Walking

Welcome

There are walking trails in many of the woodlands and National Nature Reserves managed by Natural Resources Wales.

These walking trails are waymarked from start to finish and are graded to give an indication of difficulty.

Our walking trails

Our walking trails normally start from a car park where there is an information panel about the trail.

The panel tells you which waymarkers (a coloured arrow or other symbol) to follow and has information about the trail’s grade, the length of time it may take to complete and what to look out for along the route.

• To find out what the trail grades mean go to walking trail grades.
• Look for a waymarked trail in our woodlands and reserves on the map of places to visit.
• Read about our waymarked trails in the list of places to visit.

Trail closures and diversions

Sometimes we need to close or divert trails for your safety whilst we undertake maintenance work or other operations.

Please check the page for the woodland or reserve on this website for any changes before you visit, especially if you want to do a specific trail, and follow any temporary signage and instructions from staff.

Public rights of way

You can walk on all four categories of public right of way:

• Public footpaths
• Public bridleways
• Restricted byways
• Byways open to all traffic

Find out more about public rights of way.

Open access land

You can walk on any land that has been designated as open access.

Most of the woodlands and some of the National Nature Reserves managed by Natural Resources Wales have been designated as open access.

Open access land is shown on Ordnance Survey Explorer maps.

Find out more about open access land.

National Trails

National Trails are long distance routes through some of the best landscapes in England and Wales.

There are three National Trails in Wales:

• Glyndŵr’s Way
• Offa’s Dyke Path
• Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Find out more on the National Trails website.

Wales Coast Path

The Wales Coast Path provides a continuous walking route around the coastline of Wales.

The path is 870 miles long from the outskirts of Chester in the north to Chepstow in the south.

Find out more on the Wales Coast Path website.

The Countryside Codes

The Countryside Codes provide advice to plan a visit to the outdoors and to help keep you and other people safe.

Find out more about the Countryside Codes.

Permission for events

You may need to apply for permission before organising activities or events on the land managed by Natural Resources Wales.

Find out more about organising an activity or event.