A wide meander of the Wye followed with Yat Rock as a highlight.
(D/A) From The Saracens Head car park, go to the Ferry. Take the hand ferry across the River Wye. Once across, climb the steps and turn right.
Walk between cottages on your left and their riverside gardens on the right, and pass a restored limekiln on your left.
(1) Continue past further cottages to the Old Ferrie Inn, where a narrow flight of steps leads under the building to the riverbank. Turn left through the car park and pick up a path in the far right-hand corner.
Follow the path alongside the river and pass below a caravan park.
(2) Keep along the riverside to the church at Whitchurch, where the path diverts away from the river; either walk round the churchyard or enter it, passing a medieval cross, to visit the church. Turn right in the church car park to a bridge over a side-stream, then turn right to return to the riverbank.
Keep on along the river, passing some large glasshouses and an industrial plant. Beyond the works, leave the river and cross a scrubby field diagonally to the road (B4229).
(3) Turn right along the B4229, crossing the Garren Brook. Keep right at the junction with Newmills Hill. After a mercifully short stretch of road walking, a stile on the right gives access back to the riverside.
(4) Follow the river through a series of fields to Huntsham Bridge; just before the bridge, keep left of a fishing compound to the road. Turn right and cross the river.
On the other side, turn immediately left and continue with the river now on your left. Enter woodland and follow the narrow and slightly overgrown path as it twists and turns between boulders; ignore a footpath off to the right, keeping close to the river.
Pass the white-painted Huntsham Cottage.
(5) At the end of an open, brackeny area, the path leaves the river, bearing right into the trees. Initially indistinct, the path heads uphill to a waymark post then bears left, passing a ruined stone building to a series of steps.
When you reach a broad forest drive, take a few steps to the left, then continue up a staircase of reconstituted plastic board on your right. Follow the path beyond to a signpost, where you turn right (uphill, signposted to “Yat Rock 1⁄4”).
(6) After a hairpin bend left, pass a cottage, before bending right to the end of a drive. Walk out to the road. Turn left and walk up the road, until you pass under a footbridge near the top of the hill. Shortly afterwards, turn left and double-back on yourself along a boardwalk to the Yat Rock viewpoint.
(7) Having admired the view, return as far as the footbridge and cross it into a picnic area. A path opposite leads down rocky steps and past a small cave to a crossing with a wide track. Go straight over and follow a steeply descending path through the woods.
Keep left at a path junction, and again at a second, until you emerge at the end of the car park in Symonds Yat East. Turn right to return to The Saracens Head. (D/A)
Waypoints :
D/A : km 0 - alt. 32m - The Saracens Head
1 : km 0.83 - alt. 32m - Ferry - Old Ferrie Inn
2 : km 1.97 - alt. 23m - Church at Whitchurch
3 : km 3 - alt. 23m - Garren Brook
4 : km 4.05 - alt. 24m - Huntsham Bridge
5 : km 6.07 - alt. 47m - Steps
6 : km 6.43 - alt. 107m - Footbridge
7 : km 6.65 - alt. 126m - Yat Rock viewpoint
D/A : km 7.54 - alt. 32m - The Saracens Head
Uses the hand ferry (fee payable) across the Wye on the outward journey. One stiff climb and the descent from Yat Rock is steep and uneven. Riverside paths may be muddy after rain, or impassable when the river is in flood.
Pdf Link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/He...
The Saracens Head Inn
Symonds Yat East,
Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 6JL
Tel 01600 890435
Website http://saracensheadinn.co.uk
Email contact@saracensheadinn.co.uk
Visorando and this author cannot be held responsible in the case of accidents or problems occuring on this walk.
A circular walk on good surfaces, mainly level along the beautiful Wye Valley at Symonds Yat. The River Wye seen from the world famous viewpoint at Symonds Yat Rock forms an almost complete loop. The river here flows 31⁄2 miles yet progresses less then 1⁄4 mile towards the Severn. This walk starts below Symonds Yat Rock in the steep sided, wooded gorge at the pleasant village of Symonds Yat East.
Short alternative route to the viewpoint of Yat Rock.
A long walk full of interest with lengthy riverside sections.
A walk through the woods to a local landmark, returning along the Wye Riverbank.
A choice of short or long walks along the River Wye towards Monmouth.
A short but energetic climb to a stunning viewpoint over the Wye Valley.
Follow in the footsteps of the Wye Tourists down to the Wye. Cross the river at the Biblins visiting Little Doward Hillfort, King Arthur’s Cave and New Weir Forge. Return on the hand ferry at Symonds Yat West.
A steep descent and ascent from the car park at Yat Rock to the River Wye at Symonds Yat East.
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The GPS track and description are the property of the author.