Hiking Cnicht and the Rhosydd Quarry in Eryri (Snowdonia)
One of my favourite mountains! A gorgeous walk, fun summit scramble, with a quarry to explore as well.
Getting There:
We started this walk in a small, free, gravel car park in the village of Croesor. The sat nav took us the least obvious way possible and we were on a very narrow, very rough single track road for much longer than we would have liked. Several times I had to hop out of the car to open and close large farm gates so we could continue on the road…It felt like perhaps we shouldn’t be on this road… but if Google says it’s okay, who are we to argue?!
We were first to arrive in the car park, just around 8 am. There was a single, large port-a-loo in the corner. It was clean enough, though buggy. I did have to rescue Alan by helping a large bumble bee escape from within while Alan was sitting upon the throne.
Our Adventure:
This was day 5 of our hols in Eryri. We had already summited Tal y Fan, explored many waterfalls and Dinorwig Quarry, and walked around Llanberis. We had been looking forward to going back up Cnicht, it was definitely in the plan for this week. We had last climbed up it 10 or more years ago, but I believe we both remembered it well, if not for different reasons.
I love Cnicht (and Alan does too), it is one of my favourite mountains, up there with Tryfan and the Glydders for me! There is a scramble right near the top which can feel a little exposed with steep drops to the side, but then when you’ve reached the top – the views!! They are amazing! This is what I mainly remembered about Cnicht, all the same for Alan, however I know there had been one very specific bit of the scramble last time that he, with his dislike for heights, really had to have a word with himself about before climbing up. For some reason, this was playing on my mind a bit building up to this walk – would it be worse than I remembered? This is not the thought wormhole to go down, so each time it opened up, I made sure to close it quickly and kept it to myself.
Pleasant Beginnings:
So we walked down a lane out of the village, surrounded by moss-covered trees, boulders, and gorgeous bluebells. It was easy and flat – nowhere near as relentless as the start to our hike up Tal y Fan days before. After some time we came to a large steel gate and a signpost showing us the way to Cnicht. Not far beyond the sign, Cnicht itself was easily visible, towering like a knobbled pyramid ahead. Which brings us to its nickname – the Welsh Matterhorn. While it is no where near as tall as the Matterhorn of the Alps, which stands at 4,478 meters vs. Cnicht’s mere 691 meters, the resemblance in shape is instantly visible from this angle.
We walked on, through sparsely grassy fields, meeting several sheep on our way – but no people! We continued to follow another signpost for Cnicht and once we crossed a ladder style over a drystone wall, it began to feel like we were about to do some real work.
The Rocky Middle:
One of the best bits of this walk is the bit of path that came after the style. We began hiking up a delightful scree and boulder path around and up the side of a hill. It does feel a bit like being a billy goat, picking your way along the path. It soon ended and we found ourselves amongst grassy, undulating fields with large rocky outcrops all around. We picked our way up and settled with our backs to one such outcrop to give some shelter against the wind that had suddenly picked up. We took some time out for water and snacks (Soreen and a bit of trail mix!) while enjoying watching the sun poke in and out of clouds, illuminating the little lakes and giant mountains in front of us.
After our little break, we continued up the rugged field until we reached the bottom of Cnicht’s pyramid-like peak. This is where all the fun begins. It is a short scramble to the top of Cnicht, but it is a good one! We picked our way up, pausing now and then to admire surrounding views. We passed the feared bit, I didn’t bat an eye, and Alan said that for whatever reason, he was much less troubled by it than last time. Then we were at the small jagged top of Cnicht! It was glorious and windy. It really does feel like the top of the world. After the obligatory photos and videos (even though they do not do it justice!) we started descending down the other side, towards a 2nd peak – North Cnicht.
The short descent is super gentle and sloping. In a little divot between the two peaks, we decided to perch on the large rocks and have some lunch. It was black bean wraps today, and they felt extra-well-deserved after summiting Cnicht. During this little break, we saw our first person of the day. Not bad going! He was headed up towards Cnicht, coming from where we going. We enjoyed the views and the wraps for a while before hopping up and walking on.
