Distance: 8km

Duration: 2.5 – 3 hours

Map: OL17 Yr Wyddfa

Description: A journey that rises 250m so requires a good level of fitness. You will be walking through a quarry, along narrow paths and hidden steps on the way down, so caution is needed and care taken. Needs clear weather to be able to follow the trail if not familiar with the area.

Starting point: Canolfan Talysarn, Station Road, LL54 6HL. G4 Bus Gwynfor Coaches go past the centre.

• Starting at Canolfan Talysarn car park take the road to the right which passes through the village, passing rows of houses, the Nantlle Band practice room on your right and the large chapel of Hyfrydle on your left, towards the roundabout at the end of the lane. It is the entrance to Dorothea Quarry – the Nantlle Valley’s largest quarry at its peak in the late 19th century, with its slate transported to Caernarfon Slate Quay and from there all over the world.
• Follow the track through the Dorothea quarry, and this gives you a chance to walk through the ruins of the Nantlle Valley’s industrial heritage, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will tread the path of the little line which used to carry the slate from the quarries down to the Quay at Caernarfon. Go through the gates and keep to your left. The old mansion will also be on your left here. Follow the track ahead passing the train tunnel on the left, and the entrance for the divers on the right. Then turn up to the left for the old Pen-y-bryn farm house, and the quarry behind it.
• It’s a bit of a pull up afterwards, walking through the workings of Cloddfa’r Lon and Wern Ifan quarry. There are clear signs here as it is part of the Slate Trail.
• Take a break having reached the old hut of Cloddfa’r Lôn and appreciate Crib Nantlle, yr Wyddfa and Mynydd Mawr right in front of you, the village of Y Fron and Moel Tryfan to your left, and the village of Nantlle ahead. The path then rises again, and around a heap of rubble, and care will need to be taken here – but the path is very obvious.
• Having reached the gate at the end of the tip, there will be a Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry on your right – don’t go that way. Carry on up following the path (covered with ferns in summer), and up a field (also covered with ferns in summer). Again, it is prominently marked as it is part of the Slate Trail.
• It’s fairly steep, but you’ll reach level ground quite quickly, and the Cilgwyn quarry hole and the track to the quarry right on the other side of the fence. Some believe that there has been a quarry in Cilgwyn since the 12th century – supposedly the oldest in Wales! The slate quarry was closed in 1956, and was used as a rubbish tip for decades before it closed in 2009.
• Do not go through the kissing gate to the track of the old rubbish tip, or along the old tramway to the right, but carry on up along the mud track. Llyn Cob will be on your right, keep to the left when walking up. There are a number of sheep tracks that lead to the summit of Mynydd Cilgwyn, so feel free to choose your own way to the top, but the most obvious one is the path that turns upwards before the stone walls of the old sheep pen on the mountain.
• Mynydd Cilgwyn is a hill between Carmel and Fron, measuring 347m. Take time to enjoy these fantastic 360 views of the Nantlle Valley, Yr Wyddfa, Yr Eifl and the Llŷn Peninsula, Bae’r Foryd and Anglesey. There are also a few cannon stones around the summit of Mynydd Cilgwyn – stones that were drilled, the holes filled with powder, and fired to mark special occasions and celebrations in quarrying areas – like fireworks today! (There’s a good one in Pen-y-Bryn too).
• Head down from the summit following the path on the left before reaching the lane in front of the old Cilgwyn chapel (now a house). Follow the road straight down here, passing in front of a couple of houses. You’ll need to turn left at the entrance to the old rubbish tip. You need too concentrate here – instead of carrying on to the old (locked) rubbish tip gates, you need to take the track to the right that goes under the slate wall (which used to be a quarry incline track), and there is a gate in the slate wall. Go through the gate and then straight ahead through the kissing gate. The cottages seen here are called Parc Bel .
• Here you will join the old Pilgrims route. At the end of the track you’ll need to take the grassy path, past the ruin of Pen Hafodlas and straight down towards Talysarn. The path tends to grow wild in summer, and with rocks and stone steps hiding underfoot, be aware!
• At the end of the path – remembering to close the rusty gate – the ground opens out, with Mynydd Graig Goch and Garnedd Goch right in front of you. Go down the track, and you’ll be back on the track you started on, the track to Dorothea Quarry. Retrace your steps back along the track and lane through the village of Talysarn, before returning to the car park.