Statistics: 14.6 miles, ascent 2601′, 6 1/2 hours.
The final day of our grand adventure was finally here… regrettably! John and the dogs walked with us to Bodfari – marvelous views the entire way.
As we gained elevation we could look down toward the village of Bodfari and the mountains of Snowdonia in the far distance.
Leaving Bodfari we started to climb more seriously which just broadened the beautiful views that we were enjoying. Near Henfryn Hall we passed the scattered ruins of what apparently had been a flour mill, Marian Mill. Only the hub of the great mill’s water wheel remained.
As we approached the sea the trail was heavy in bracken and bushes, but there were splendid views of the town of Prestatyn (the northern terminus of Offa’s Dyke Path) and of the electricity-generating, modern windmills in the Irish Sea.
As we entered the town and before reaching the end of the Path, we checked into a small B&B. Amazingly, there are very few places to stay in Prestatyn. Now free of our backpacks, we continued downhill to officially reach the end of the trail, marked by the Chepstow mileage sign: 182 miles.
Our final stop would have to be actually putting our boots in the sea which, of course, we did!
After performing these end-of-hike formalities and before returning to our B&B, we stopped in the Cookhouse restaurant for dinner, where we ran into a couple of new hiking friends met earlier on the Path, another John and his wife, Jean. After an enjoyable meal with these new hiking friends, we made it back to the B&B just in time to see our last sunset on the Path.
Discovering Wales was a wonderful adventure. The people, the culture, the history, the food and the amazing scenery made this trip an unbelievable experience.
Hike suggestions: If I were to do this walk again, I would take more time to explore some of the small villages just off the Path and possibly even stay in some of those villages. I would not stay in Prestatyn, but would take the local train to another town nearby.
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