The Snowdonia Slate Trail around Snowdon

Sunday 25th August 2024

Earlier in my holiday while walking on the Cambrian Way across Wales, I had been listening to the audio diaries of Abbie Barnes from Spend More Time in the Wild recorded while on the Snowdonia Slate Trail and this inspired me to follow in Abbie’s footsteps onto the trail as a bad weather diversion for the Cambrian Way. The day before I had come off the Cambrian Way at Tanygrisiau Reservoir onto the Snowdonia Slate Way despite good weather because I was feeling tired and I didn’t want to climb the mountains of Moelwyn Mawr and Cnicht. Bad weather earlier in my holiday had forced me to divert off the Cambrian Way around the Rhinogydd and now with the Cambrian Way heading up to the top of the highest mountain in Wales, Yr Wyddfa, better known as Snowdon, and bad weather forecast again, I turned to the Snowdonia Slate Way as a way around that great mountain. The previous evening I had started off along the trail from Beddgelert in glorious weather until, with the sun setting, I stopped somewhere unobtrusive to wild camp. The following morning the weather was not yet as bad as forecast with the promised rain holding off while I followed an excellent path around Llyn Y Gader. Even if it never rained on this day, I was happy with my decision as I have been up Snowdon many times, but the Snowdonia Slate Trail was going to take me past many places that I had never been before.

A pleasurable walk took me through the open parkland that lies beside the shores of Llyn y Gader passing a disused quarry and a causeway until I reached the small village of Rhyd –Ddu. Soon after I arrived it started to rain as the forecast bad weather finally came and justified my decision not to climb Snowdon. Moving on from Rhyd –Ddu, a horribly wide forestry track led me through a conifer plantation before taking to a badly eroded footpath that climbed the hillside, however I later realised that the Snowdonia Slate Trail doesn’t use that path and instead I should have kept going until I had reached a bridleway. Back on the official route, I reached a gate that took me out of the conifers and onto the open hillside with wide views in all directions, most notably through the gap of Drws-y-Coed and into the valley of Dyffryn Nantlle. With Y Garn looming above me to the left and the slopes of Mynydd Mawr to my right I made my way towards the Nantlle Valley slowly descending against a howling gale through the rain while trying to locate the occasional posts that mark the sketchy path. Eventually I reached a farm and onto the main road through the valley which I followed for a while before branching off to head past a large campsite and onto an often very muddy path that led me past Llyn Nantlle Uchaf and onto a road which brought me into the village of Nantlle.

A rough road led me into the disused Pen-yr-orsedd Quarry where a maze of paths led in all directions and yet only one would lead me through the complex workings. At one point I went completely the wrong way and I had to turn back until I found a point where a different way could be tried, however generally many signposts directed me in the right direction, but occasionally one would be missing in a key location and that would lead me astray. Slowly, I navigated through the complex terrain, gradually climbing ever higher through the detritus of the quarry, which is now being reclaimed by nature until eventually I reached the top of the hill where I had my lunch. The video on YouTube of Abbie Barnes’ walk on the Snowdonia Slate Trail shows that they also struggled to navigate through the old quarry despite going in the opposite direction to me. The embankment of an old quarry railway led me into the village of Y Fron where I encountered a plague of the kissing gates that I had heard Abbie complaining about in the audio diaries as they couldn’t get through with their rucksack. My rucksack must be smaller than Abbie’s as I had no problem, although there could be others where I would struggle. On the other side of the village I had difficulty finding my way through the moorland around the diminutive hill of Moel Tryfan, although the colourful heather and gorse decorating the landscape compensated for my problems.

The rain stopped after lunch which made the walking more pleasant as I slowly made my way through the moorland around Moel Tryfan and Moel Smytho, though the views were still very poor through the mist all the way to the sea and the town of Caernarfon in the distance with the island of Anglesey on the horizon. Eventually I descended steeply through gorgeous, young woodland, though I was unable to appreciate this as the path was very slippery. In drier conditions and in ascent, as Abbie had, then maybe this would be a fantastic path. In the valley of the Afon Gwrfai I passed through the village of Waunfawr and then carefully followed the trail through many small enclosed fields up the side of the hill until eventually I reached a road, which slowly took me past more quarry workings and over the pass. I now had an easy walk with gentle gradients, though the wind was very strong before I eventually surmounted the pass and began to descend into Llanberis. This was often a very frustrating walk as navigation was frequently difficult, though the weather didn’t help, but I refused to be deterred by the weather. This was a good bad weather walk and provided me with a chance to explore areas that I’d never been before and see the astonishing amount of quarrying that had previously taken place.

