Long-term moorings in Llangollen

Llangollen is a town in Denbighshire at the head of the Llangollen Canal, a Canal & River Trust waterway. Moorings in Llangollen are for short stays only: the mooring basin and the towpath beside it are visitor moorings, so the nearest long-term berths are a few miles down the canal at Froncysyllte and Chirk.

Moorings near Llangollen

• Llangollen mooring basin: dug by British Waterways in 2005 to 2006 for short-term visitors staying overnight. It has no long-term berths, and boating directories give a 48 hour limit with a few five-day berths.
• Froncysyllte (Canal & River Trust): a leisure site about 192m long for up to eight boats on the off-side bank, close to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and four miles by water from Llangollen basin. Not for residential use.
• Chirk Marina (Black Prince Marinas): a 100-berth marina about seven miles by water from Llangollen basin, with long-term non-residential moorings for boats of 20ft to 70ft. It does not take GRP boats.

On the water

• Boat size: from Pontcysyllte to Llangollen the Canal & River Trust gives a maximum of 21.95m (72ft) long and 2.11m (6ft 11in) wide, with a draught of 0.75m. A wide beam boat cannot come here.
• The narrows: above Trevor the canal is one boat wide in places and worked one way, the longest signed stretch being 500m. Neither end can be seen from the other, so send a crew member ahead on foot first.
• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct: opened in 1805, it is 307m long and 38m above the valley floor.
• Locks: Chirk Marina describes its part of the canal as an 11-mile stretch with no locks.
• Limit of navigation: the mooring basin is as far as a powered boat can go, and boats turn there.

Floods and closures

The canal has been closed near Whitchurch in Shropshire since an embankment failed on 22 December 2025. The closure runs from Grindley Brook Lock 6 to Bridge 31A, between Llangollen and the canal's junction with the Shropshire Union Canal at Hurleston.

In June 2026 the Canal & River Trust said it aimed to reopen the canal by the end of the year. Its closure notice is next due for review on 21 October 2026, so check it before planning a passage to or from Llangollen.