The Teifi Trail
The River Teifi is one of the finest fishing rivers in the country thanks to its healthy stocks of salmon, trout and sea trout. The river and its banks are designated as a Special Area of Conservation because of its important range of habitats.
To help you explore this outstanding area, Carmarthenshire Council is developing the Teifi Trail from Cenarth to Cwmann, which will be 118km in length when complete and offering alternative routes at several points along the valley.
For part of its course the river forms the boundary between the counties of Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. Picturesque Cenarth with its splendid 18th Century bridge and spectacular waterfalls is the location of the National Coracle Centre, a reminder of the days when most homes here had their own coracles.
The market town of Newcastle Emlyn lies close by. Its medieval castle is celebrated in tradition as the place where the last dragon in Wales was slain.
At Henllan, the river passes through a narrow, wooded gorge close to the former wool manufacturing centre of Drefach Felindre. The Teifi once provided water for the numerous woollen mills in their heyday during the late 19th Century.
The Teifi Trail offers two routes between Llanfihangel-ar-Arth and Llanybydder. The northern route runs close to the river and gives frequent glimpses of the old railway line between the village and the town.
The southern route skirts the edge of the historic common on Mynydd Llanllwni and offers some fine views across the Teifi Valley. Here you will find a very different landscape to that of the valley floor. The trail also passes close to a number of ancient burial mounds, raised by Bronze Age people more than 3000 years ago.
The market town of Llanybydder is famed for its horse sales which are still held every month and where horses of all descriptions are bought and sold by dealers from across Europe.
Between Llanybydder and Cwmann, the trail runs through Pencarreg. Here the hills take on a more rugged character as they begin to rise into the uplands of eastern Ceredigion towards the ultimate source of the Teifi.
© 2010 Carmarthenshire County Council.