Moelwyn Mawr Circular Walk

Route Description for Moelwyn Mawr Circular Walk

From the car park, walk southeast along the road for about a kilometre. Then it’s a left turn into the forest, with an easy-to-spot stile to mark your entrance. After the forest comes open moorland, which you cross while aiming for a ridgeline on the right. A narrow path along a ditch leads you to its base, where you can simply walk straight uphill to the first summit at Moelwyn Bach. You’ll see the peak of Moelwyn Mawr almost directly north, but don’t head straight for it—a massive crag makes this impossible. Instead, keep walking east where the descent meets up with a rocky scree path, and head left along this towards Moelwyn Mawr.

Reaching Bwlch Stwlan, you’ll find a faint path that you can follow to Craigysgafn. A touch of scrambling brings you through a rocky section and onto the final stretch up to the Moelwyn Mawr summit. Descend along the same stretch at first, then turn left down a grassy ridge and head for the Rhosydd Quarry. The correct path takes you through the disused buildings, stacks of slate around you. Once past the main quarry buildings, the path veers off to the left before turning back north and crosses some boggy terrain. Stay along the high ground as you make your way to the shores of Llyn yr Adar. Here, the path turns sharply southwest along the lake as you head towards Cnicht, the final summit of the day. It’s a straightforward ascent to the top—turn right along the summit ridge, and you’re there. The descent continues along the same direction, quickly becoming a lovely grassy path. A track turns left into the forest, and the car park emerges soon after.