Drygarn Fawr is a mountain in the county of

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is one of the highest summits in Mid Wales at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It lies to the south of the

Elan Valley Reservoirs The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean dri ...

. Rising above the remote

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

of the

Cambrian Mountains The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...

, and to the west of the peaks of

Radnor Forest Radnor Forest ( cy, Fforest Clud) in the county of Radnorshire, Wales is a rock dome composed of Silurian shales, mudstones and limestone in Mid Wales. It is a forest in the medieval sense of the word (an area of land set aside for hunting). I ...

, the summit is topped by two distinctive, large

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s. The mountain has a gentle, grassy, conical shape with a few rocks near the summit. Nearby are the summits of Gorllwyn, Y Gamriw, and Drum yr Eira all over 600m.

Access

There are two paths to the summit. From Llannerch Yrfa, a

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

winds up through

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s in the Nant y Fedw valley before skirting the southern edge of the mountain. An alternative route may be taken starting from Rhiwnant on the edge of the Caban Coch

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, one of the

, and following the Nant Paradwys before turning off west towards the summit cairn. Both routes pass across wild

and

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s and the path may become difficult to follow and impassable, particularly after heavy rain.

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Drygarn Fawr and surrounding area
{{coord, 52.21203, N, 3.66698, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SN862584), display=title Elenydd Mountains and hills of Powys Hewitts of Wales Marilyns of Wales Nuttalls