Esgair Ddu, Carnedd Wen and Stingwern Hill. A trio of Marilyns in North Powys.

Updated: Oct 3, 2020

19.11.2019 - Esgair Ddu 464m, Carnedd Wen 523m and Stingwern Hill 358m.

Having done Garreg Hir and Bryn Amlwg near Carno the day before I decided to park my camper van overnight in the Brigand pub car park in Mallwyd the night before as Esgair Ddu can be walked from there. I would then move east towards Newtown to do Carnedd Wen and do Stingwern Hill on may way home whilst heading south.

Esgair Ddu

From the pub car park you head east and go onto an UC road and before long you pass a forest on your right. You then just follow the road around south east for a good 3kms until you start to head uphill and south west on an obvious farm track that traverses the side of the valley. Once you come out onto the top of the hill you cross open country along some feint trails to the summit which is still a couple of km’s away. You will have to fence hop on the way and the views are pretty scenic. There is nothing to mark the summit and it took me 1hr 55min to do the 5k and 440m of ascent.

I followed a different route down heading more or less directly north across open country with some more fence hopping. Nice views but hardly any trails here but eventually I came down by the forest I passed at the start which was my intention as this saved a bit of time and distance. Once back on the road it wasn’t long before I was back at the start.

Parking and Access: I parked in the Brigand Inn pub car park in Mallwyd village as I stayed there the night in the van.

Route Summary: Road, farm track and open country. Moderately steep in places and a steep downhill to the forest. Boggy in some sections as you cross over obvious water tables. Fence hopping.

Route Statistics: 9km,465m of ascent in 2hrs 50mins.

GPX files: For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’

Ascent Entry on Peakbagger: Esgair Ddu

Carnedd Wen

From Mallwyd you drive east about 10km until you get to Allt Fraith (1:25 map) where there is a small lay-by on the right hand side of the road for parking. From here you simply head south and south west past Caer Lloi and an irritating sheep dog that aggressively chases you. It is an obvious farm gravel track that leads steadily uphill onto the hillside and eventually leads you into the forestry. Just follow this all the way into the forest until you see a small quarry/lake on your right hand side. You surmount the rim of the quarry on the left and the TP is just over the obvious lip. Retrace your steps to the start.

Parking and Access: Small lay-by on the main road at the start point.

Route Summary: Simple linear walk on a forestry access track. No views of note.

Route Statistics: 11km and 345m of ascent in 2hrs 25min.

GPX files: For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’

Ascent Entry on Peakbagger: Carnedd Wen

Stingwern Hill

From Carnedd Wen this hill is about 35-40 mins away heading east. You head for Llanfair Caereinion then head south until you get to New Mills. You then make your way along the back roads further east to the north side of the hill. There are two gates on the left hand side and I managed to park my Sprinter van in between them. From here I just went over the fence and went up the hill to the TP and back. Nice views from the top.

Parking and Access: I parked between two gates to some fields.

Route Summary: Cross an open field.

Route Statistics: .5 of a km with 35m height gain in 7mins flat!

GPX files: For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’