Why this ride
266 km from Llanberis to Llanberis, about 4 h 16 of riding. It goes by way of Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries, Harlech Castle, Bryneglwys Slate Quarry and back through Harlech Castle. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and Bryneglwys Slate Quarry
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 266 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 16
- 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 46 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
- 46 km
- Named road
- Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
- Pass
- Pen y Pass
Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
25 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
- 23 km
- Named road
- Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
Llanberis sits at the foot of Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, beside the lake of Llyn Padarn, and across the water a whole mountainside has been carved into giant terraces. This is the Dinorwic quarry, once one of the largest slate quarries in the world, where thousands of men worked until it closed in 1969, splitting slate for roofs across Britain and beyond. The galleries climb the mountain in steps, with inclines, ruined buildings and waste heaps everywhere, a landscape both scarred and strangely beautiful. In 2021, UNESCO inscribed the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, recognising the quarries, villages, railways and harbours that made this region the slate capital of the world.
Read the complete The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales is where the day begins. Next is Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries.
2. 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 comes up about 46 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 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Harlech Castle. Next is Bryneglwys Slate Quarry.
4. Bryneglwys Slate Quarry
High above the village of Abergynolwyn, in a side valley where the sheep outnumber everyone, the spoil heaps of Bryneglwys tell you that this quiet corner of southern Snowdonia was once an industrial place. Slate was cut here through the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, and the whole reason the little Talyllyn Railway exists is to carry it down the valley to the coast at Tywyn. The quarry finally closed just after the Second World War, and the railway, which should have died with it, was taken over by volunteers in 1951 and became the first preserved railway in the world. You can still walk up from the old incline at Nant Gwernol into the quarry workings, past roofless barracks and wheel pits, with streams running through all of it.
Read the complete Bryneglwys Slate Quarry write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bryneglwys Slate Quarry, about halfway. Next is back through Harlech Castle.
5. 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
back through Harlech Castle sits at 114 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries.
6. back through 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
back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries comes up about 220 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales.
7. The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales closes the day.
Leg by leg
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales to Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries
The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales → Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries to Harlech Castle
Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries → Harlech Castle is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Harlech Castle to Bryneglwys Slate Quarry
Harlech Castle → Bryneglwys Slate Quarry is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bryneglwys Slate Quarry to back through Harlech Castle
Bryneglwys Slate Quarry → back through Harlech Castle is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Harlech Castle to back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries
back through Harlech Castle → back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries to The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
back through Ffestiniog: its Slate Mines and Quarries → The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.