Forest bathing at Melincwrt Waterfalls

Melincwrt Waterfalls is a five hectare nature reserve of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, just outside Resolven in the Vale of Neath. The woodland is mature upland oak with silver birch, small leaved lime, wild cherry, rowan and crab apple, and alder along the stream. Around twenty kinds of fern grow here, and the rocks and trunks are thick with mosses and liverworts, kept damp by the spray from the eighty foot falls.

The free council car park is across the road from the entrance. A well kept footpath follows the south bank of the stream to the foot of the falls in about ten to fifteen minutes. Bluebells cover the floor in spring, and after heavy rain the falls are at their loudest. It is a short walk, so it suits sitting and listening more than covering ground. There are no facilities at the reserve; the nearest toilets are in Resolven.