Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Y Lliwedd Route Information

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Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) & Y Lliwedd

Quick Facts

This is the summed total of all the climbing within a route and is a good indicator of the strenuousness of a route.

Total Ascent

3887 ft

An estimate of the time taken based on a derivation of Naismiths rules. Our calculation is based on the horizontal and ascent components of a climb, we do not make a reduction for descent.

Registered users can customise these walking times by specifying their own walking and ascending speeds. They can also add a fixed time period for stoppages.

Route Time

4.5 hrs

The horizontal distance of the route.

Route Distance

6.9 ml

The UK is covered by 204 Ordnance Survey Landranger 1:50,000 scale maps. Maps numbered 1 to 86 cover Scotland but for the highest mountains (Munros) only 23 maps are required. The name given roughly describes the area covered by the map.

You can click on the map name to purchase the map for £6.29 including postage which is one of the cheapest prices we have found.

OS Landranger Maps Required

115

Snowdon & Caernarfon

Only £6.29 (£13.49 Laminated) from

A brief summary of this route.

Our summary will always contain one of easy, moderate or hard to indicate the severity of the route.

Notes

The classic ‘Snowdon Horseshoe’, the finest and most challenging ridge walk in England/Wales, worth saving for a good off-season day. Scrambling near crags with some exposure is involved over the Crib Goch pinnacles and the traverse of Y Llewedd’s crest.

Here we provide the nearest town to the start of the route where you will find basic services.

We then give directions from that location to the route start. Your approach route may differ.

Travel Information

Head to: Capel Curig

From Capel Curig drive WSW on A4086 for about 9km and park at Pen-y-Pass (summit of the Pass of Llanberis).

Route Waypoint Map

The total ascent is 3,887 feet. Allow 4.5 hours to complete this 6.9 mile route.

Usually the shortest way to climb the mountain, making best use of tracks and paths to gain altitude. Route navigation requires map reading skills and an ability to navigate with a compass.

The information given here will enable you to annotate your map and plan your route. We do not give anecdotal descriptions on where to find the paths, worn by the feet of previous mountaineers.

Where the access routes are few or the ridge is narrow, paths are generally obvious. On open ground, following paths without using your compass may get you lost in poor visibility.

Route Information

Waypoint Detail

	Park at Pen-y-Pass (summit of Pass of Llanberis).
		SH64785556	Distance	Altitude 1177 ft

1	Ascend S on path
		SH64455558	Distance 0.9 miles	Altitude 1279 ft

2	Path divides here, continue ascent WSW onto crest of ridge
		SH63335526	Distance 0.1 miles	Altitude 1866 ft

3	Ascend by path on ridge W to Crib Goch summit ridge
		SH62555525	Distance 0.5 miles	Altitude 2926 ft

4	Carefully traverse WSW over exposed Crib Goch ridge then descend to col
		SH62165511	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 2814 ft

5	Ascend W along Crib y Ddysgl ridge
		SH61625520	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 3123 ft

6	Continue ascent to summit of Garnedd Ugain.
		SH61105518	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 3494 ft

7	Descend SW turning S to Bwlch Glas col
		SH60775491	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 3257 ft

8	Ascend ridge SSE to summit of Yr Wyddfa (3000ft+)
		SH60985438	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 3559 ft

9	Head SW 150m to join path descending zigzag SE across slope onto ridge.
		SH61455416	Distance 0.5 miles	Altitude 2654 ft

10	Continue SE to col at junction with Watkin Path
		SH61935370	Distance 0.4 miles	Altitude 2440 ft

11	Scramble SE on ridge to summit of Y Llewedd (2500ft+)
		SH62225335	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 2946 ft

12	Traverse ESE on ridge, over subsidiary top then begin descent
		SH62605317	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 2637 ft

13	Continue descent NE on ridge
		SH63025346	Distance 0.3 miles	Altitude 2316 ft

14	After clearing crags descend NNE on path to join Miners Track.
		SH63495454	Distance 0.8 miles	Altitude 1430 ft

15	Turn right and head ENE on Miners Track.
		SH64635483	Distance 0.8 miles	Altitude 1325 ft

16	Turn N to return to Pen-y Pass on Miners Track.
		SH64785556	Distance 0.5 miles	Altitude 1177 ft

A selection of weather forecasts local to this route.

Weather

Snowdonia
by MWIS (PDF format)

Snowdonia
by Met Office

Snowdon
by Metcheck

Images of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) & Y Lliwedd

Looking east from the summit ridge of Snowdon towards Glaslyn and Llyn Llydaw on a busy bank holiday weekend. The sheer number of people ascending the hill that day was incredible as can be seen on the paths!

© David McSporran

Image by David McSporran

Crib Goch, with the pinnacles just right of top, seen from Nant Peris.

© David S Brown

Image by David S Brown

Snowdon and Cwm Dyli from above the Miners' Track

© Ian Evans

Image by Ian Evans

The final steep scramble up Crib Goch; with distant walkers on the pinnacle ridge (upper left)

© David S Brown

Image by David S Brown

Route Area Map

Legend

Munro

Corbett

Graham

English/Welsh Top

Accommodation

A selection of local accommodation options who advertise with Munromagic.com.

Where to Stay

We currently have no
sponsored accommodation listings for this area.

Rating & Reviews

Rating & Reviews

Rated:

from 2 votes

Click Stars to Vote
Your Rating

Written by William Thomson on 24 Apr 2010:

The parking has increased to £10 for the day which is completely out of order. I totally object to paying this kind of money when climbing hills which really should belong to the nation of Wales. I therefore parked half a mile down the road in a lay-by. This made a much more interesting walk in the end and saved me the £10 cash. I also noticed that a lot of the parking areas in the valley had been blocked with large stones to prevent parking and thus increase the usage and revenue of the carpark, unbelievable!

Written by Jim Nicol on 23 Jul 2009:

Be warned parking at pen-y-pass is not cheap £3 for up to 4hrs ,£6 over 4hrs.Good cafe and toilets there though. Even though the weather was very wet and misty for most of the walk i still found this route to be very enjoyable,the weather only made it more challenging careful navigation needed coming off snowdons summit. The scrambling and ridge walks were very exhilarating made more difficult by the rain. I would love to do this route again in good conditions to take in the views of this beautiful area, what i did see convinced me of this.Fantastic route though recommend it to everyone.

Disclaimer. The details provided above are an aid to planning an expedition, but all distances, altitudes and bearings must be considered approximate. You must navigate with the appropriate map, a compass, your navigation skills and common sense, MunroMagic.com accept no responsibility for your interpretation of our route information.

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