Moel Hebog, Moel Yr Ogof & Moel Lefn
SH588482 Leave the car park and turn right, following the Afon Colwyn upstream. Turn left at Pont Alun and cross the river, then walk underneath the railway line. Follow the lane round to the right. Moel Hebog rears up ahead.
From this aspect, it looks craggy, steep and forbidding. Cross the railway line again and continue along the lane. As you head up through woodland, cross the railway line a third time. At the fingerpost take the right-hand track marked Rhyd Ddu.
SH579479 At the marker post take the flagged path left.
Cross the stile over the wall beside a sheepfold and follow the grassy track uphill. Cross the tumbledown stone wall and continue up towards crags. Follow the marker posts, working your way through boulders. Aim for the gate in the stone wall. Then follow the path ahead and slightly to the left, which looks like it goes straight up towards the crags. The rocky path here is marked with a series of small cairns and there is some easy scrambling as the route zigzags up to a grass plateau. From here, walk uphill to reach the trig pillar.
SH564469 From the trig pillar bear north-west, following the stone wall. Carefully descend the grassy slope. Ignore the ladder stile and follow the wall as it climbs uphill between a cleft in the rock. Pick your way up through boulders – the terrain can be boggy. The summit of Moel Yr Ogof is an indistinct jumble of rocks, but on a clear day it offers stunning 360° panoramic views.
SH556478 Descend north-north-west via the obvious path from the summit, making for the low hump of Moel Lefn. When you reach the stone wall, cross the ladder stile. The path splits: the left-hand fork skirts around Moel Lefn, the right-hand path clambers up to its summit. The mountain itself splits two valleys, and you can get great views of both to either side. Head north to descend the twisty, rocky path. Beddgelert Forest is away to your right, with disused quarry workings on your left. At the fence-line, cross the stile beside the
wall and continue to follow the wall downhill.
SH553496 Cross the wall at the fence line and then go over the stile. Follow the path down to the forestry road, turn left at the marker post and soon turn right to pick up the footpath again. Cross the duckboards and carry on along the path. Take the right fork at a post marked ‘33’. Go through the gap in the wall and then cross the stile over the fence. Cross the stream. The ground is very boggy here and the
path on the ground sticks closer to the stone wall than the OS map shows. Cross the stile next to the barred gate at the fence line, where there is a post marked ‘32’. Now pick up the forestry track. When you reach the forestry road, turn right and then left to continue along the footpath, crossing the forestry road twice. Descend through woodland to emerge at a gate in a stone wall. Walk down through the field, and go through the second wooden gate.
SH569496 Turn right along the road, passing a viewpoint. At the fork, head right along the bridleway and cross the bridge over the tumbling river. Just before the railway crossing turn right along the bridleway, signposted ‘Beddgelert 2.5km’. Past the railway halt for Meillionen, the track forks. Take the right-hand fork, then go left across the wooden footbridge. Go through the metal gate and retrace your steps back into Beddgelert.