About Discover Coed Nercwys Cycling

An easy, well-marked walk, covering 2¾ miles/4.4 kilometres, and taking around 2 hours to complete.
The walking trail and the mountain bike trail here share a similar route, but don’t worry, there are markers along the way to ensure that walkers and cyclists/horse riders follow different directions.
Just be aware that cyclists and horse riders may be travelling in the opposite direction at certain parts of the trail.
 Directions: From Mold, head south, following the signs for Nercwys. Continue through Nercwys and at the second set of crossroads, turn left onto Ffordd Cae Newydd. After around ¾ mile, take the first right and continue for 250 metres, where you will find the car park on the left. Parking is free of charge. A slate plaque close by commemorates the Millennium Oak Trees, planted here by the local community.

Looking at Coed Nercwys today, it is hard to believe that the area was once open moorland, home to scattered farms and mine workings. Nowadays, the area is managed by Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru/Natural Resources Wales, and despite its relatively small size, this site offers a diverse range of trees, clear fell areas, and ponds, creating ideal habitats for a wide range of plants and animals.
In springtime, the woodland floor is embroidered with colourful swathes of wild flowers, whilst in autumn, mushrooms and toadstools appear almost magically among the copper and gold of fallen leaves. Beneath the canopy of the trees, you will also find shade loving ferns, moisture loving mosses, and mysterious lichens, as well as grasses and sedges, such as the shaggy-headed cotton grass which thrives in the marshy ground of Llyn Ochin.
Though this small lake has largely dried up, the area is a haven for bejewelled dragonflies, delicate damselflies, and many other insects, and if you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the rare great crested newts which make their home here. Whilst walking, keep your eyes peeled for tiny goldcrests, which along with firecrests, are the smallest birds in the UK, and watch out for coal tits with their distinctive black caps as they flit between the trees in search of seed. Listen out, too, for the evocative mewling of buzzards, as they wheel on high.
Through the iron gates at the woodland edge, turn left to follow a wide, well-marked path. As you walk, keep an eye out for the remains of a 19th-century lead mine, a derelict shepherd’s cottage, surrounded by a walled paddock, where vibrant wildflowers delight the eye in the summer months, and a recently replanted orchard. You have the option at the end of the trail to climb to a trig point, from where you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking views of the Jubilee Tower atop Moel Famau, built in 1810 to celebrate the Jubilee of King George III, and the beautiful Dee Estuary.
Fun fact: Nercwys is home to a remarkable Welsh fortified border house known as The Tower or simply ‘Tower’, the only one of its kind in the country still standing. This magnificent Grade 1 listed building has been in the same family for six centuries and remains privately owned.
Throughout the years The Tower has seen various additions, including a tower and battlements, believed to have been built during the 18th Century, in the early Gothic Revival style. During the turbulent times of continuous Welsh-English border warfare, Rheinallt ap Gruffydd ap Bleddyn hung the Mayor of Chester in Tower’s dining room in 1465. An iron staple in the ceiling marking this fateful spot can be seen to this day!
Coed Nercwys Walk…
-Grade: Easy
-Distance: 2¾ miles/4.4 kilometres
-Time: 2 hours
-Trail information: Follow the walking trail in a clockwise direction. The walking trail and the mountain bike trail follow a similar route but they are waymarked so that walkers follow the route in a different direction to cyclists and horse riders. Take care as cyclists and horse riders follow parts of this trail the opposite way around