Enquiry

You’ll be guided and interpreted by your guide who is a retired university professor, with over 30 years of experience leading groups on walks.

We start our walk from Coed Obry, where there is safe car parking. We meet at 10am for coffee and get to know each other. We start walking at 10.30am from 8m above sea level, first along a minor gates track then then over fields, steadily climbing past the hamlet of Rhyd to a height of 200m. Rhyd lies within National Trust land. We reach the edge of a commercial forest and after 1 km along a minor road we enter the forest and climb past 220m and descend to our first Lake, Llyn y Garnedd (200m above sea level) then descend in another 1 km to the Tan y Bwlch railway station on the Ffestiniog Railway where we stop for lunch. There are picnic benches here and a café/souvenir shop.

After lunch we walk downhill for 20 mins through the ancient oakwoods, one of Wales’ “rainforests”, that is Coedydd Maentwrog National Nature reserve. This is a very special place which harbours internationally rare mosses and animals such as the rare lesser horseshoe bat. The wood warbler can be spotted here, and the gorge is noted for its liverworts and lichens. We then skirt the shoreline of Llyn Mair, our second lake and climb slightly over a km, crossing the Ffestiniog railway line again to our third lake, Llyn Hafod y Llyn (at 140 m). We then follow a track south through the forest which leads us to fantastic views over the Dwyryd and Glaslyn estuaries to the west. We can see the village of Portmeirion and the town of Porthmadog with views down the Lleyn Peninsula past Criccieth toward Pwllheli and Absersoch, with Harlech and it’s castle to the south-west.

We then meander through the forest, descending the final 3 km back to Coed Obry where a well- deserved cup of tea and cake awaits us. You will leave having walked through ancient oakwoods, one of Wales’ “rainforests”, visited three upland lakes, spotted a number of birds, trees and plants native to the region, and made new friendships. You will have visited Coed Obry, the base for Snowdonia Outdoors, where you will learn about what other adventures there are on offer.

Itinerary

Whats included

Leaders

Tim