Merbach Hill: a climb to the top
Take the steep lane right from the pub. Continue 500yds (458m), turning right along a bridleway track past a cottage. At a sharp right bend, go forward through a field gate. Climb beside the left hedge to find a small gate. In the adjoining field, climb across the slope of the hill, passing through a broad gap in the end hedge. Keep the same line, shortly intersecting a gravel track from Benfield Farm by a telegraph post. Follow it to the right.
Approaching Woolla Farm, watch for a path branching off left. Rising into the woodland fringe, skirt the farm to rejoin the track. Carry on uphill to a gate. Ignore the crossing track beyond and climb to a small gate beside corrugated barns. Keep going by the right boundary, then along a short track to continue with the hedge now on your left. Later crossing a stile onto bracken common, walk forwards a few paces before turning right to another crosspath. By a plaque explaining Merbach Hill Common to the left, a bridlepath cuts through the bracken and scrub. Ignore a later path off right and then, at a three-way split, take the middle branch. A final pull leads to the hilltop trig column. The view is superb. To the north beyond the Wye Valley is distant Hergest Ridge, and to the southwest Hay Bluff and the Black Mountains. Below your feet lies the Golden Valley.
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Walking in Safety
Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.
Get an AA guide
Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.
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