Gwaun Valley Waterfall

Viewpoint

Explorer Tom

Gwaun Valley Waterfall has a delightful trick: you may hear it long before you see it, as water pitches through a wooded gorge above the valley near Tregynon. The view comes by way of a path built with a heroic quantity of steps, which suggests the waterfall hired its own dramatic staircase designer. This is the Tregynon waterfall viewpoint, rather than every cascade along the River Gwaun. Friends of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park worked with the park authority and local landowners Peter and Jane Heard to open a permissive path into the gorge. It drops about 200 feet from an existing public path, crosses the stream on a bridge and climbs to another public path near an Iron Age fort. The group's account records 107 steps and 250 metres of railing. That is serious effort for a glimpse of falling water, and the builders thought it worthwhile. Both connecting paths rise from the valley floor, and the Friends give the start of the gorge path as grid reference SN053346. The descent is steep, so come with shoes that grip and enough puff to climb back out; this is a woodland walk, not a look from a car window. Keep to the provided route across the land and check conditions after rain. You can admire the stream from the bridge without treating slippery rock as a personal challenge. The Gwaun valley supplies the backdrop, but the gorge does the showmanship. Pause where the path safely lets you see the water, listen to its racket under the trees, and give those volunteer-built steps their due on the way back. Your calves may write complaint; your eyes will probably overrule them.

What is recorded here

Map note: In Pembrokeshire, Wales, the map records Gwaun Valley Waterfall as a viewpoint. The map can show the spot, and you can judge the view for yourself.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) n8808673482

This does not grant access. Check current paths, opening conditions and ownership before entering.