Why this ride
41 km one way from Caernarfon - plan on about 1 h 00 of riding. It goes by way of Llanberis and Pen y Pass. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Snowdonia Llanberis Pass
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 41 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 00
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
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
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 14 km this is Snowdonia Llanberis Pass, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 14 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Caernarfon
The first thing you see in Caernarfon is the castle, and it is meant to be. Edward I began building it in 1283 after conquering the Welsh princes, and he designed it to impress as well as to defend, with polygonal towers and bands of different coloured stone in imitation of the walls of Constantinople. It was the seat of English power in north Wales, and in 1284 Edward's son, later Edward II, was born here and became the first English Prince of Wales, a title since given to the heir to the throne. The castle, along with Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the sheer scale of it, rising above the Menai Strait, is staggering.
Read the complete Caernarfon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Caernarfon is where the day begins. Next is Llanberis.
2. Llanberis
Llanberis is the town at the foot of Snowdon, and it carries slate in its bones. Behind it, the huge terraced scar of the Dinorwic quarry climbs the mountainside in steps, a reminder that for most of the nineteenth century this was an industrial valley, with thousands of quarrymen blasting and splitting rock that roofed half of Britain. The quarry closed in 1969, and the old workshops beside Llyn Padarn are now the National Slate Museum, with working water wheels and a foundry. Inside the mountain across the lake, a vast hidden power station, Dinorwig, known as the Electric Mountain, can supply Britain's grid at short notice.
Read the complete Llanberis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Llanberis comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pen y Pass.
3. Pen y Pass
At 359 metres, Pen-y-Pass is not high by any alpine standard, but it is the highest point on the A4086, and it feels like the doorway to something big. The road tops out here between the shoulders of Snowdon and the Glyderau, with the cliffs of Crib Goch and Lliwedd on one side and the long glacial trough of the Llanberis Pass falling away on the other. Mist often fills the gap, and on a day of low cloud it can feel like the top of the world. When the sun comes out, the contrast is astonishing, with the green valley stretching down to the lakes.
Read the complete Pen y Pass write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 27 km into the recorded legs you reach Pen y Pass. Next is Beddgelert, mostly downhill.
4. Beddgelert
Beddgelert is a village of grey stone cottages at the meeting of two rivers, the Glaslyn and the Colwyn, surrounded by steep green mountains, and it is famous for a dog. The legend says that Llywelyn the Great, a thirteenth-century Welsh prince, left his baby son in the care of his hound Gelert, and returned to find the cradle overturned, the dog covered in blood and the child nowhere to be seen. Believing the dog had killed him, he drew his sword, and only after the dog was dead did he hear the baby crying and find a dead wolf nearby. He is said to have buried Gelert with great sorrow, and the village's name means Gelert's grave.
Read the complete Beddgelert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beddgelert closes the day.
Leg by leg
Caernarfon to Llanberis
Caernarfon → Llanberis is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Llanberis to Pen y Pass
Llanberis → Pen y Pass is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pen y Pass to Beddgelert
Pen y Pass → Beddgelert is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.