This is a pleasant, easy route around the Glamorgan canal nature reserve. When I was a runner this was my regular easy, recovery run.
Distance: 3.3 miles
Strenuous: easy
Teilo wag factor: 4.5 (lots to explore and mainly off the lead)
Starting at the school head down Iron Bridge Road. Go under the road bridge and turn left. Follow this path round until it joins the paved route and turn left, going under the motorway. The Taff Trail turns right after this (that is a different route), but ignore this and instead go on and then take the path to the left straight after.
After a while there is a turning to the right, up to the road. Cross over here, and just to the right there is a turning into the nature reserve on the left. Follow this path up to the canal, and then round to the right. You’re going to do a sort of figure of 8 in the reserve. Follow this path, it turns left, then right, and then comes to a gate on the left. Take this heading towards the canal (this is the ‘belt’ of the figure of 8).
By the canal turn right, following the canal. After about half a mile there is a turning on the right. Take this, with the conservation area on your right and a stream on your left. There is a bird hide on the right too where you can observe the conservation area in peace.
Take the path to the right, going back across the ‘belt’ of the figure of 8 to the canal again. This time turn left, past the old lock. Follow this to the end, then turn left, back on to the path that entered the nature reserve. Then retrace the route back to Tongwynlais.
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