It's a hot and humid morning in February 2008 when I…
Precipice Walk: Hiking in Snowdonia
On a recent trip to Snowdonia, I discovered the Precipice Walk near Dolgellau. It’s a short and easy but perfectly formed trail, ideal for bad weather or rest days, or for those new to hiking. The walk is on a private estate that permits access to the public. To prevent it becoming a right of way, the estate closes access for one day a year on 1 February.
After a short, gentle ascent, the walk starts with a view of the stunningly picturesque Llyn Cynwch, with the snow-capped Cader Idris (Cadair Idris) mountain in the background. The path then heads up to follow a fairly level route around Foel Cynwch, with stunning views of the surrounding area and over towards Barmouth Bay. Finally, you skirt Llyn Cynwch back to the start point.
I had the Precipice Walk virtually to myself at the end of March, a rarity in Snowdonia, and was able to take plenty of time to get some landscape shots from the various vantage points along the route. I plan to go back at different times of the year, as I think the contrast between the seasons would be great to see and photograph.
The route
The Precipice Walk route I walked (shown below) is just 6km in total, with 228m of total ascent. It’s certainly one of Snowdonia’s easier walks, taking me me around 2 hours with a lot of stopping for photographs. It’s an easy walk overall.
There’s a free car park with toilets very close by (location: SO 74568 21182; 52.7736, -3.8608). The route below shows the walk beginning and ending at that car park.
Want to walk this route? Download the GPX file here! (But read this warning first.)
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