Can you ride Sarn Helen on a motorbike?
Partly.
- 6.9 km of Sarn Helen is a byway or unclassified road open to motorcycles all year.
- Another 12 km is closed to motor vehicles from 22 Aug to 31 May by a seasonal order, and open the rest of the year.
- 35 km is a restricted byway, bridleway or footpath, with no right to ride a motorbike.
- 66 km follows public roads, which you can ride but aren’t green lanes.
Sarn Helen, end to end
The whole route straightened out, from the Conwy valley (top left) to Carmarthenshire, coloured by what you can legally ride.
- Open to motorcycles 6.9 km
- Seasonal closure 12 km
- Restricted byway, no motors 10 km
- Footpath, bridleway or path 25 km
- Public road 66 km
- Track, no recorded right of way 17 km
- No path today, or line not mapped 94 km
Pale grey is where the old line crosses fields or isn’t mapped any more, about 94 km in all.
On the map
A is the start, B the end. The same colours as the strip above.
See every lane’s name, surface and current status.
Open the live map →Section by section
Every stretch of byway along the route, in order. Distances are from the Conwy valley.
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16.9to 20.4 km
Sarn Helen3.5 km
From near Betws-y-coed to near Dolwyddelan
-
56.2to 56.8 km
Unnamed byway0.6 km
Near Ganllwyd
-
64.9to 65.4 km
Unnamed byway0.5 km
Near Brithdir
-
160.6to 162.4 km
Unnamed byway1.9 km
Near Caeo
-
200.4to 203.9 km
Restricted byway3.5 km
-
205.7to 207.8 km
Restricted byway2.1 km
Near Ystradfellte
-
209.0to 213.4 km
Restricted byway4.4 km
From near Ystradfellte to near Coelbren
-
216.8to 217.3 km
Unnamed byway0.4 km
Near Banwen
-
217.9to 229.5 km
Sarn Helen12 km
From near Banwen to near Aberdulais
What riding it is like
Passes through Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) and Eryri (Snowdonia), where the park authority can make its own traffic orders.
Holloway Premium
Ride Sarn Helen as one route
- Link its open lanes with real road connections between them
- Export GPX for your GPS unit or phone app
- Live navigation on a bar-mounted phone
- Seasonal closures shown on the dates they apply
£1 from every membership goes toward keeping lanes open.
Closures and orders on the route
Every restriction we’ve found on lanes along Sarn Helen. Tap one for the details.
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Sarn HelenSeasonal, 22 Aug to 31 May
Seasonal restriction: Sarn Helen's southern section (near Resolven/Abergarwed) is only open to motor vehicles 1 June to 21 August each year, closed the rest of the year. Reported by riders and cross-checked, not read from the order's own text. Check locally before relying on this.
A snapshot, not a live feed. Researched from council and park authority orders, last built 9 October 2026. Check each lane’s current status in the app before you ride.
About Sarn Helen
- A Roman road running north to south through Wales, linking the forts between the Conwy valley and Carmarthen.
- Welsh legend names it after Elen, the wife of the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus.
Ride it well
- Walkers, horse riders and cyclists use it too. Slow right down and stop the engine for horses.
- Ride in small groups, stay on the line of the lane, and don’t ride a soft surface that you’d rut.
- Seasonal orders exist to stop winter damage, and lanes stay open when riders respect them.
Places along the way
Historic sites and landmarks within a mile or so of the route. Access not checked, look before you visit.
A 13th-century castle at the base of a valley, with the earlier 12th-century tower it replaced, Tomen Castell, standing just to its south-east.
A Roman fort built during governor Agricola's campaigns in AD 78, later reused by the Normans as a motte in the 11th century.
The only known Roman gold mine in Britain, worked both at the surface and underground in the Cothi valley.
Questions riders ask
Can you ride Sarn Helen on a motorbike?
Partly. 6.9 km of Sarn Helen is a byway or unclassified road open to motorcycles all year. Another 12 km is closed to motor vehicles from 22 Aug to 31 May by a seasonal order, and open the rest of the year. 35 km is a restricted byway, bridleway or footpath, with no right to ride a motorbike. Legal status changes, so check each lane’s current status before you ride.
Is Sarn Helen open to motorbikes in winter?
Not all of it. 12 km is under seasonal orders that close it to motor vehicles from 22 Aug to 31 May. The rest of the open lanes stay open all year, subject to any temporary closure.
How long is Sarn Helen?
Sarn Helen runs about 229 km from the Conwy valley to Carmarthenshire, measured along its mapped line. About 63 km of that has no mapped line today.
Is there a GPX route for Sarn Helen?
Not a ready-made one yet. You can link its open lanes into your own route with Holloway Premium’s route planner and export a GPX file.
Ride Sarn Helen with Holloway
Every lane along it, with its legal status and hazards, is on the Holloway map, free with a quick email sign-in.
Open the map, free Or plan a route along it with PremiumRoute lines and lane data from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and council rights of way records via rowmaps.com. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026. Reference only: legal status changes, check signage and current Traffic Regulation Orders before riding. How we check this data.