Cadair Berwyn,
Follow this route and you’ll be climbing the highest peaks in Wales outside of the national parks.
north Wales
The mighty peaks of the Berwynion range lie outside of the Snowdonia National Park, robbing them of much-deserved recognition but presenting the discerning hillwalker with big mountain walks far from the madding crowds. Cadair Berwyn crowns the massif, and what a fabulous mountain it is too, with a spikeadorned summit that somehow feels a lot taller than the 830m marked on the map.
Interestingly, this high point wasn’t always recognised as such, with nearby Moel Sych – another summit crossed by this walk – being awarded the honours by a measly 1ft on early OS maps. Later metric versions assigned 827m to both peaks but this was actually the north summit of Cadair Berwyn, with the south top still missing out on any honours. Then, finally, recent surveys revealed the truth and the south top was proclaimed king – 3m higher than its northern twin and Moel Sych.
This is the finest way to combine all three peaks, taking in a wonderful horseshoe of Cwm Nant y Llyn and visiting the breathtaking Pistyll Rhaeadr, which at over 70m in height is one of the tallest waterfalls in Wales.