Why this ride
A 251 km round trip from Blaenau-Ffestiniog - roughly 4 h 57 in the saddle. The stops in between: Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri, Harlech Castle, Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape and Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries and Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 251 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 57
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
For about 28 km this is Snowdonia Llanberis Pass, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 28 km
- Named road
- Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
- Pass
- Pen y Pass
Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
19 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
- Named road
- Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town built on, among and out of slate. Great grey tips of waste rock tumble down the mountainsides around it, old quarry inclines climb the slopes, and the houses, chapels and walls are all made of the same dark stone. For a century and more this was one of the slate capitals of the world, roofing houses from London to Melbourne, and since 2021 it has been part of the UNESCO-listed Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales. It is not pretty in the conventional sense, but it is magnificent, and on a day of sun breaking through rain clouds it can look like a lunar landscape lit by spotlights.
Read the complete Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries is where the day begins. Next is Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri.
2. Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri
High above Porthmadog, in the empty upland between Cwm Pennant and Cwmystradllyn, two abandoned slate quarries sit like ruined castles on the hillside. Gorseddau and the Prince of Wales quarry are part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, which UNESCO listed in 2021, and they tell a story of big hopes and quick failure. Gorseddau in particular was developed in the 1850s with money and ambition, a tramway and a grand multi-storey mill at Ynys-y-Pandy whose roofless stone shell still looks like an abbey. The slate turned out to be poor, and within a couple of decades the whole enterprise had wound down.
Read the complete Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Harlech Castle.
3. Harlech Castle
When Edward I built his castles in Wales, he was not interested in subtlety. Harlech, raised between 1283 and 1289 by the master mason James of St George, sits on a rocky crag above the dunes of Cardigan Bay, with concentric walls, massive gatehouse and round towers that still look ready for a siege. It is one of the castles of Edward I in Gwynedd listed by UNESCO, together with Caernarfon, Conwy and Beaumaris. The sea once came almost to the foot of the rock, and a staircase down the cliff allowed the garrison to be supplied by boat; the coast has since moved, and now there is a broad plain of dunes and a golf course between the castle and the water.
Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Harlech Castle. Next is Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape.
4. Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape
Look at the Nantlle valley from the road and you see a green bowl with a ragged grey edge, as if someone had bitten the mountain. It is a place where the quarrying went down instead of along. The pits here are enormous, cut deep below the level of the lakes, with sheer sides, and the biggest of them, the Dorothea, became a flooded hole of cold green water. On the skyline, tips of waste slate lean against each other like broken plates. This is part of the slate landscape of north-west Wales that UNESCO listed in 2021, and the quarries here are among the oldest in the area, producing roofing slate from the eighteenth century and earlier.
Read the complete Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape, about halfway. Next is Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda.
5. Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda
The Penrhyn Quarry is a hole you can see from a long way off. For much of the nineteenth century it was the biggest slate quarry in the world, a huge series of grey terraces cut into the mountain above Bethesda, and the roofs of half of Britain and of cities as far away as Hamburg after its great fire came from here. Its owner, Lord Penrhyn, was a rich and stubborn man, and in 1900 his quarrymen began a strike that lasted three years, one of the longest and bitterest labour disputes in British history. The community of Bethesda, named after a chapel, was split by it, and the memories are still sensitive. The whole slate landscape of north-west Wales was listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda sits at 93 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape.
6. back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape comes up about 161 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Harlech Castle.
7. back through Harlech Castle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Harlech Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 200 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Harlech Castle. Next is back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri.
8. back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri, late in the day. Next is Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries.
9. Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 251 km.
Leg by leg
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries to Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries → Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri to Harlech Castle
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri → Harlech Castle is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Harlech Castle to Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape
Harlech Castle → Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape to Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda
Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape → Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda to back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape
Penrhyn Slate Quarry and Bethesda → back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape to back through Harlech Castle
back through Nantlle Valley Slate Quarry Landscape → back through Harlech Castle is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Harlech Castle to back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri
back through Harlech Castle → back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri to Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries
back through Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri → Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.