The Forestry commission do charge an entrance fee to the drive but it is possible to cycle instead free of charge.
Cwmcarn Forest Drive, run by Forestry Commission Wales, is a seven mile long scenic route through the rolling hills and green mountains of one the country's largest urban forests.
As you meander around twisting bends, the enchanting forest immerses you into tranquillity where you can truly leave the rest of the world behind.
The coal mined in the valleys was the ideal coal for the Victorian steam age and the great steamships that travelled to every corner of the British Empire. Out across the bay before you, the ships embarked west to the Americas, east to India, Africa and Australia.
There were several steamship companies in Cardiff. They carried all the extraordinary produce of the Victorian Empire and the people of Britain and Wales with them. Many New World families now look for their roots in Wales. Five out of the ten most common black American surnames are Welsh due to connections with Welsh plantation owners.
New citizens of the Empire arrived on return journeys, settling in Cardiff and Swansea, bringing their cultures with them. Wonderful oriental styles influenced the design of great Welsh houses like Castle Coch.
Cwmcarn’s coal travelled down tramways and canals to Newport Docks, and from there to the rest of the world. (A panel at the pit wheel near the entrance to the forest drive explains Cwmcarn mining history in more detail.