Feb 7, 2017 | 5-10 Miles, Gwynedd
A lovely walk in south west Anglesey, good forest tracks with stunning sea and Snowdonia views near the end, in the Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve. At just over 8 miles the walk is easy as fairly flat. Starting at the car park you follow the forest tracks going around the forest in a big horseshoe, near the end you hit the beach and head out onto a peninsula called Llanddwyn Island (Ynys Llanddwyn). Great Snowdonia vistas and a historic site – The church of St. Dwynwen (the Welsh patron saint of lovers), after this you head back to the forest for the last section of the walk.
Park and start the Walk at the public Car N 53.144106 W -4.385195
Total distance: 8.3 Miles
Total time: 4.10 hrs
Moving time: 3.30 hrs
Average speed: 2 mi/h
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Feb 1, 2017 | 5-10 Miles, Gwynedd
A walk around Llyn Padarn (Padarn Lake) in Llanberis Snowdonia. A nice easy walk at just under 6 miles. Start from the car park heading to the lake, you cross the footbridge at the Snowdon end of the lake then follow the trail signs around the lake. The first section comprises tracks, woodland paths and lanes, these take you uphill away from the lake but still afford great views. You then descend on lanes to the far end of the lake. The return leg on the town side of the lake is clearly marked trails with a couple of sections of pavement.
Park and start the Walk at the public Car park by the lake in Llanberis
Total distance: 5.7 Miles
Total time: 3 hrs
Moving time: 2.40 hrs
Average speed: 2 mi/h
Max elevation: 682 ft
Min elevation: 344 ft
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Apr 15, 2016 | 5-10 Miles, Gwynedd
A nice 6.8 mile walk with multiple terrains, and stunning vistas. Starting at the car park at Borth Y Gest (near Porthmadog), then following well defined paths, you travel through woodland, lanes and tracks. Then ascend Moel Y gest, there are 2 peaks here, the furthest having the trig point and also being marked as a Hill Fort on the OS map, both affording stunning views of Snowdonia, the estuary, and the coast, Cricceth Castle is visible to the North. From the peak you travel down until you eventually find yourself on a section of the Wales coastal path, then onto a beach, before the final leg back to the car park. This was a really great walk for views, the ascent of Moel y Gest is steep but well worth it for the 360 views. It was quite overcast for us so the photographs are not so impressive – a walk for a good day owing to the great views.
Grid Ref: N 52.915875 W 4.136570 (where we parked)
Total distance: 6.45 Miles
Total time: 4.48 hrs
Moving time: 4.00 hrs
Average speed: 1.34 mi/h
Max elevation: 1044 ft
Min elevation: 10 ft
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Apr 6, 2016 | 5-10 Miles, Gwynedd
Melynllyn & Dulyn Reservoirs on the eastern side of the Carneddau mountains in Snowdonia. Upon parking we spotted a huge dam wall in the distance with breaks in, so added that at the start, we had to see it. It turns out after researching the dam: “on 2 November 1925, following 26 inches (660 mm) of rain in just five days, the dam broke. The water flowed down to Coedty Reservoir, also causing that to burst, and millions of gallons of water flowed down into the village of Dolgarrog, causing the loss of 17 lives” from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_Eigiau
Upon returning to the car park we commenced our walk to the Melynllyn & Dulyn Reservoirs. The walk is uphill most of the way to the Melynllyn Reservoir (wiki info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_Melynllyn) on well defined paths, unfortunate for us we chose a day with 40-50mph winds and occasional hail coming straight at us on this section, making it quite a slog to the reservoir. From the Melynllyn you travel down a rocky path to the Dulyn Reservoir (wiki info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_Dulyn). From there you then cross very boggy moorland for the bulk of the journey back, the paths are not well defined on this section, but there are a couple of styles and occasional concrete posts marking the way.
This walk has spectacular views, just wished we had chosen better weather, obviously in this area and at this height the weather can also be very changeable – be prepared and well equipped.
Grid Ref: 53.177726N –3.900219W (where we parked)
Total distance: 8.5 Miles
Total time: 4.36 hrs
Moving time: 4.06 hrs
Average speed: 1.8 mi/h
Max elevation: 2126 ft
Min elevation: 1214 ft
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Mar 25, 2016 | Gwynedd, Under 5 Miles
A beautiful walk taking in Aber Falls (Rhaeadr Fawr), just under 5 miles. The walk starts from the car park, then ascends on well defined paths for about 2 miles to the waterfall. Known as Aber Falls (Rhaeadr Fawr in Welsh) this is a spectacular waterfall, its formed from the Red River (Afon Goch) that plunges about 120 feet over an outcrop of igneous rock in in the Carneddau range. To make the walk more interesting we walked on a different route back, that takes in another waterfall, has wonderful scenic countryside, mountain vistas, with views of Anglesey, Puffin Island and the Menai Straights, before returning downhill to the car park.
Grid Ref: 53.22.809’N -4.00.515’W (where we parked)
Total distance: 4.71 Miles
Total time: 2.56 hrs
Moving time: 2.16 hrs
Average speed: 1.6 mi/h
Max elevation: 873 ft
Min elevation: 144 ft
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Mar 10, 2015 | 5-10 Miles, Gwynedd
A horseshoe walk in the Fairbourne area of Gwynedd, affording great views of Barmouth Estuary. A fair climb uphill for half the walk, before leveling out followed by a nice decent. Stunning mountain scenery, an interesting quarry/mine works with a turquoise lake, a large standing stone and waterfalls on the route down.
Grid Ref: SH 628 140 (station car park)
Total distance: 14.57 km (9.1 mi)
Total time: 5:19:38
Moving time: 4:45:24
Average speed: 2.74 km/h (1.7 mi/h)
Max elevation: 406 m (1334 ft)
Min elevation: 50 m (165 ft)
Elevation gain: 691 m (2266 ft)
Weather: sunny, warm
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