Although North Cnicht wasn’t on our official route, it is right there, so we took an extra few minutes to scramble up its summit as well. There is a large, flat boulder that is angled in a way where you need to pull yourself up it. It’s probably not that large, but I am short. Anyways, this bit of North Cnicht, I found more intense than any part of Cnicht itself! But we made it up easily, breifly enjoyed the views and then scrambled back down the grassy slope to the vast fields which formed the next section of the route.
The Boggy Middle (yes, it’s still the Middle):
We spent what felt like a long time walking quickly over grassy embankments with boggy areas. We were slowly rounding a horseshoe shape to get us to the other side of the valley – opposite of Cnicht – where Rhosydd Quarry resides. At the top of the horseshoe’s arch we stopped again. We had found a rocky outcrop along the path that looked out to a dam and the sea. The rocks jutted out over a steep, but short drop to the grass below. I spent a good deal of time worrying about my boots dropping down. But, it was a gorgeous view and a good place to take off the old boots and socks for a bit while nibbling trail mix and chatting. Several couples passed us by while we recharged here, pausing to chat before walking on themselves towards the quarry.
Eventually we re-booted and resumed walking. The next section is basically one massive field, dotted with bog. We spent a lot of time surveying the area and trying to pick a route that seemed dryish. But this was to no success as we really had no choice but to get wet boots. Eventually we made it to the large rock slabs that would lead us to the quarry.
Rhosydd Quarry:
This is a disused quarry complete with a wet cave, ruined barracks, rotting pieces of equipment, and massive, massive stacks of slate to explore. By this time the weather was really sunny and warm, so I fished a short-sleeve top out of my bag and changed before moving on. We spent a good deal of time exploring the entire place. We walked to the edge of the quarry cliff, looking down the valley to the northeast towards Blaenau Ffestiniog. We walked through all the nooks and crannies of the barracks. We walked up to the cave (presumably an old entry to the slate mine). Just standing in front of the entrance we could feel the icy cold air emanating from within – it felt lush! I dug out my head torch from my bag, but could only take a few steps in as there was more or less a river rushing out of the cave itself. That was enough spelunking for today! We walked up old mine cart tracks that ended at cliff edges and until finally, we had explored it all!
The Long Hot End:
We headed down from the quarry back towards Creosor, again guided by well-placed signposts. There were some fun bits in this section, a bit of scrambling over a tiny water fall, a lizard sighting, some rocky sections of path. The views all the way down are vast and beautiful. There is a real sense of being tiny and insignificant as you walk down the side of the valley and take in Cnicht on the other side.
However, the sun was beating down upon us and someone had unknowingly left our suncream in the car boot, so we could also feel our left sides sizzling in the hot May sun. We had both nearly run out of water, saving a swig just in case of “emergency”. This was bad planning! We kept up a quick pace, but the valley seemed to go on for ever in the hot sun. We walked some more interesting rocky bits on the path and passed a group of walkers whose dog had decided he had had enough of the heat and was panting in the shade of a small scrubby tree. And then finally we were on a gravel lane, passing by a large farm house before re-entering Creosor.
By this time we were parched! We walked through the village, hoping they might have a post office or a local shop where we could grab a Coke. But there was nothing. We returned to the car park, which was by now heaving with several other hikers returning to their cars after a day of adventure. We gratefully took off our boots, popped on our trainers and made for the nearest Tesco, which was still a half hour drive away. I bought us some ice cold Coke Zeros and vegan Walls Sausage Rolls and we devoured them in the car park before heading back to the cottage for the evening.
Today was a real good day.
Facts ‘N’ Figures:
Length: approx. 6.8 miles, we reckon this took us about 7 hours, but this includes filming and stops to take in the scenery. 4-5 hours is probably a good guestimate without these things.
Terrain: Gravel paths, rocky terrain, scrambles, boggy fields.
All Trails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/wales/gwynedd/cnicht-and-croesor-circular
Watch our YouTube video of this breathtaking hike 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!