Offa's Dyke Path · Stage 7
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
To Buttington Bridge on the Severn: 20 km. Montgomery is a detour of about 1.2 km; Welshpool is a short walk from the end.
Best season: All year; most walk April to October. The path can be walked all year, National Trails says; most people walk it between April and October, and spring and early summer are best for the flowers. June to August are the busiest and warmest months. The Offa's Dyke Association's season runs from Easter to October, when its passport stamps are out. The Hatterrall Ridge, the highest point at about 700 m, is exposed in bad weather. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
A crossroads hamlet with a country-house hotel and a campsite close by; beds are few. Montgomery is a short detour.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 1300 m (read 13 October 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Mellington Hall Country House Hotel · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Stage end
Trailhead
Where the path crosses the Severn, with nothing there: Welshpool, with a station and hotels, is about 2.5 km away.
Welshpool · Town
No walking time is published for this leg. Measured on the mapped line, the stage takes about 5 h 14 of walking.
Make it your trip
Places to stay are limited in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead. By our count of the listed places, the fewest beds near the path are at Pandy, Brompton Crossroads, Bodfari and Chirk Mill. There is no right to wild camp along the trail: ask the landowner. Luggage-transfer services run along the path.
The National Trail's twelve sections, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyThe Wye valley, the Black Mountains and Hergest Ridge in five sections, to the Offa's Dyke Centre.
Plan this journeyThe switchbacks, the Severn and the Clwydian hills in seven sections.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (80 m) and high point (406 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (80 m) and the highest point (406 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 6°/0° | 6°/0° | 8°/1° | 11°/3° | 14°/5° | 17°/8° | 19°/10° | 18°/10° | 16°/8° | 12°/6° | 9°/3° | 6°/1° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/2° | 8°/2° | 10°/3° | 13°/4° | 16°/7° | 19°/10° | 21°/12° | 20°/11° | 18°/9° | 14°/7° | 10°/4° | 8°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 95 | 78 | 77 | 66 | 66 | 78 | 80 | 79 | 82 | 105 | 112 | 114 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 09 | 9 h 52 | 11 h 45 | 13 h 52 | 15 h 43 | 16 h 49 | 16 h 25 | 14 h 48 | 12 h 46 | 10 h 44 | 8 h 48 | 7 h 41 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
The old bridge between Chepstow and the Gloucestershire bank, the walk from the station towards the start, closed to vehicles in October 2025 and to everyone in March 2026, after cracks were found. It reopened to walkers in June 2026, but Monmouthshire County Council closes it when the temperature is 30 °C or above or below −3 °C. Check the council's page before you go.
Monmouthshire County Council: Old Wye BridgeSection 3 runs about 11 miles (18 km) along the open Hatterrall Ridge to Hay Bluff, up to about 700 m: in mist and wind it is exposed, and walkers often split the day at Llanthony or Longtown below. Section 6, the switchbacks along the Dyke north of Knighton, is generally reckoned the toughest day.
National Trails: route descriptionNational Trails lists the path's diversions on its map. Near the Montgomery Canal a diversion for new bridge works was extended to June 2026 and is still listed; the Canal & River Trust aimed to open the bridge early in 2026. Follow the signs on the ground.
National Trails: Offa's Dyke Path trail informationGetting there
Travel around Brompton Crossroads to Buttington Bridge.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Chepstow has a station (Transport for Wales), with trains all year. From the town, walk over the Wye to the start stone on Sedbury Cliffs, about 2 km.
Transport for Wales: ChepstowKnighton, near halfway, is on the Heart of Wales line, seven days a week; Welshpool is near Buttington Bridge, and Chirk near Chirk Mill; Abergavenny serves Pandy. All are Transport for Wales stations.
Transport for Wales: KnightonPrestatyn has a station on the North Wales coast line (Transport for Wales), with trains all year.
Transport for Wales: PrestatynTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: on the Hatterrall Ridge and in the hills of the middle sections the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
National Trails gives 177 miles (285 km) from Sedbury Cliffs to Prestatyn in twelve sections, south to north. National Trails publishes no section times, only distances, so the times here are measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 9649, "Offa's Dyke Path", from the planet of 11 October 2026): 285.8 km, cut at the twelve section ends, without its mapped alternative routes. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep banks are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
National Trails: Offa's Dyke PathMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation