Wales Hike: Ruthin to Moel Famau 10am

The go to person is Rajan Madhok

Ruthin

Learn more about Ruthin here. It is approximately 1 hour from Manchester by car. According to the Sunday Times, Ruthin is the best place in Wales to live, a handsome, historic town using period properties in a modern manner. It has a 600-year-old former courthouse that is now a community hub, and an old bank that recycles unwanted goods. It has a prison, which no longer houses inmates, and is open to the public as a tourist attraction. The architecture is beautiful here, with many independent shops. It is not overrun by chains.

Meeting point / Car Park

The meeting point for the car park is the Ruthin Craft Centre - the Centre for the Applied Arts. It has a free car park as well as three galleries showing the best in national and international contemporary applied art, on-site makers studios, café and retail gallery. Ruthin Craft Centre, Park Road, Ruthin, Denbighshire, LL15 1BB

Moel Famau

We will go to Moel Famau and the hills around it. Moel Famau is the highest hill in the Clwydian Range and the highest point of the county of Flintshire in Wales. The hill, which also gives its name to the Moel Famau country park, has been classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty since 1985. It is also surrounded by several well-preserved Iron Age hill forts. A northern part of the Offa's Dyke long-distance footpath, one of the UK's most popular National Trails, crosses the summit of Moel Famau and the Jubilee Tower.

Different Walking Paths

Numerous well-maintained paths of varying difficulty lead to the summit. Two of the easiest and most popular routes start from the southern car parks at Bwlch Penbarras, a pass between Moel Famau and Foel Fenlli, about 1.25 miles (2.0 km) from the summit. The northern route begins at the car park south of the Iron Age hill fort at Moel Arthur. A footpath to the top of Moel Famau also begins from the village of Cilcain.

Much of North East Wales and North West England can sometimes be seen from the summit of Moel Famau. This includes parts of Denbighshire, Flintshire, Cheshire and Merseyside. On clear days, Snowdonia can be seen to the west, the Irish Sea to the north, and to the east Liverpool, Chester, Winter Hill, and Blackpool Tower.