Cambrian Way and the Snowdonia Slate Trail

Saturday 24th August 2024

While reviewing the route of stage eighteen of the Cambrian Way beforehand I realised that it resembles a walk that I did in 2019 over the mountains of Moelwyn Mawr and Cnicht, and so it lacked interest for me. I had planned to use the Snowdonia Slate Trail between those mountains as a bad weather option and this did spark my interest, despite having good weather on this walk. I set off from the campsite where I had been staying back into the village of Maentwrog and across the Vale of Ffestiniog on the Cambrian Way into the Coedydd Maentwrog National Nature Reserve. This was a fabulous walk through oak woodland on a path that gently climbed the hillside through a landscape rich in moss and lichen while the sun shone breathtakingly through the leaves. Eventually I passed a waterfall and up to the track of the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which I followed into Ddualt Station where the railway, uniquely for Britain, goes round a tight loop to gain height and passes over itself, before continuing north. The Cambrian Way climbs over a hill while the railway uses a tunnel and then on the other side skirts the edge of Tanygrisiau Reservoir, part of a pumped storage power station. At this point the Cambrian Way climbs Moelwyn Mawr passing the higher reservoir of the power station, but I had decided to keep to the shore of the lower reservoir.

I was feeling very tired at this point after two weeks of strenuous walking on the Cambrian Way during which I think I might not have been eating well or sleeping properly while in my tent, so when I came across a lakeside café I decided to stop and have a late breakfast, which was just what I needed. From there I could have returned to the Cambrian Way, but the route of the Snowdonia Slate Trail was more appealing to me so I headed steeply up to a busy car park, which I had used in 2019, and is at the entrance to the disused Cwmorthin Slate Quarry. In the sunshine this was a pleasurable walk passing the remains of the quarry and the reservoir, Llyn Cwmorthin, while slowly climbing the rocky path that led me up to the top of the pass and the fascinating sight of a stream rapidly falling into a sinkhole. I have passed through Bwlch Rhosydd many times, but I have never before taken the path through Cwmorthin so I relished the opportunity now, lingering over every step and taking many pictures. I sat beside one of the ruined quarry buildings at the top of the pass to shelter from the cold wind while having my lunch and taking in the view, and afterwards I had some difficulty finding the continuation of the Snowdonia Slate Trail, since this was not clear and when I eventually found the route it was marked only by a tiny sign that pointed up the hillside. Soon the path became clearer and offered me with stunning views across the wide plain of the pass and the surrounding mountains, before eventually bringing me to Llyn Croesor where the path descended to the disused Croesor Quarry.

Beyond the quarry the trail slowly descended into the valley on a clear track that provided me with a relaxing stroll in the good weather while the wind blew strongly. On reaching the bottom of the valley I passed through the village of Croesor and climbed up over the shoulder of Cnicht where the path from the distinctive peak comes down including the Cambrian Way, which now joins the Snowdonia Slate Trail. The onward path was very wet, often with a stream running down the footpath and I was reminded that I previously came this way on an activity for a residential on a supervisory management course back in 1997. That was a significant moment in my life as up to that point I had hardly done any walking, but it was my experiences on this path that sparked my interest and the following summer I had my first ever walking holiday, in the Peak District. So, this path was the start of everything that completely changed my life, but I’m sure it hadn’t been as bad then as I now found it. Eventually the path improved and I reached a road that led me through the hamlet of Nantmor and to the Pass of Aberglaslyn. A wonderful path took me through this narrow valley that I had previously traversed in 2019 and I loved the opportunity to return, taking many pictures as I went, though this was hindered by the many other people also taking the path.

In Beddgelert this stage of the Cambrian Way ends, but because of my short cut it was now only mid-afternoon and when I tried to resupply in the small shop in Beddgelert I found it didn’t stock everything I needed. While pondering my options, the bus to Porthmadog appeared and since I had plenty of time I jumped on that and stocked up in the coastal town instead. I also grabbed some fish & chips for dinner before catching the bus back to Beddgelert, which was now considerably quieter than when I’d left. However, while trying to book accommodation in the area I had found that none of the campsites would let me book just one night and instead insisted on my booking for the whole bank holiday weekend, which is difficult when you are doing a long distance trail. All my other options were very expensive, because of the bank holiday weekend, so in the end I decided I would wild camp, which is difficult to do surreptitiously in such a busy area. Before I set off I also had to decide where I was going to be walking the next day when the forecast was very poor. The Cambrian Way goes over Yr Wyddfa, better known as Snowdon, the next day, but bad weather prevented that from being an option, so I decided to continue on the Snowdonia Slate Trail until I could find somewhere to camp. Since the weather was good that evening I kept going for several miles, walking alongside and crossing the Welsh Highland Railway several times before passing the path that climbs towards Moel Hebog and entering the conifer plantation of Beddgelert Forest where I continued walking for another hour until eventually I stopped for the night.

This was a very enjoyable day’s walking until I reached Beddgelert, though throughout the day the uncertainty about my overnight stop had lingered in my mind and this eventually worked out alright. I enjoyed being on paths that I had not been on before, or at least in the last twenty-five years, especially as I took an easier route which helped me to recover from my exertions of earlier in the holiday. The good weather was a welcome change after a week of storms but unfortunately storms were forecast to be back the following day, so it is a shame that I didn’t take the opportunity that good weather had provided me and get to the top of a mountain on this walk.