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Hereford to Hay-on-Wye
Walks:
Grade: Easy Length: 7.4 miles
Grade: Moderate-Difficult Length: 5.5 miles
Description of this stretch of the river:
This stretch of the Wye is where it allows itself some middle aged spread. It meanders across a wide valley, which contains some of the most quintessentially pastoral scenery in the UK. There are grazing cows and sheep on green hillsides, hedgerows bursting with berries, cider orchards with all manner of apple trees. At one point, near Letton, the river is so relaxed it has an abandoned meander. However, going upriver towards Hay, although the river itself wanders and loops, the land to the south of it is forced into steeper and steeper slopes forming the Black Mountains, and culminating in the distinctive escarpment at Hay Bluff. With that sort of landscape encroaching on the river, the upstream stretch will have no chance of being sedate.
Useful Links:
Herefordshire Council published downloadable leaflets describing 15 circular walks.
The 150 mile long Herefordshire trail links five market towns in Herefordshire: Leominster, Bromyard, Ledbury, Ross and Kington, and parts of the route follows the Wye valley.
Herefordshire walking festival provides a variety of walks, and Hay started its own walking festival in 2011.
The long distance Wye Valley Walk provides some information about walking along the Hereford to Hay on Wye stretch.
