Chepstow Eagle's Nest

This is a circular tour from Chepstow out to Eagle's Nest. I started and finished at the bus station in Chepstow.
From the bus station I headed west along Welsh Street. I turned right at t the entrance to the Leisure Centre and walked through the car park to take the path to pick up the trail Piercefield Walks. This enters the wood and the first viewpoint is The Alcove, from where you can see the River Wye and Chepstow Castle. The next viewing point is The Platform. Unfortunately, trees have grown taller since the view was first established and there is now little to see from here apart from tree-tops. The next point of interest is the Grotto, which is a semi-circular space carved into the rock and lined with bricks.
Further on the path if you look up to your left is a cave set about 15 foot above the path. It looks as if an agile person should be able to climb up to it. It is not the Giant's Cave since that is further along and is actually a tunnel through the rock. You canget another view of the Wye from here.
There are some steps and a climb to reach a car park by a road. Crossing the road leads to a path where you can take either of two routes to the Eagle's Nest: I chose the one called 365 steps.There are steps cut in the rock along this route and in some places handrails,so it is not that difficult to climb. At the top I turned right to reach a path that quickly led to the Eagle's Nest, where there is a great view of the bend in the Wye.
I retraced my footsteps to the main path and continued to follow it in a counter-clockwise direction. At one point I could not see where the path went because it was on almost a plateau and then descended steeply. I had to take my time to get down this section.
Finally, the path reached the edge of the wood where I turned left into a field of high grass, where previous feet had made a path, which initially was easy to follow, but became more difficult. In the next field the grass was shorter and I left that field by a stile on the right in the hedge. That brought me to a path between two hedges and so on to a country lane.
It was at this point that I decided to change my route back to Chepstow. The path out past the Giant's Cave had been narrow and rocky and also muddy in places - I had not enjoyed it and my original route meant I would have to go along it again. Looking at the map I could see a path running to the left of the race course which had the advantage of being open.
Near the race course are the remains of Piercefield House, which is securely fenced off as the ruins are dangerous. Walking through another little wood along a driveway brought me to Welsh Street, where I turned left and walked down the street to the bus station.
I think this hike is fine if you want shade whilst you are out. It is better after a dry spell. The paths in the wood I think are narrow and at times have the ground sloping down away from the path.