Barmouth, North Wales

Distance 9.2km (5.7 miles) Climbing 300m Time 40mins to 1hr

Start/ inish Pen-y-Gogledd car park, Barmouth (grid ref SH 604/171 postcode LL42 1BX) Route summary Physically and technically challenging, this is only an ‘easy’ route in that it’s short

1 Ride back (south) along the promenade, which eventually bears left, under a railway bridge, to a T-junction. Turn right on the main road and start climbing out of town. Take the first road on the left, after the row of terrace houses (‘Dead-end road’/‘Bae Abermaw Hotel’).

2 When the road bears right, keep ahead on the narrow ‘dead-end’ road, climbing steeply. Rejoin the road and continue to climb until you reach a small parking area. Turn sharp left here, to pass the Bunkorama accommodation.

3 Continue up this very steep climb on the tarmac, passing through a gate, where the track becomes rougher. Keep ahead/right past a lone house, steeply uphill on a rough track. Follow the waymarker arrows around and over the hill. Bear right and then left after crossing a stream and wall. Continue across the side of the hill, through some gates, along a grassy track. 4 After passing through a gate in a wall at the corner of some fields and stone walls, turn left on a walled track, downhill. When this bears left, keep ahead, leaving the walls, across a field. After another gate follow the track left, downhill, between some more walls, where it becomes rougher.

5 Go left, through a gate, to join the tarmac. Continue down to the main road and go left on it. After 0.6km, go right on a dead-end road (and bridleway) just behind a house, steeply downhill. Cross the railway and return to the car park.