Ridge and scramble circular walk that beats Yr Wyddfa for one major reason

North Wales Live

10-05-2025

It has ridges, dramatic scenery and a bit of scrambling but those aren't not the best part of this high altitude route. This walk takes in the second highest mountain in Wales - just 20 metres smaller than the famous Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) peak.
Its ridges aren't quite as terrifying as Crib Goch but there's enough edge to make it exciting and a couple of times when you need your hands on rock in Tryfan style.
The views are spectacular and ever changing as you take in three peaks over 2,500ft and five lakes - with options to add extra summits to that with detours.
But the best part of the Cwm Eigiau Horseshoe walk compared to the Yr Wyddfa range is the absolute lack of people. For the first half of the walk - on a bank holiday Monday - it was literally one man and his dog encountered, compare this with the queues of walkers you see at the summit of Yr Wyddfa.
The route starts at the little car park near Llyn Eigiau, the former reservoir where a dam break led to the loss of 16 lives in the village of Dolgarrog. While limited in size, I've never found it full and it's free unlike the small fortune now needed to park at Pen-y-pass. It's located around 10 minutes from the village of Tal-y-bont, the journey broken up by three gates that need to be opened and closed.
From here, rather than walk towards Llyn Eigiau you head up a track towards Llyn Melynllun and Llyn Dulyn, round the back of the cliffs of Craig Eigiau that tower over Llyn Eigiau.
You then spur up off the path towards the edge of Craig Eigiau. The rocky area here is not a bad place to catch your breath and enjoy the vista.
There is now a fairly barren stretch as you head in the direction of Carnedd Llewelyn across what can be quite boggy - classic Carneddau - terrain. You look down on the two lakes mentioned earlier where the dark cliffs brood over them and across to the ups and downs ahead.
If you're 'hill-bagging' you can add in Y Foel Grach and Carnedd Gwenllian without too much of a detour but I headed straight for Llewelyn, which at 3,491ft is only slightly below Yr Wyddfa (3,560ft).
It's a section that is easy to navigate if the sky is clear but on this day - as is often the case - clouds settled around the summit to really reduce visibility near the top.
This is probably the dullest stretch of the trek but I rewarded myself with a food break in a shelter out the wind close to the top. The views are amazing if you're lucky. On this day I'm the only soul on the summit, which is not uncommon.
Some on this route also take the ridge over to Yr Elen but with the cloud set in I decided not to this time. At this point if you feel you've done enough uphill walking then you can head back from whence you came or detour slightly round the 'back' of Llyn Eigiau.
But you would be missing the best part of the whole route. From here it is initially downhill in the direction of Craig yr Ysfa and Pen y Helgi Du and thankfully I now dipped under the clouds that engulfed the top of Llewelyn.
At one point you come to the edge of a small cliff face and at first glance can wonder how you progress but there are routes to pick with some scrambling, and care is needed.
Once down there is a winding ridge path - Bwlch Eryl Farchog - with the fourth lake on the circuit - Ffynnon Llugwy Reservoir - on the right. There are views across to the Glyders and Tryfan but my pictures of those were too awful to share!
It is only at this point - around two and a half hours into the walk - that I encounter other humans, initially the aforementioned man and his dog before a quick chat with a couple of other walkers between Craig yr Ysfa and Pen y Helgi Du.
Then comes the next scrambling part of this circuit. You come face to face with a big slab of Pen y Heligi Du and spend a minute working out your way up.
There is no obvious route so take your time and pick your way carefully up the cliff, it's a bit airy so you need a reasonable head for heights but no issues for anyone with experience of scrambling. It is tiring too (or I'm getting old!) so I paused on a ledge around three quarters of the way up to enjoy the view and catch my breath.
That's the second peak of the day with one more lying ahead. You head down the mountain and across Bwlch y Tri-Marchog. I'm fairly tired at this point and you know every metre of altitude lost is another metre you'll soon be climbing to reach the final summit.
The last mountain is the wonderfully named Pen Llithrig y Wrach - which roughly translates as "slippery peak/top of the witch', presumably referring to the mountain's profile being similar to an archetypal witch's hat.
This is daunting in a different way to the scramble up the last mountain. It's a more gentle grassy slope but the fact you've already clocked up around 3,000ft in height gain and now face another climb makes your legs question your choices.
But a steady trek soon takes you to the summit and opens up a new view - taking in Llyn Cowlyd and Creigiau Gleision.
You can then walk along the edge of the mountain as it runs parallel with the lake, which is a decent drop below. The 'path' as you turn to head back towards Llyn Eigiau path is never that clear and I seem to have done it differently each on the three occasions I've done this route.
This wasn't the best of them (see map below!) and I think I added an extra 20 minutes or so trampling through bracken and gorse. But it wasn't too long before I was back on the rough track at the side of Llyn Eigiau and it is then another 20 minutes or so walking - thankfully on the flat - to get back to the car park.
And that's it, back to the car and to take on the gates on the route down the hill to Tal-y-bont. In total I saw around eight people - about the number you pass every 10 seconds when climbing Yr Wyddfa.
It's a challenging route of 11 miles and not too far off 4,000ft in height gain but it is rewarding in so many ways, not least the solitude!