The Friends of Alyn Waters are a community group who work alongside the staff to improve and maintain the park for all its users. The group meets once a month and raises money through grants and fundraising events to fund various improvements to Alyn Waters.

For more information you can email countryparks@wrexham.gov.uk or call 01978 822780. 

Alyn Waters Country Park has a purpose built, fully equipped conference room ‘Venue in the Park’ which is available for hire. Refreshments can be provided by Caffi Cyfle on site. Parking and toilets are available on site (minimal charges apply for parking).

To book, email venueinthepark@groundworknorthwales.org.uk or call 01978 269564. Find further information, including the booking form, on the Groundwork North Wales website. 

Woodland, grassland and riverside trails are way marked to encourage visitors to explore the diversity of the Gwersyllt and Llay sides of the park.

Some paths are wide and tarmacked and offer excellent access for wheelchairs and pushchairs, although there is one steep gradient.

Wooden posts show the selection of coloured footprint walks which suit most people’s abilities.

Coloured footprint routes on the Gwersyllt side of the park:

The Yellow Trail (3/4 mile)

Follow the path down from the visitor centre past woodland and open wildflower areas where you may see butterflies and moths amongst the rosebay willow herb. This is a pleasant, short walk to the river with benches to rest along the way. You can then return along this path to the visitor centre or continue on the orange trail.

The Green Trail (1 mile)

Follow the same route as above but turn right at the signpost. This route goes through grassland and woodland. Eventually you will see Skylark Meadow, where you may spot these endangered birds. This route passes the park’s fascinating ‘Metamorphosis” steel sculptures depicting life cycles.

The Orange Trail (1½ mile)

Follow the path as above, but carry on along the riverside and enjoy the view from the water's edge. Mature riverside trees include: oak and horse chestnut. Keep an eye open for the elusive kingfisher and dippers which have been spotted here.

Follow the riverside path and cross the boardwalk. During the summer dragonflies and damselflies flit through the surrounding grasses.

Follow the steep section up the hill to your right. In autumn, you will see a feast of hawthorn, blackthorn, elder and rowan berries as you walk back to where this route joins the green trail passing the steel sculptures.

Coloured footprint routes on the Llay side of the park:

The Blue Trail (3/4 mile)

Follow the path from the car park, near the children’s play area and continue along the outer boundary next to Llay New road. Bear left around the edge of the willow and birch woodland then left again passing the cloud sculpture and back to the car park.

The Red Trail (2 miles)

Follow the same route as above, but then follow a longer path by going right through the woodland nature reserve. Turn left at the signpost in the wood through dense trees and back to the car park, passing the marble egg and cloud sculptures. This is a particularly nice route for spotting wildlife such as green and lesser spotted woodpeckers as you walk through the woodland.

The Purple Trail (2 miles)

This path starts at the car park and goes straight ahead to the cloud sculpture and straight on through the nature reserve. Carry on, ignoring the left turn for the red trail, until you reach the mining sculpture and turn sharply back to the left. Follow this circular route through the woodland, past the golf course and back to the car park.

The park has a variety of paths for cyclists to enjoy. Starting at the visitor centre there is a 2 mile cycleway and sculpture trail which offers safe off road cycling for families. 

Pedal Power

Based in the park is the Pedal Power Project managed by Groundwork North Wales, which aims to make cycling accessible to children and adults with a variety of disabilities. Pedal Power uses a range of bikes around a one mile circuit at Alyn Waters Country Park.

To book a place please contact Pedal Power on 01978 757524.
 

The Gwersyllt side of the park has a specially designed Trim Trail which contains a selection of different simple exercise equipment.

The equipment is designed to improve your strength, stamina, balance and co-ordination. The Trim Trail is fun and easy to use. The balance and co-ordination equipment is especially suitable for the young, while the parallel bars and sit up benches will really tone up the grown-ups.

The variety of grassland and woodland together with the river offer a range of habitats.

The sand and gravel quarrying scraped away the rich topsoil but the poor subsoil has allowed the development of a rich meadow habitat, full of vetches, grasses, ox eye daisy and yellow rattle. In the summer, the common spotted orchid is an impressive sight as well as bee orchids and helleborines, some of which are quite rare.

Species recorded at Alyn Waters include kingfishers, buzzards, kestrels, foxes, otters, grass snakes, smooth newts and a variety of bats.

During the 16th century the park was part of a large country estate with Gwersyllt Hall as the focal point. The hall was eventually demolished in 1910 due to mining subsidence.

In 1953 MacAlpines bought the land to open quarries on the Gwersyllt and Llay sides of the park. Wrexham Maelor Borough Council bought much of the land in 1988 and designated the area as a country park in 1989.

Alyn Waters Country Park
Mold Road
Gwersyllt
Wrexham
LL11 4AG (LL12 0PU for Llay side)

Alyn Waters is located 3 miles north of Wrexham between Gwersyllt, Bradley and Llay.

To reach the visitor centre take the A541 Wrexham to Mold road just outside Gwersyllt and look out for the brown and white signs.

To reach the Llay-side, take the B5425 to Llay from Wrexham and before you enter the village of Llay look out for the brown and white signs.