The Cambrian Way is similar to the more famous Pennine Way in England; of a similar length, both long distance paths follow the mountain backbone of a country through many miles of open moorland, although the Cambrian Way seems to climb rather more mountains. Indeed if you planned to start bagging "Nuttall's" (mountains over 2000 feet in England and Wales) this would be an ideal route as you cross most of those in Wales, as well as the higher 3000 foot peaks.
The 298 mile Cambrian Way is said to be one of the tougher long distance trails, which is not only due to the number of mountains, it is also the poor condition of much of the "path". In many places there is no path. In Mid Wales I found myself struggling across hummocks of grass and reeds, interspersed with mossy, muddy, swampy areas, I lost a foot more than once in holes created by hidden streams or just the general irregular nature of the boggy ground. After longer periods of heavy rain, the ground conditions could make walking a very unpleasant experience. In North Wales steep slopes with big clumps of heather interspersed with rocks, and hidden gaps to trap my feet, proved a similar challenge. Hiking in such areas is tiring and made me appreciate sections of good path, farm and forest tracks, and quiet roads. I sometimes suspected that Tony Drake, who devised the Cambrian Way, deliberately selected the more difficult routes, but then it is a mountain bagging path so you should expect to work hard, however the guidebook does offer alternative routes in places.
Parts of the trail are remote, and you may not see anyone all day, other parts, in particular Snowdonia, are overcrowded. I was travelling at a time when restrictions associated with the Covid 19 Coronavirus pandemic were in place. Consequently, most campsites were either closed or not accepting tents, hostels were closed or accepting few visitors, and the hotels and Bed & Breakfast's which were open were usually full, either due to the lack of other accommodation or because people wanted a holiday, not having been able to have one during the earlier lockdown. This meant that most nights I was forced to wild camp. In better times you could spend most nights under a roof, although on one of two sections, such as in the Rhinogau, a tent is needed to avoid long diversions or complex taxi arrangements. Note that wild camping in Wales without the landowner's permission is illegal (and finding the landowner in the middle of the moors is not practical), so camp in a discrete location as night falls, leave at dawn and leave no trace of your visit except for some dry, flattened grass. Wild camping has the benefit that you will see some excellent sunsets and sunrises when the weather is favourable.
Anyone considering the route should consider good waterproof boots and gaiters as the moorland can be marshy, wet and muddy. I found a walking pole useful to help with balance in areas where it was easy to topple off a mossy clump into a muddy hole. My pole also helped to push me up the hills as my legs tired. A waterproof jacket and trousers are needed as, in Wales, long periods of rain can happen at any time of year, but so can sunny weather so you need to prepare for both. Weather in the mountains can be very different to that at lower levels, in general it is colder, wetter and windier, and you may have poor visibility as you walk through the clouds. Forecasts for towns in the valleys can be misleading, the best information is provided by the Met Office Mountain weather service.
While there are Cambrian Way waymarks, which are meant to look like a Welsh hat (they look more like a "trig" point to me), there are not enough to tell you where to go. Instead they just provide a bit of confidence you have picked the right route. Given the lack of paths in places, and the likelihood that you will spend some of the walk in mist which hides all landmarks, I would strongly recommend a handheld GPS (I used a Garmin etrex 30), with the Cambrian Way GPX track and a suitable map downloaded onto it. The GPX tracks for each stage can be found on the Cambrian Way website. With a GPS you always know where you are, I suffered no reception problems, but you need to make sure you carry spare batteries. A smart phone, ideally with a suitable App (such as ViewRanger or Wikiloc) is a good back up. However, neither a GPS nor the track you are following is accurate enough tell you which side of a wall you should be on when the path runs beside it. For this reason, and for the background information on the sights you are passing (and what place names mean in English), the guidebook is really essential. The latest is published by Cicerone, follow this link.
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