Clwyd Circular from Eureka Café by the Two Mills Cycling Group

The Two Mills group — part of Cycling UK's Chester and North Wales Collection — reveals one its favourite routes out into Clywdian hills that starts at the legendary cyclists' haunt: the Eureka Café.

There are many variants of riding over the Clwydian Range of hills but this one circumnavigates the range more or less This is one of our tougher rides and we start from the famous Eureka Cyclist Café near Ledsham, which has been nurturing cyclists since 1929. 

We head through Puddington and Burton villages (the latter mentioned in the Domesday Book) to NCN route 568, with great views of Halkyn Mountain across the Dee. After passing through Northop we begin our climb up Halkyn Mountain to Rhosesmor and Moel y Crio , the second highest point of the route at 286m. There are stunning views to the Clwyd Hills and Moel Fameau with its distinctive Jubilee Tower-topped summit in the distance.

We cross the A541 and climb to Cilcain and through traffic-free lanes to Loggerheads for a coffee/tea break at the Cafi Florence. 

After a short ride on the A494 we are soon back on country lanes making our way through Llanarmon–yn-Lal, an attractive village where you might get an ice cream at the community-run shop or even a beer at the community-run Raven pub. We Leave Llanarmon and ride to the end of the B5431, turning north towards Ruthin, then climbing to the highest point of the ride at 292m, before an exciting two mile descent to Graigfechan with excellent cross country views to the west. Our lunch stop is at the Craft Centre café in Ruthin.

From Ruthin we make our way north along traffic-free country lanes toward Bodfari with the Clwyd Hills close by to the east. A short section on the A541 takes us to Afonwen and then the 'sting in the tail' climb to Pantasaph and a well earned cup of tea and cake at the Franciscan Priory Café. 

We make our way back to Halkyn Mountain descending to Northop and return to the Eureka.