Walks in Afan Forest Park
 Background/context
The Afan Valley is one of the narrowest and most beautiful in South Wales. From its head at Bwlch yr Afan to the sea at Aberafan, the 15 mile long valley is home to the Afan Forest Park. Although well recognised as a great location for mountain biking, the Park also offers a range of stunning, fully way-marked walks to suit all visitors. Description/why "The Forestry Commission made this area a Forest Park 35 years ago because of its great walking potential. In this time we have created the nine varied walks available today and for visitors, the old tracks, purpose built trails and forest roads offer a great way to enjoy wonderful panoramas and see the real beauty of this historic area. Recently we have been working to raise the profile and awareness of these walks within the local valley communities. After all, with ancient oak woodlands, rivers, wildlife, mythic standing stones and a wealth of history on the doorstep, this is an experience that is open to everyone. Although all the routes are way-marked, we wanted to make it even easier for people to choose Afan Forest Park so we have created a walks pack. An easy pocket size, it includes a fold out map of all the walks and a chart to show at a glance the distance, time and difficulty making it easy to choose a walk to suit any ability. Each walk has an individual laminated card with an easy to follow map, step by step guide of what to see along the way and an aerial view of the area the walk covers. We are distributing the packs to surgeries and health centres in the area to encourage people to include walking in their day to day lives as a way of improving health and reducing stress levels. The packs are also readily available at the visitor centre where welcome refreshments are also to hand. Future projects "Walking is perhaps one of the easiest ways to keep fit – whatever the weather! From gentle strolls to strenuous power walks, everyone can benefit from this enjoyable exercise and we will continue to look for as many outlets and ways of highlighting the wonderful walks in Afan Forest Park as possible."
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