Elan Valley

Set within 70 square miles of beautiful rolling hills, the Elan Valley National Nature Reserve is a magnificent succession of reservoirs and dams that form Wales’ ‘Lake District’.

At the turn of the century the Elan River west of the hillside village of Rhayader was dammed to provide water for the ever-increasing English cities of the Midlands. It was a mammoth project employing some 50,000 people to build three dams up to 190 high. In 1952 a fourth dam was built and in total Elan Valley’s dams hold over 21 billion gallons of water. The villages that were there were cleared with 100 people losing their homes a fact that still today evokes resentment among some people in Wales.

Today the Elan Valley is one of the country’s most important ecological centres and a haven for bird life particularly the Red Kite that can be seen soaring high through the valleys. Visitors can enjoy scenic drives, walking and fishing in what was once one of the remotest parts of Wales and is still relatively undiscovered.

There is a fantastic circular route from Elan Village, now the area’s visitor centre around the huge expanses of lake land and dams with impressive baroque style towers and back to the village of Rhayader.