the closed sections of trails at Cefn Farm and then moving on to Halfway.

It is not possible to provide more details as the ash trees are dotted around and not planted in blocks.

New Crychan Forest Trails Map

Check out the new Crychan and Halfway interactive map. On the Tracks and Maps page.

By selecting a trail name from the Trail Menu you can overlay each trail on to the map and zoom in to see all the post numbers. In the past it has been dificult to show the routes and post numbers without some numbers overlapping.

The new map now clearly shows how the trails in Crychan and Halfway link to the Epynt Way enabling you to make up longer circular routes.

Each trail has its own page where maps and gpx files can be loaded into your mapping GPS app.

Dangerous Tree Survey Closes Section of Trail

Unfortunately due to a recent dangerous tree surveys in regards to ash die back trees. NRW have had to put an emergency closure on the Cefn Farm walking trail and the Cwm Dulais horse riding trail between post 67-68, and also part of the puplic footpath that goes from the car park at Cefn Farm. They are clearly marked with hazard tape and signs. There is an alternative route to still access the rest of the trails by following down the NRW road, and join the trails further down at post 68.

The path on the other side of the road is still usable, apart from a relatively small section that brings you back onto the NRW road.

NRW have already completed some work removing the dangerous trees in other locations. More dangerous tree surveys are being carried out for ash die back and there is the potentially for further restrictions on other trails, until NRW contractors can get out to these sites.

Cefn Farm Trail Open

The Cefn Farm walk and horse riding trails have been re-opened after the tree safety work and some tidying up.

Cefn Farm Trail Closures

A section of the Cefn Farm waymarked walk has been closed today (5th March 2021) from waymarker 70 to waymarker 91 for safety reasons. Contractors have been booked to start work next week and the trail will be reopened once the tree safety work has been completed.

This effects the Cefn Farm Walk and the Cwm Dulais horse riding trail.

Please obey all signs and tape. Thank you.