Bedd Morris/Aberfforest

DISTANCE/DURATION: 6.1 miles (9.8km) 3 hours
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service bus Dinas/Newport 412, *Poppit Rocket 405 (*seasonal, hail and ride)
CHARACTER: Wooded valleys, sea cliff, fields and livestock
LOOK OUT FOR: Boundary stone Bedd Morris, spectacular coastal and mountain views.

The Preseli Hills are the highest in Pembrokeshire, a tough ridge of Ordovician shale and mudstone that has been compressed to form slate.

In places there is also rhyolite and dolerite, the famous ‘bluestone’ that forms the inner ring of Stonehenge. The ‘bluestone’ is spotted dolerite unique to the Carn Meini area.

This route takes you to an altitude of almost 300 metres (980 feet) on Parc Mawr, where the jagged crags are reminiscent of Dartmoor’s granite tors. In this northern corner of the range the Preselis seem to rise straight out of the sea and the route takes you quickly between open moorland to the coast.

Most of this moorland is common land, owned by the Barony of Kemais (Cemaes) but managed by commoners who graze cattle, sheep and ponies.

Much of the Preseli upland is boggy and the soils are acidic, allowing plants like fir clubmoss, liverwort, ferns and orchids to thrive. In late summer the warm pink of the heather adds rich colour to the landscape.

The route passes close to one of the area’s best-known landmarks, the standing stone known as Bedd Morris or Morris’s Grave – one of 70 to be found in the county.

The impressive Bedd Morris stone is around two metres (six feet) tall and is thought to date from between 2,000 to 1,500 BC. It was possibly a marker to indicate the junction of two very ancient trackways across the Preseli Hills.

In much more recent times the stone has become the centre of local stories. One says it marks the grave of a highwayman called Morris, who once preyed on travellers crossing the hills.

Also close to the route is Cerrig y Gof, standing stones that are the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber between 4,500 and 5,500 years old. The stones stand close to the A487 on private land but the owner allows access – do remember to close the gate.