Wales · Black Mountains to Eryri · Premium route guide
Welsh Super 10 - Wales' Highest Roads
Wales' highest roads in one hard loop: Gospel Pass, Elan, Bwlch y Groes.
412 kilometres of the highest, narrowest and emptiest paved roads in Wales, starting and finishing in Abergavenny. The full loop on the map, a GPX built from our own track, and the motorcycle-friendly stays riders have vetted along the way.
- Distance
- 411.9 km
- Peak elevation
- 543 m
- Elevation gain
- 4,199 m
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
- United Kingdom · Wales
- Loop
- 100% paved
The route
A full loop from Abergavenny: north up the Vale of Ewyas past Llanthony to Gospel Pass and Hay-on-Wye, over to Rhayader and the Elan Valley mountain road to Devil's Bridge, up to Machynlleth, over Bwlch y Groes to Llanuwchllyn, through Eryri to Dolgellau, then back south via the Dylife road, Llanidloes, Builth Wells and Brecon. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
2 verified stays within 30 km of the route. Click a stay pin to see details. Know one that should be here?
Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route, how to load this into your GPS
What you are downloading is a GPX track, a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It is not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zumo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner, new trip from track) if you want turn by turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive, it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it does not re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour, Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these do not read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line, pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~4 m at the base to 543 m at the top, 4,199 m of total climbing across the route.
Visit Wales describes this as a challenging route for experienced riders, and it is. Our version is 412 km with about 4,200 m of climbing, which works out at roughly 11 hours of riding before any stops. Most riders split it over two days with a night around Machynlleth or Rhayader.
There are no motorways on it. The fast connecting roads are the A470 and A40; everything that makes the loop special is a B-road or an unnumbered mountain lane.
Why ride it
It strings together the best high roads in Wales in one day's riding distance: Gospel Pass, the Elan Valley mountain road over to Cwmystwyth, the Dylife road and Bwlch y Groes. In between are proper flowing A-roads through Mid Wales, so the loop never feels like a grind.
Traffic is light away from the towns, the scenery changes every hour, and you finish where you started.
The route, section by section
Abergavenny to Hay-on-Wye: the narrow lane up the Vale of Ewyas past Llanthony Priory climbs to Gospel Pass, the highest point of the loop, then drops to Hay. Single track nearly all the way.
Hay to Devil's Bridge: A470 to Rhayader, then the Elan Valley reservoirs and the open mountain road west to Cwmystwyth and Devil's Bridge.
Devil's Bridge to Llanuwchllyn: north via Ponterwyd to Machynlleth, up to Dinas Mawddwy, then the climb over Bwlch y Groes and down to the head of Bala Lake.
Eryri and Mid Wales back to Abergavenny: A494 through Drws-y-Nant to Dolgellau, A470 to Mallwyd, the Dylife road to Llanidloes, then south through Rhayader, Builth Wells and Brecon to Crickhowell and Abergavenny.
Hazards
Single-track roads, sheep, cattle grids and steep gradients on Gospel Pass and Bwlch y Groes are the main ones. Mud and gravel wash onto the mountain lanes after rain, and farm traffic uses them all year.
Fuel
Fill up in Abergavenny, then use the towns as your fuel stops: Hay-on-Wye, Rhayader, Machynlleth, Dolgellau, Llanidloes, Builth Wells and Brecon. The longest gaps are over the mountain sections, so do not leave Rhayader or Machynlleth on a low tank.
Best months and difficulty
April to October. Difficulty: hard, because of the length, the single-track sections and the gradients, not because of speed.
What to see along the way
- Abergavenny - Start and finish. Fuel, food and the best base for the southern half.
- Llanthony Priory - Ruined priory in the Vale of Ewyas on the way up to Gospel Pass.
- Gospel Pass - Highest point of the loop, single track over the Black Mountains.
- Elan Valley reservoirs - Chain of dams and lakes west of Rhayader, the start of the mountain road.
- Devil's Bridge - Village above the Mynach gorge, a natural coffee stop.
- Machynlleth - Market town and fuel stop, a good overnight halfway round.
- Bwlch y Groes - Steep, narrow mountain pass between Dinas Mawddwy and Bala Lake.
- Dolgellau - Stone town at the foot of Cadair Idris in Eryri. Fuel and food.
- Dylife mountain road - Empty B-road over the moors from Llanbrynmair to Llanidloes.
- Brecon - Last town before the run back along the Usk valley.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Welsh Super 10 - Wales' Highest Roads
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Abergavenny / Rhayader / Machynlleth - change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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Verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route, no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
Ridden this road and stayed somewhere great?
This whole directory grows one rider recommendation at a time. Add a stay and it will appear on this guide automatically if it is within 30 km of the route.
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