Llanharan and Llantrisant Forest
A clever spot to use as a base camp for longer routes, Llanharan’s dramatic valley and the nearby forest of Llantrisant, itself speckled with ancient woodland, will set up a day’s ride you won’t soon forget.
When arriving at the charming village of Llanharan, you can choose to take the Great Glamorgan Way North. You are guaranteed a fantastic and varied day’s ride. Llanharan is so well situated between the counties that it works as a brilliant place to build an itinerary from, allowing you to work in a route that leads you through the areas that have best captured your imagination.
To the North rises the imposing cone of Mynydd Coedbychan, which thrusts dramatically up above the village. Once you reach the summit, you are faced with Graig Fatha, the first consumer owned wind farm in the UK. A provider of clean energy, each swoosh of a turbine’s engine would power your home for 8 hours. On any blustery day, the wind farm transforms into a flurry of spinning pinwheels; it is a truly impressive sight when you get up close and personal with these green energy giants.
If you can keep your neck from craning up at the spinning blades of the windfarm, you might catch sight of the Cariad Stones. This rocky outcrop takes its name from the carving made into the rockface. Legible even to this day, the words ‘Dduw Cariad Yw’ gaze out onto the landscape, etched white into the grey stone. Apparently inscribed 100 years ago by a Preacher from nearby Tonyrefail, the phrase translates to ‘God is Love’ in English. It’s a wonderful spot for a picnic, and the view out over the Vale is lovely and, on a clear day, reaches all the way out to the Bristol Estuary.