Dinas Bran Castle, Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB
This AONB almost touches the coast at Prestatyn Hillside in the north and stretches south as far Moel Fferna, the highest point in the AONB at 630 metres, it covers 390 square kilometres of windswept hilltops, heather moorland, limestone crags and wooded valleys.
The Clwydian Range is an unmistakeable chain of purple heather-clad summits, topped by Britain’s most strikingly situated Hillforts. The Range’s highest hill at 554 metres is Moel Famau, a familiar site to residents of the North West. The historic Jubilee Tower surmounts this hill with views over 11 counties.
Beyond the windswept Horseshoe Pass, over Llantysilio Mountain, lies the glorious Dee Valley with historic Llangollen, a famous market town rich in cultural and industrial heritage.
Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail traverses this specially protected area, one of the least discovered yet most welcoming and easiest to explore of Britain’s finest landscapes.
There’s a range of magnificent heritage attractions to explore: a chain of Iron Age hillforts, surmount the hill tops of the Clwydian and Llantysilio Mountains, in the Dee Valley there is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site, Valle Crucis Abbey, Castell Dinas Brân and the magnificent Marcher fortress of Chirk Castle.
This is a living working landscape, with a distinctively Welsh culture. Traditions and close ties to the land are still very much alive here. Many local events such as country shows and eisteddfodau emphasise this special relationship between community and landscape.