A good-sized day hike with a bit of everything! The day ended by walking The Aberglasyn Pass – an exhilarating riverside trail.
Getting There:
The route begins in Beddgelert, a gorgeous and popular village in the northwest of Eryri. There are 2 large car parks on the west side of the village and we parked in the more southern of the two. There are public toilets at the east end of the village, but it’s only a 5 minute walk or so.
Our Adventure:
This was day 7 of our week in Eryri. Knowing that tomorrow we would begrudgingly be on our way home, we were hoping to make Cadair Idris our 3rd mountain of the week. The weather however, had different plans for us. Down low the weather was gorgeous, sunny, and mostly warm. But sadly, even the smallest of mountains had thick black clouds shrouding their summits. With the ever-changing weather in the mountains, sometimes you have to make the call not to go up, even if you regret it all day long! So instead we chose to walk a trail we had last done more than 10 years ago. While I remembered little of it, Alan recalled much more. It’s really interesting how differently our brains work!
Beddgelert
We were out in good time this morning and arrived in Beddgelert around 8am. The village was dead quiet, the only other souls we saw were a couple of sleepy teens waiting at the bus stop. After trekking to the toilets and back, then getting our boots and bags on, we left the village. We headed out to the north east on a footpath following alongside the Afon (River) Glasyn. It was a gorgeous morning in the valley, with the sun glinting off the river and the birds providing the soundtrack to our day. Including cuckoos. Cuckoos seemed to be everywhere in Eryri that week – so much so that we felt they were mocking us everywhere we went by the end of our holiday!
Along this path, as we stopped to admire a chrysalis or cocoon (just not sure what was inside it), a solo female hiker nodded as she hurried past us. She was drying a pair of socks tied to the outside of her backpack, so I could tell she was a serious hiker, but she was not one either us recognised.
Afon Glaysn and Llyn Dinas
About an hour into our walk, we passed Sygun Copper Mine, briefly considering popping in to check it out. But as it was so early in the day and we didn’t really know what lay ahead of us, we decided against it and carried on. Soon after, we reached Llyn Dinas: a large and beautiful lake. We found a bench and couldn’t say no to sitting for a bit and taking it all in. We ate Fry’s the hot dogs we had packed and basked in the sun. Elsewhere on the lake we could hear a large group of kids clearly having fun on a school adventure day.
About halfway around the side of the lake, we veered off the lakeside path and began a steepish climb into some beautiful woods full of gnarled moss-covered trees. The scene was very Narnian. I didn’t remember any part of this walk being this rugged – I genuinely remembered it as being pretty tame and flat! Anyway, the woods were peaceful and the path smattered with various rocks and tree roots to be dodged and scramble over. We were both plagued by mosquitos and midges, though they seemed more interested in Alan than me. We found a nice ruin to explore part way up. It was an old stone cottage, now home to ivy, moss and other greenery. After, we continued upwards, eventually emerging high up onto boggy fields with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. Here we were reminded again why we didn’t attempt to go up any of them, clouds still clinging to their peaks.
Snacks and a Rest
We found a high point with a couple of boulders that were perfect to perch on for a bit. We took a longer break here, charging our phones, taking off our boots and socks to preserve our feet, and eating some crisps and trail mix. I was so happy to get my socks off for a bit! I was trying to go without double-layering of socks this holiday, skipping the high-wicking under layers that I usually wear because they make my top socks slip down and scrunch in the fronts of my boots causing bruised toes and toenails. However, not wearing them was giving me some massive blisters – hence the joy at removing my boots and socks! When it was time to move on, off we went, descending slightly towards a couple of houses. We met a young couple walking an energetic Spaniel, then another solo hiker, male this time, who looked like he was setting up to have a long break on a large flat rock. We walked for some time down a gravel road, passing a small field of black cows and calves. At some point on this road I noticed Cnicht’s distinct peak to the east, which we had climbed up only a couple days before. Eventually we ducked back into woods, alongside a small river.
Nantmor
We poked in and out of the woods on an undulating path, then cutting through a farm and admiring their sheep. On the track out of said farm, there were 2 horses stood either side of it. As it looked like a mother and her foal, we gave them a wide birth, not wanting to upset them by walking between them. Eventually we reached Nantmor. Nantmor is a tiny hamlet with some beautiful homes and a very tiny railway station on the Welsh Highland Railway. It is also home to one end of the Aberglasyn Pass. I was excited to reach the start of the pass as I remembered there being an incredible view of the Afon Glasyn, I had completely forgotten about the exciting rocky trail that we were about to embark on. Alan clearly remembered more about the Pass itself and the amazing views we were about to have, but he didn’t reveal much. He simply told me he was pretty sure there would be some better views ahead.
Aberglasyn Pass
I took my photos of the incredible view of the river from the road bridge at the bottom of Nantmor. We then walked up to the National Trust car park which marked the start of the Pass. (There are also public toilets here!) After a quick water break, we began the trail. I was almost immediately amazed that I had no recollection of this bit of the walk! The trail is rocky, uneven, dramatic, and just good fun to walk! There are places where you can clamber down the rocks to get a closer view of the Afon Glasyn as well as places where you can get right out and perch on large boulders within the river itself. Sadly for us, the trail was on the busy side so we didn’t take as much time as either of us would have liked to stand back and enjoy the atmosphere. The busyness of the trail did not make it any less fun though! Highlights include a small cave, lots of jagged rocky bits, and many narrow bits of path with steep drops to the river, including a bit where the path is so narrow with boulders on one side and a drop to the river on the other, that steel climbing holds are fixed to the boulders.
Back to Beddgelert
Once we reached the Beddgelert end of the Pass, we crossed some railway tracks and then finished our walk back to the village on a very flat paved path. Here we passed couples of all ages lovingly sitting on benches or on the riverside together. Once back in the village, we had a look around the shops for some nourishing snacks. We were so excited to find a cute little place with outdoor seating and delicious-sounding vegan burgers on their menu board. But were absolutely gutted to then see that they are not open on Fridays!! (This was, of course, a Friday.) After chatting with a similarly gutted group of vegans lamenting the same issue, we ended up stopping for couple of delicious oat milk cappuccinos from The Real Coffee Stop (very friendly staff as well!) We stopped and drank them at one of the picnic tables in their courtyard, enjoying every last drop while chatting away and watching the bees leaving and entering their nest in the stone wall next to us. We followed these up with raspberry sorbets from the Glaslyn Artisan Ice Cream place just across the street. Also delicious! Also sadly serving vegan pizzas, but not for another 45 minutes! Once we were done, we made our way back to the car to head back to our Air BnB for one last night in the hot tub. But not before stopping to grab some awesome vegan pizza from Hangin’ Pizza in Bewts-y-Coed on the way. We had earned it!
Facts ‘N’ Figures:
Length: approx 9 1/3 miles, about 4 ½ – 5 hours depending on your pace. (I believe this was only the time we spent actually walking. With stops to take in the views and have a few snacks I’m pretty sure it was more like 6 ½ – 7 hours.)
Terrain: A bit of everything! Flat gravel paths and tracks, a few roads, woodland paths with rocks and roots, fields that are sometimes boggy, and of course the Aberglasyn Pass at the end which is rocky and uneven.
All Trails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/wales/gwynedd/nantmor-llyn-dinas-and-beddgelert-circular
Watch our YouTube video of this beautiful walk here:
If you’ve done this walk, let me know what you thought. Have you been somewhere else in Eryri that you want to recommend? Leave a comment below!