Hills: Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant
Date: Monday 21st April 2014
Company: Just myself
Distance: 17.5km, Ascent: 1500m
Time: 5Hrs 30Mins


After a long day on the hills yesterday, it was my intention today to have an easy day ascending a couple of Sub2000ft Marilyns. However on waking this morning and looking out the window the weather looked outstanding! I therefore decided to make the most of the day by ascending a Welsh "Corbett" and a Welsh "Fiona".

I drove 22 miles from my base in Betws-y-Coed to park opposite a small quarry on the B4391 where there is room for dozens of cars on an area of waste ground (no charge for parking).

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

From the car parking area, I walked almost exactly one mile along the B4391 to reach the start of the track leading to Llyn Arenig Fawr. I then followed the track towards the llyn.

Looking back towards Llyn Celyn from track to Llyn Arenig Fawr:


Arenig Fawr is a really nice hill. It was great to get away from the crowds of Northern Snowdonia and meet only a handful of other walkers throughout the day.

Arenig Fawr:


Llyn Arenig Fawr and Arenig Fawr panorama:


On reaching the small dam, I took a short detour to check out a very small building.

Llyn Arenig Fawr dam:


The building turned out to be Arenig Fawr bothy. This is the smallest bothy I have come across to date. Really nice though!

Arenig Fawr bothy:


Inside Arenig Fawr bothy:


After visiting the bothy, I crossed the dam and started the ascent towards Y Castell.

Crossing the Llyn Arenig Fawr dam:


Looking back to Llyn Arenig Fawr during ascent of Y Castell:


I took a short diversion from the track to visit the 684m top. I then returned to the track which I followed to the summit of Arenig Fawr.

Arenig Fawr from Y Castell:


Ascent of Arenig Fawr:


Looking towards the summit of Arenig Fawr:


The weather today was pretty good however it was very hazy. On a clear day, Arenig Fawr is meant to provide great views of Northern Snowdonia. Today, it was not possible to see that far.

Summit of Arenig Fawr:


At the summit, I stopped to read the memorial to the crew of a Flying Fortress that crashed into Arenig Fawr in 1943. Disappointing that the memorial has somehow sustained some damage.

Memorial at the summit of Arenig Fawr:


From the summit I next made my way across to the South top. En-route to the South top I met a man who warned me of a rocky section ahead with mild scrambling. Not sure what he was on about as there was no hands-on required just a few boulders to step over/around.

Looking back to Arenig Fawr from the South top:


Descent from South top of Arenig Fawr:


After descending from the South top, I took another small detour to visit the 712m top.

View from Arenig Fawr South top ridge (712m top):


Small llyns on South top ridge:


Panorama from South top ridge:


I think I possibly cut off a little bit early to make my way across to Moel Llyfnant. I did however end up following an ATV track to the col between Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant.

Looking across to Moel Llyfnant:


Looking back to Arenig Fawr:


Having ascended circa 5000m in the past four days my legs were definitely feeling the steep ascent of Moel Llyfnant. I had to zig-zag my way up.

Approaching the summit of Moel Llyfnant:


I had to climb over a fence a short distance from the summit.

Looking across to Arenig Fawr from the summit of Moel Llyfnant:


Instead of returning to the col via the same route, as suggested in my guidebook, I decided to descend via the North ridge down to Amnodd-bwll.

Descending the North ridge of Moel Llyfnant:


Descending the North ridge of Moel Llyfnant towards Amnodd-bwll:


On reaching Amnodd-bwll I decided to take the road leading to Amnodd-wen.

Amnodd-bwll:


Amnodd-wen:


Until now this had been a fantastic walk on good terrain. However, the track beyond Amnodd-wen was fairly awful. It was good to eventually meet a ladder stile over a wall beyond which the terrain was much improved.

Arenig Fawr is a real gem of a hill.