Walking to Hay Bluff on the Offa's Dyke Path

Hay Bluff is the steep northern end of the Black Mountains, about 6km south of the town in a straight line, and you can walk to the top of it from the castle. The Offa's Dyke Path, the 177-mile National Trail along the England and Wales border, comes straight through Hay, and its southbound line out of town is the route.

The numbers

• Distance: about 6.2km each way from Oxford Road to the ridge, measured on the OpenStreetMap line of the National Trail.
• Height: the Hay Bluff trig point stands at 677 metres. The path tops out on the ridge about 400 metres from it.
• Time: allow five to six hours there and back, with a stop at the top.
• Cost: nothing. Park on Oxford Road, or walk from your bed.

The route

Join the trail on Oxford Road by the castle and head south. Within about a kilometre the path is in fields, and at around 1.2km it crosses the Dulas Brook. Here is the border detail most visitors miss: beyond the brook the path runs for a stretch through Cusop Dingle, which is Herefordshire, before it turns back into Powys near Upper Danyforest.

From there it climbs steadily past Tack Wood and the farms below the hill. By about 4km the fields give way to open hillside, and the road up to the Gospel Pass is off to your right. A few hundred metres west of the path, roughly 5.4km from the start, is the Pen-y-Beacon stone circle. The last stretch is the escarpment itself, and it is steep. At the top the Offa's Dyke Path turns south along the ridge towards Pandy; the National Trail gives that whole Pandy to Hay stage as 17.5 miles, about 11 of them on the ridge, with the route's highest point at about 700 metres on Hatterrall Ridge. For today, the view north over the Wye valley to Hay is the reward.

Hay on the trail

For walkers doing the whole Offa's Dyke Path, Hay is a stage end: the National Trail's own route description has the Pandy to Hay day finishing here, and describes Hay as famed for its bookshops and as having the remains of two Norman castles. If your walking dates fall in festival time, late May into early June or the end of November, book a bed in town early. If you are doing just the Bluff, the walk is the opposite way round from the long-distance walkers: you climb out of the book town rather than drop into it, which means the hard work comes first and the descent, with the town in view below, comes last.

Before you go

• Weather: the hill and the town are two different forecasts. If the cloud is down on the Black Mountains, the ridge is featureless and the walk is not worth it; come back another day or take the river instead.
• Map: carry one. The open hill near the top has few landmarks.
• Dogs: sheep graze the hill, so keep dogs on a lead.
• Getting back: the same way down is the simple plan. You can also arrange a lift from the Gospel Pass road.

The rest of the day

Come down hungry. The Three Tuns on the corner of Broad Street opens every day from noon and welcomes dogs throughout, which matters if one came with you. If you are back by 3pm, the Granary on Broad Street serves until then. If walking is not the plan, the same hill has an easier companion in the river: Wye Valley Canoes runs a five-mile half day from the Wyeford car park in Hay to the Boat Inn at Whitney-on-Wye for £40 a head, lift back included.