This is Snowdonia at its most remote, with few people and fewer paths. But the rewards for your perseverance are an incredible Bronze Age monument, superb views over mountain and coast, and an airy stroll on an industrial cartway between secluded lakes high in the striking, craggy landscape of the little-visited Rhinogydd range. The way back is particularly challenging, with scrambling and much mire to tackle.
[1] From the village car park, take the road (Cefn Gwyn) opposite the Cross Foxes Inn down to a playground. Go right along the walled track, then slip left through the handgate before the farm, dropping to cross the long footbridge across the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station’s lake.
(A) Trawsfynydd Power Station is unique in that the power station was built inland adjacent to a lake which provided cooling water when the station was operational. Trawsfynydd ceased to generate electricity in 1991.
All fuel has been removed from the reactors and decommissioning is well underway. 2010 saw the implementation of the Accelerated Care and Maintenance Business Case, and activity during the reporting period was focused on the delivery of an accelerated decommissioning plan.
On the other side, turn right along the lane and keep right, presently passing the Cae Adda campsite entrance.
[2] About 200m past Ty’n Twll farm, go left through a fingerposted handgate and up a walled track past a stone barn to a stile. Drift right, roughly parallel to the wall, to a higher stile. Climb over and aim ahead left to walk up beside the far wall. The path here becomes indistinct, but simply keep the wall to your right, rising to another ladder-stile at a corner.
Looking back reveals a last view over the lake, dwarfed by the enclosing mountains, before the route continues ahead over the low col. Views ahead to the Llyn Peninsula are revealed; to your left erupt the cliffs of Diffwys and the northern peaks of the Rhinogs.
The essentially pathless way is often squelchy as you drift left down into the secluded valley of Cwm Moch, eventually crossing the stream on a small slab bridge, before rising to use a ladder-stile above a wall-junction.
[3] The wall drifts away to your right and you’ll soon pass through a cross-wall gap, putting a wall immediately on your right. Keep ahead over a stile above a stand of birch in a thin gully, then pass immediately left of a distinct rocky knoll. The path disappears into a miry area, but persevere ahead to rise gently past a low rocky exposure on your right. Walk ahead on the level path (not left uphill) to reach a lone waymarked post (Taith Ardudwy Trail) beyond a pointless wall-stub. Turn left over a low rise to reach Bryn Cader Faner.
(B) From a distance the Tolkienesque cairn of Bryn Cader Faner resembles a crown of thorns. Of the original 30-odd stones, 22 survive; some were destroyed by explosives during WW2. Marking an ancient burial, it stands at the heart of what many experts recognise as the greatest landscape of Bronze Age remnants in Britain, littered with relics. More info below.
[4] Face the cliffs way behind the stones, aiming to walk to the left edge of them (on a bearing of 128 degrees). There’s no path, so trace a lively rivulet up to a tumbled enclosure; then climb the boulder slope just left of this (not the gully). At the top, a miry stretch leads over a low lip to reach remote Llyn Dywarchen, below Moel Ysgyfarnogod. Turn right to find a rough track leading away from an old manganese mine here (closed 100 years ago), with a new fence up to your left. At the junction, turn sharp left up a grassy track past a neat piles of stones. Remain on this ledged cartway above the rocky landscape far below – a memorable route through remote mountainscape. Bend left with a wall to find lonely Llyn Du and walk to the col beyond the far end of this.
[5] The thin path plunges down a boulder field. At its foot, turn right alongside the wall. The going is difficult, with gulleys and drops, take care. At the old sheepfold, slip through the wall and turn left beside the nearby cross-wall. Cross this at the first opportunity (over a boulder in 150m), then walk the reedy, boggy path across several ladder-stiles and side-streams to reach the abandoned cottage, complete with rusty waterwheel.
[6] Keep ahead to the red-roofed barn, slipping left before this over a footbridge then along the marshy track to a lane. Go right, eventually reaching the reservoir road beyond a farm. Turn right, then recross the footbridge back to Trawsfynydd.