The Four Waterfall Walk is my favourite place to go walking in Carmarthenshire. The beauty of each individual falls is so different yet as one they are magnificent. There is something mesmerising about watching water cascade over a precipice and listen to it crash on the rocks and run off down the river and in Ystradfellte the treat that awaits is very special.
The last time we went, I took my boys and we made a day of it, it was a beautiful sunny day after having had a week of rain which is pretty good when you are going to see waterfalls, you need to have had a good amount of water to appreciate the power they emit when in full flow.
We took a picnic and stopped along the way to enjoy it while watching the river flow past us, there was plenty of shrub land and trees for the boys to go off exploring and they just loved picking stones and throwing them into the water to see who could get the furthest, or just skimming them across the water.
We parked at the top in a public carpark and started from the cave which is to the right of the carpark, a great big cave for the kids to explore, then we made our way down the path, being a nature lover I enjoyed all the other points of note too, the wonderful way that moss grows all over the trees in the area, which you tend to get in all areas where there are waterfalls due to the constant dampness in the air from the spray coming off the waterfall.
There are lots of curly trees with their roots exposed above ground which all add to the beauty of the walk with plenty of uprooted trees, some had fallen across the river so the boys could cross over at certain points and generally mess about.
The first fall you come to is the highest and it’s called Sgwd Clun Gwyn, a simple tall drop waterfall which you can view from above and below then watch it flow down the river on to the next spot which is Sgwd y Pannwr and is completely different and very Niagara like, it flows over a few steps in a slightly semi-circular curved rocky outcrop, you can go and sit beside them to have your photo taken or just watch in awe at the power of nature.
The next fall is a bit haphazard in that there is a long drop then a smaller drop with some steps into a splash pool called Sgwd Isaf Clun Gwyn which canoeists use to start off the white water rafting downstream, it is very difficult to find the right spot to start though and we sat and watched a couple of guys try to get into the water, they finally made it and headed off downstream with many rocks in their path and many twists and turns which didn’t seem to faze them at all. There is also a spot on the hill where you can climb up to look down over the splash pool, it is not an official path but you can see where many others have been before you.
The final and my favourite is Sgwd Yr Eira, which is by far the best, not just because of its beauty but also because you can walk behind it and feel the spray on your face as you stand behind watching the cascading water tumble over the edge above you and crash into the river below. It is a very beautiful fall where you can take some fantastic photos, every photographers dream, easy shots of beauty. My boys loved going behind the fall, you have to beware it can be slippery underfoot and you can get very wet depending on how you walk behind it, boys being boys, my two got very wet which I think might have been intentional.
I have given my description of the walk as I remember it, the order of the waterfalls might be different from how I remember but they are all spectacular anyway. And the trees in the wooded area are also wonderful with lots of different types with some very curly branches and evergreens mixed with old oaks and huge yews, all really add to the beauty of the walk.
When we went it was spring and there were lots of lambs in the fields to watch too.
A lovely walk whatever time of year you go.
