Why this ride
A 105 km round trip from Porthmadog - roughly 2 h 00 in the saddle. It goes by way of Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls, Beaumaris Castle and back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri and Beaumaris Castle
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 105 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 00
- 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
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 26 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls.
2. Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls
Long before Edward, Caernarfon was Roman, and before that it was legend. The Roman fort of Segontium stood on a hill above the modern town, a garrison post guarding the Menai Strait and the copper of Anglesey, and its foundations can still be seen, with a small museum beside them. The Mabinogion, the medieval Welsh story collection, tells how the emperor Macsen Wledig, the historical Magnus Maximus, dreamed of a beautiful maiden and a fortress at the mouth of a river, and travelled across the world to find them. The place he found, in the tale, was Caernarfon. Whatever the truth, Welsh tradition ties the town to a sense of ancient dignity.
Read the complete Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beaumaris Castle.
3. Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris is often called the most perfect castle never finished. Edward I began it in 1295 on the shore of Anglesey, at the northern entrance to the Menai Strait, as the last of his great chain of fortresses built to hold down Wales after his conquest. His architect, Master James of St George, designed it as a perfectly symmetrical concentric castle: an inner ring of high walls and towers, an outer ring of lower walls, and a moat linked to the sea so that supply ships could sail up to a dock at the gate. Money ran out, the Scottish wars took priority, and the towers never reached their planned height. Even so, it is a masterpiece of military design, and with the castles of Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech it is listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Beaumaris Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Beaumaris Castle. Next is back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls.
4. back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls, late in the day. Next is Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri.
5. 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 at Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri to Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls
Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri → Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls to Beaumaris Castle
Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls → Beaumaris Castle is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beaumaris Castle to back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls
Beaumaris Castle → back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls to Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri
back through Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls → Gorseddau and Prince of Wales Slate Quarri is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.