TheDesert of Wales, orGreen Desert of Wales, is an archaic term for an area in centralWales, so called for its lack of roads and towns, and its inaccessibility. The term was coined byEnglish travel writers in the nineteenth century and has no equivalent in theWelsh language. The area corresponds roughly to the upland area calledElenydd in Welsh.

The word "desert" is used figuratively, to describe the lack of biodiversity due toovergrazing of sheep and human clearing, which, over time, has destroyed the nativetemperate rainforest,^[1] and the lack of human settlement or infrastructure in the region. The area has high rainfall and much of it is covered bypeat overlain withpurple moor grass and heather moorland, or byplantations of non-nativeconifers. The soil tends to be acidic.^[2] There is no exact definition of the extent of the Desert of Wales, but it is bordered to the east by theA470 and the town ofRhayader, to the south by theA483 fromBuilth Wells toLlanwrda, to the west by theA482 from Llanwrda toPumpsaint, and from there northwards by a series of country roads up toTregaron. The northern boundary is generally taken to be theA44 betweenPonterwyd andLlangurig, although the substantial area ofmoorland to the north of this road, including the reservoirs ofNant y Moch andLlyn Clywedog, has similar topography.^{[citation needed]}

The term 'Cambrian Desert' is also used to describe the region.^[3]

The term was first recorded in 1836 when the following was written by Joseph Downes:

Affording us water and trees, and yielding a dim and remote picture, wrapped in purple sunset haze, of some fine country far far down, where a chasm of hills gave egress to the water, it appeared quite an oasis to us travellers of this Desert of Wales.^[4]

The English terminology has noWelsh equivalent, although the area roughly corresponds to the ancientcommote ofElenydd. This Welsh name means the "territory adjoining theriver Elan", with the river name itself meaning fawn or hind. Travel is limited to narrow roads, forestry tracks, footpaths and bridleways. It is a sparsely populated area, consisting largely of rolling hills, gorges and steep valleys with ancient nativeWelsh oak forest.

The ruins ofStrata Florida Abbey are located on the road fromTregaron.

The area supported the last nativered kites in the United Kingdom until their reintroduction and widespread revival in the 1980s.^[2]

The area has many lakes and reservoirs, some of which supply drinking water to northCeredigion from Teifi Pools, to the English WestMidlands fromElan Valley group of reservoirs, and to populations along theRiver Severn valley with water stored inLlyn Clywedog and released into the river for later abstraction.^[5]

It is drained by the AfonClaerwen,Afon Teifi,Afon Cothi,Afon Tywi,Afon Irfon,Elan Valley,Afon Gwy,Afon Ystwyth,Afon Mynach,Afon Rheidol

• Elenydd

• Morgan, Gerald (2005).Ceredigion, A Wealth of History. Ceredigion, Wales: Gomer.ISBN 1-84323-348-7.
• Cliffe, John Henry (1860).Notes and Recollections of an Angler: Rambles Among the Mountains, Valleys, and Solitudes of Wales. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co.

• Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales: Historic Landscapes : Elenydd

52°18′38″N3°43′18″W / 52.310644°N 3.721662°W /52.310644; -3.721662

• Elenydd
• Mountains and hills of Ceredigion
• Mountains and hills of Powys

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