Rhinogs, Snowdonia
Calling experienced hillwalkers – it’s time to visit Snowdonia and pit your skills against the pathless, untamed Rhinog mountains.
If you’re fed up queuing behind people on the more popular summits of Snowdonia, then this is the route for you, as you’ll not be within 2m or even 2 miles of a single soul on this beautiful walk through the rugged Rhinogs. In fact, you’d be forgiven for half-expecting a dinosaur to come plodding slowly through this small tract of untamed wilderness at the southernmost tip of this popular National Park.
Home to vague paths that peter out into heather-covered boulders, squelchy bog and huge scrambling rocks, this lake and mountain landscape will test your navigation even on a perfect blue-sky day. And in misty conditions you must have good mountain experience and compass skills, or you could end up wandering down a steep-sided bank of rocky heather, into the wrong valley and miss last orders at the pub!
Although there are no pubs on the actual route (a good thing, as you’ll need a clear head to get through this maze), a short drive in the direction of a giant burger and chips at the old, stone Victoria Inn, a former coach house on the Afon Artro a few miles west, is your reward for a long, tough day out in this crowd-free mountainside.
1 SH645314 Leave Cwm Bychan car park and turn east along the lane, picking up the signed footpath on the right to the Roman Steps, summit of Rhinog Fawr in view. Follow this path over the saddle of Bwlch Tyddiad and as you start to descend, turn right to curve south-east then south-west to Llyn Du. Continue on with Llyn Du on your right, and the path will start to climb the rocky north-western flanks of Rhinog Fawr. At a path crossroads turn left (south-east) to ascend steeply to the summit trig at 720m.
2 SH656290 Leave Rhinog Fawr summit via the path running east. When it runs out after a few hundred metres, continue descending through the boulders and heather in the same direction until you reach a corridor in the crags running south-west. Turn right to use this chute to descend gently, then steeply to a pass with a clear path running through it. Cross the path to pick up a smaller trod running due south to Llyn Cwmhosan.
3 SH659277 There’s a confusing matrix of paths here, but continue south with the lake to your left, continuing southwards until you near the 500m contour. Here turn left to pick up a vague path up Rhinog Fach’s west flank. The easiest route has you curving north-east to meet a cluster of paths on the mountain’s northern edge, then turn southwards once more to pick your way over the humps and bumps of the summit to the highest hump at 712m, directly above Llyn Hywel.
4 SH664270 Retrace your footsteps for 50m to descend safely, turning right to pick your way down the gentler south-eastern slopes of Rhinog Fach and pick up the path running southwards past Lyn Hywel. Soon this path winds up through crags once more over Y Llethr, a wide, round summit marked by a cairn at 756m high.
5 SH661257 The navigation here gets a tad simpler as you follow the Crib-y-rhiw ridge south-east with steep crags, stone wall and fence to your left. You’ll pass Llyn Dulyn on your right and curve left to summit Diffwys (750m) with its cliff-edge trig point. Then simply follow the wall as it guides you across wide, grassy, rocky mountainside south-west to the 572m spot-height above the start of more crags to the west.
6 SH637224 Turn right just after the spot height on the path running north then west to the bridge below Llyn Bodlyn, crossing the Afon Ysgethin. Branch right at the fork of paths here, taking the bridleway north over the eastern spur of Moelfre and through farmlands to Cwm Nantcol.
Turn right on the track to pass through the farm and cross at Pont Cerrig, turning right after this bridge to follow the river to Maes-ygarnedd, the farm at the head of the valley. Here take the left path running up into the mountains again, forking left at Nantcol to climb Foel Ddu.
7 SH634283 Walk north-east off Foel Ddu to the saddle, then turn left to pick your way down steepening, craggy, heathery slopes to meet a clear path. Turn right on this to walk north-eastwards to Gloywn Lyn. Walk around the northern shore of this lake to pick up the path leading northwards back to the Roman Steps, to retrace your steps to the car park.