Afon Dulais (Tywi tributary at Llanwrda)

Details

Last Updated on Friday, 11 February 2011 09:34

Written by jmmoxon

NAME OF RIVER: Afon Dulais (Five bridges above Llanwrda to Llanwrda)

WATER LEVEL, ACCESS AND HAZARD UPDATES: Here.

WHERE IS IT?: Along the A482 off the A40 between Llandovery and Llandeilo.

PUT-INS/TAKE-OUTS: From the A40, turn onto the A482 at Llanwrda and follow the road out (looking at the river on the way). The road crosses the river five times, then there is a little church(?) on the left and opposite a road with a small bridge. It's best to stay in the wide bit before the bridge, as there is only room for one car in the lane. Get-in is over the fence on the downstream river left (over the bridge).

Get-out is by the war memorial in Llanwrda. We parked on the side of the road on the bridge, but this was on a weekday. Parking situation in the village looked ok for one or two cars.

APPROX LENGTH: 6km

TIME NEEDED: A lot longer than you think - 3-4 hours

ACCESS SITUATION: We got the feeling that it isn't a much paddled river. The couple of people we saw on the way down were very friendly (one man held up a rope across the water to make it easier for us) and when we collected the shuttle bike we met the farmer who owns the land on either side. He said that we were crazy, but that he was very happy for us to paddle it and even warned us about a pig-fence across the river.

It also says a lot that I managed to leave the boot of my car unlocked for the whole afternoon in Llanwrda, and nothing was missing when we got back.

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: We paddled it the day after heavy rain, when everything was dripping. I think we must have got the only paddlable level - any less and the rocks would make it a nightmare, any more and it would be impossible to limbo the trees. As it was, it was a little bumpy, but good fun.
The rocks at the get-in were covered and there was a good flow.

GRADING: River - 2/3, Trees - 4

MAJOR HAZARDS/FALLS: Lots of fallen trees. At the level we had, most of them were limbo-able, but if you're not sure, don't try it. There is also one well-made wire fence fairly early on which needs portaging on river left, and one straggly suspended one towards the end which is runnable on river right.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A small river, very windy so requiring good scouting and communication. Trees are the main hazards, but you can sneak most of them and the rest are easy to portage. There are a few small drops, then getting to about a third of the way down the river closes into a gorge and drops a little faster with a fall on a RH bend to finish - there is a wall ahead so this is easily recognisable. After that, its mainly bouncy grade 2. Two features - a natural weir with a branch in it, and a jobby with a slope on the left and a boofable(?) drop on the right.

OTHER NOTES: Good fun, but I think we were very lucky with the level. Probably wouldn't be worth doing any lower, and with more water the trees would get ridiculous unless we were talking metres higher.
Not one for big groups - 4/5 would be maximum.
Ok for a bike shuttle - about 20-30 mins ride.

CONTRIBUTED BY: Bev Jennings (aka Wease)