Dolaucothi Goldmines
Dolaucothi Gold mines and woodland is 15 minutes away from the hotel with the main gold mine site which has a coffee shop, toilets, a shop and ample parking with the main car park closing at 5pm. (There are signs to tell you which car park you’re in if you’re not sure and don’t want to be locked in.)
Dog Walks
There are several different forest walks around the beautiful Dolaucothi estate, which takes you along the river and along the gardens of the once grand house. I – with my best friend Dozer – took the yellow route which was about 1 mile taking us from the mines following a path (and arrows to help us find our way) over the bridge that was once on the East drive and past the remains of the old grotto which was once a feature within the gardens filled with exotic plants.
The routes at the beginning of the walk is one of the few woodlands in Ceredigion where red squirrels can be seen, if you’re lucky enough, just after passing the grotto. But I may have got too excited leaping and rustling around making as much noise as possible, unsurprisingly we didn’t see any.
On the National Trust website you can find directions of the woodlands walk to give you an idea of the route and how long it would take. On one part of the Parkland route there is the chance to find out about the Dolaucothi estate allowing you to imagine the ladies of the house taking a turn around the gardens you’ve just walked passed. I wasn’t really interested so we went back to the route to the car park.
Something to drink…
When we got back to the main site we went to for a coffee in the main tearooms. The site has an entrance fee, unless you’re a member of the national trust and then it’s included. I managed to get a big bowl of water for Dozer and I and lots of fuss!
A beautiful woodland walk with my favourite – a stop in the river!
