The falls that inspired a Wordsworth poem
Devil’s Bridge Falls in the Rheidol Gorge is a major attraction about 12 miles outside Aberystwyth, where the River Mynach drops 300ft to meet the River Rheidol.
The unique falls attract thousands of visitors each year and even inspired William Wordsworth’s “Torrent at the Devil’s Bridge”.
For a small charge, you can follow a pathway from the three bridges right up to the falls and through the surrounding woodland.
There are two separate walks to choose from, The Waterfalls and the much shorter Punchbowl, but both involve steps.
The Waterfalls walk is more challenging than the Punchbowl and involves descending 300ft down uneven steps and paths, with a physically challenging ascent back up the other side of the gorge.
The Punchbowl walk consists of about 300 steps although you don’t have to descend all the way to view the three bridges, which are built one on top of the other, as they can be seen from near the top of the path.
The Waterfalls walk winds along the peaceful wooded gorge and includes Jacob’s Ladder – 100 continuous steps – and leads to an old circular bridge at the bottom of the spectacular 300ft waterfalls before you climb up the other side to the Robber’s Cave, an old hideout along the trail.
The nature trail is home to many types of mosses and lichens and is also an excellent example of an ancient sessile oak woodland.
But if the trail is too long and steep it only takes a few minutes to descend down on the shorter Punchbowl route to the river upstream of the waterfalls, where you can experience how the force of the River Mynach has carved beautiful pot holes into the rock.
From this view point the three bridges tower overhead and are an awesome sight.
Devil's Bridge is also the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol steam railway which carries visitors through the Rheidol Valley from Aberystwyth.
Due to the geology of the Rheidol Gorge, the walks are not suitable for the elderly, disabled visitors or pushchairs. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
