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Cymraeg Walking Routes
The Snowdon Sherpa bus service travels around Northern Snowdonia connecting villages, tourist attractions and mountain walks which means you can leave your car behind and focus on the fantastic scenery. The starting points of all the major routes up Snowdon are served by the Sherpa service and could make ideal linear routes, where you park, get the bus and then walk back to your car. Below is one suggestion:
SNOWDON DAY OUT
(Walk - distance 9 miles, duration approximately 6 hours, grade moderate)
This itinerary starts in Llanberis, which is approximately four miles from Caernarfon and eight miles from Bangor. (Buses no. 88 from Caernarfon and 85/86 from Bangor run to Llanberis). Llanberis is a lakeside village right at the foot of Snowdon and is a popular centre for walkers and climbers, with a selection of B&Bs, hotels, cafes and restaurants. The High Street has a selection of outdoor, craft and food shops and the Tourist Information Centre can provide you with all the information you will need for your visit. Llanberis also has a wide range of tourist attractions, visit www.llanberis.co.uk for more information.
When you’ve arrived in Llanberis turn off the A4086 into the road towards Parc Padarn (by the bus interchange) and park in the Dolbadarn car park. The £4.00 all day parking fee includes one free Sherpa day ticket (Sherpa Day Tickets - £4.00 adults and £2.00 child - allow you to hop on and off the Snowdon Sherpa network as many times as you like on the day of purchase). Walk back to the bus interchange and take the S1 up to Pen y Pass (click here for bus timetable).
Pen y Pass is the hub of the Sherpa network and is the start of two footpaths up Snowdon. The path to take today is the Miners Track, which is at the far end of the Pen y Pass car park. The walk start off on a broad track up towards Llyn Glaslyn but beyond the lake up to the summit the path gets considerably steeper. Click here for a link to the Snowdonia National Park which gives a full description of the route and advice on walking in the mountains. If you are climbing Snowdon in the winter, click here for advice from the British Mountaineering Council.
Once you reach the summit you will see the new visitor centre and cafe, Hafod Eryri (opening Spring 2009) - note that the centre is only open when the Snowdon Mountain Railway trains are running – www.snowdonrailway.co.uk .
The path you are taking down is the Llanberis Path, which at five miles is one of the longest routes and in summer, one of the easiest. Do not follow the railway track down as it can be extremely slippery. Head down toward the monolith at Bwlch Glas and take the left hand fork of the path. Click here for a full description of the route.
The Llanberis path ends at a gate and cattle grid leading into a side road which brings you out on to the main road, just by the Snowdon Mountain Railway station. Cross over the road to return to the car park. Below are some short decriptions of all the routes up Snowdon.
Snowdon Paths
There are 6 main walking paths up the highest mountain in
Two of the paths start from Pen-y-Pass, the Miners track and the PYG track. The miners track was built to serve the Britannia Copper Mines and the PYG is one of the most rugged and challenging routes. The other paths start from Llanberis, Pont Bethania, Llyn Cwellyn and Rhyd Ddu. The links below take you to the Snowdonia National Park Website which has route descriptions and interactive maps.
This is the most popular of the tourist routes up Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), and at five miles, is also the longest. In summer conditions, it is one of the easiest paths; but in winter, the upper reaches of the path can be very treacherous. Before the main road was built from the coast to Llanberis, climbers used to have to walk all the way from Caernarfon before they even started on the climb up Snowdon itself. George Borrow and his daughter, in 1854, travelled by pony and trap from Bangor to Caernarfon, walked from there to the summit, and returned to Bangor, all in one day! More Info...
The Miners’ Track to Llyn Glaslyn was built during the last century to serve the Britannia Copper Mines. Abandoned in 1917, it is said that in the mine’s heyday, Arthur Lockwood, who used to be the manager of the Pen y Gwryd Hotel, drove his car along the track all the way to Llyn Glaslyn. The track to the lake is still almost a road, and though eroded in some places, nevertheless provides an exciting and safe mountain walk for people with little experience of mountains. The path beyond Llyn Glaslyn to the summit is considerably steeper and can be a serious undertaking, particularly in winter. More Info...
This path, one of the easiest up the mountain, is named after John Morton, the self-styled “Snowdon Ranger”, who used to live in what is now the Youth Hostel at the beginning of the path. He used to act as escort to “gentlemen who put themselves under his guidance in order to ascend Snowdon and see the country”. It is perhaps the earliest route up Snowdon, and is probably similar to that taken by the men from the Britannia Copper Mine in Cwm Dyli, who manhandled the ore up to Bwlch Glas and then dragged it by sled to the shores of Llyn Cwellyn. More Info...
This path, which starts at 1,170 ft. (359m.) is one of the most rugged and challenging routes up Snowdon. In winter, when there is snow and ice on the ground, it is a route best left to the experienced and properly equipped walker. More Info...
This is one of the easiest and probably the least used of the main paths up Snowdon.It passes through some beautiful mountain scenery, and sunset views over Moel Hebog and the Nantlle hills can be spectacular.There are two starting points.The nearest to Beddgelert is not far from the Forestry Commission car park at Pont Cae’r Gors.The second starts at the large car park at Rhyd Ddu. More Info...
The path is named after Sir Edward Watkin, the Victorian railway tycoon, entrepreneur, dreamer and Liberal M.P., who retired to “The Chalet” in Cwm y Llan; and is a monument to his ingenuity and philanthropy. Constructed in stone by his workmen, the route to the summit was originally passable by horse-drawn carriage as far as the quarry. Its opening to the public in 1892 was itself a red-letter day in the history of Welsh Liberalism, as Sir Edward prevailed upon William Gladstone, then 83 years of age and recently elected to his final term of office as Prime Minister, to perform the ceremony. At Gladstone Rock, a huge rock outcrop, a roofed and carpeted platform held the guests, while a crowd in excess of 2,000 admirers, gathered to hear the Grand Old Man speak. Of all the paths up Snowdon, the Watkin is probably the hardest. It involves an ascent of 3,300ft. More Info...
Low Level Walking In Northern Snowdonia
Llyn
Idwal is 800 metres long and 300 metres wide. The lake lies in the
shadow of ‘Twll Du’, the original name for Devil’s Kitchen, which
literally means Black Hole. It is a popular attraction for visitors
interested in walking, climbing, fishing and geology. The valley was
scooped out by ice thousands of years ago and is one of the best
examples of a glacial valley in Wales. More info...
There are three short walks, all starting from Y Stablau, the National Park Information Centre in Betws y Coed. You can do them as one longish walk (between 2 and 3 hours) or individually about 1 hour each or as a combination of two of the shorter walks, depending on how much time you have or on how energetic you feel. The walks cover easy ground and are suitable for all the family.
Link: Snowdonia National Park
