Craig Ruperra & The Secret Castle

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A short woodland walk up to the hill fort that crowns Craig Ruperra, a 182m hill in Caerphilly. This hill is currently the smallest hill on The Miners list.

Parking at Draethen – there are lots of spots to pick from – the walk starts by picking up a footpath that takes you past the now closed pub and onto a field over a stile. You’ll see the path is well walked with a clear track up the fairly steep field into the woodland. You can then follow dedicated gravel paths that wind their way up the hill. You can walk Craig Ruperra many different ways as the hill is riddled with paths, but I stuck to the main path on the way up which skirts right until you hit the ridgeway. At this point you take a left and follow a pretty straight path all the way to the hill fort.

Views of the impressive Craig Ruperra are limited on this walk due to tree cover, if you want views of the castle you are best off walking down to the castle gates – or do what I did and take a drone!

Once at the hill fort you’ll have impressive views in every direction, but you’ll not be able to see the castle. I dropped down the other side of the ridgeway and followed some snaking paths through wild garlic and bluebells, eventually picking up a short section of road back to the car. 

It is an idyllic area and a great little hill, well worth a walk and the hill fort and castle are well worth a look.

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