Cwm Idwal
A glacial bowl and lake beneath the Devil's Kitchen cleft, Wales's first national nature reserve, reached on a well-made stone path that suits non-hikers.
No machine-readable author provided. Blisco assumed (based on copyright claims). — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0
Drivers on the A5 between Capel Curig and Bethesda tend to brake without meaning to at the edge of Llyn Ogwen, because a rock pyramid called Tryfan is suddenly standing in front of them with no preamble: no gentle foothills, no forest to soften it, just a mountain rising straight from the tarmac to 918 metres. This is the gateway to the Glyderau, the range that holds five of Wales's fifteen peaks above 3,000 feet, topped by Glyder Fawr at 1,001 metres. Most of the range has been National Trust land since 1951, when the Trust bought some 21,000 acres from the Penrhyn estate, and the practical base for any visit is the car park by Ogwen Cottage at the western end of the lake, with toilets, a small kiosk and a national park warden centre beside it. The good news for non-climbers is that the finest thing here does not require a summit. A well-made stone path climbs about 1.5 km from the car park into Cwm Idwal, an enclosed glacial bowl holding Llyn Idwal beneath the black cleft known as the Devil's Kitchen. It was Wales's first national nature reserve (1954) and rare arctic-alpine plants, the Snowdon lily among them, cling to its rocks. The full loop round the lake is roughly 5 km and takes two to three hours at an easy pace; children puff on the first climb and then it eases, though rough stony sections remain. Pushchairs will not cope, but a child carrier is perfect. The summits are a different proposition. Glyder Fach, with its famous Cantilever Stone and the shattered rock of Castell y Gwynt on the ridge beside it, needs five to seven hours, proper boots, a map you can read and a clear sky, because the weather here turns within a quarter of an hour and there is no shelter above the cottage except what you carry. If that is not your kind of walking, stop at Cwm Idwal without apology; you will still see the view you came for. Driving is easiest: around 20 to 25 minutes from Betws-y-Coed on the A5, or about half an hour from Llanberis over Pen-y-Pass and through Capel Curig. The car park is pay-and-display and is run by the national park authority rather than the National Trust, so Trust membership does not cover it, and it fills before noon on sunny summer holidays; the relaxed alternative is the T10 bus from Bangor or Bethesda, which stops at Ogwen Cottage. There is no charge to enter the valley or the reserve and no restaurant, so bring food, water and waterproofs, even in August.
A glacial bowl and lake beneath the Devil's Kitchen cleft, Wales's first national nature reserve, reached on a well-made stone path that suits non-hikers.
A 918-metre rock pyramid standing straight above the road; the view from the lakeshore alone justifies the stop.
A famous jutting slab of rock on a 994-metre summit, the reward of a full day for those with the kit and experience.
Ogwen Cottage car park, A5, near Bethesda LL57 3LZ
From about six or seven, yes: the path is a made-up stone one for most of the way, the first climb is the hardest part and then it eases, and the full loop takes two to three hours. With smaller children or a pushchair, stay at the shore of Llyn Ogwen and the kiosk; the view is lovely from there too. Do not head for the summits with children unless your family is properly equipped and experienced on mountains.
If the train to the summit of Snowdon is in your plan, this valley will not replace that experience. But if you want a real mountain scene in two hours with no advance booking, no ticket and none of the summer queues, Cwm Idwal wins easily, and it sits on the road between Betws-y-Coed and Bangor.