Aberglaslyn & Llyn Dinas

1. Starting at the National Trust pay & display car park in Nantmoor, go through the gate situated at the back of the car park, just to left of the stone toilet block and pay-and-display machine (see image 1), and directly ahead of you, there will be a sign on a stone wall with an arrow to the left for Aberglasyln and an arrow to the right for Cwm Bychan, head left here taking the stone path through the forest. The path heads upwards, past a bench, after which it turns into a set of stone steps. Continue to the top of the steps and follow the clearly defined dirt path through the forest until you reach the gate shown in image 2. Go through the gate and continue to follow the path, which will gradually start to head upwards; to your left you should be able to see a relatively low wooden fence, eventually, the path will run directly alongside this fence as shown in image 3. Continue to follow the path, keeping the fence close on your left until you reach a set of stone steps heading downwards (you should be able to see a road on your left, through the trees). At the bottom of the steps you can either go left, towards an iron gate and the road, or you can go right, continuing through the forest, take the right path.

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2. You will now be walking with the river Glaslyn (Afon Glaslyn↗) on your left, and heading into Aberglaslyn Gorge. Continue along the clearly defined path as it winds its way through the forest, alongside the river, and through the gorge (see image 4); please note that the path through the gorge can be very uneven, narrow, and slippery in places, handrails are secured to the rock face for some sections and you should use these whenever they're available. Eventually, after exiting the gorge, you'll reach a section of path where it splits into two routes (see image 5), the left path is a continuation of the stones you will have just been walking on, but just leads to the water's edge, the right path is gravelly but is the route you want to take. The route through the gorge is around 0.7 miles long, which would take the average walker about 15 minutes with no stops (you'll most likely be stopping a lot to admire the gorge and other features along the Fisherman's Path, so 30 minutes is probably a more realistic time). Once you have taken the right path, continue forward for around 115 meters until you reach the railway crossing shown in image 6. Cross over the tracks (take care!), turn left, and then head over the footbridge shown in image 7.

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3. Go through the gate at the end of the footbridge and follow the path until you reach another gate that has 2 dolphins on it (I think they're dolphins anyway 🤷🏼), this short walk of around 120 meters will take around one minute. Go through this gate and again follow the path until you reach another gate, this time next to a small stone building which is on the bank of the river Glaslyn. Go through the gate and turn left, then follow the path until you reach the ruin of an old stone house with a low entryway (see image 8). Inside you'll find a bronze sculpture of Gelert the faithful hound (head to the Interesting Facts section for more info), who you'll learn more about during your next stop. Once you leave the house, take the path to the left and follow it to the two trees and stone monument in the middle of the field, surrounded by an iron gate (see image 9), this is Bedd y Ci (which translates to "the dog's grave", referring to Gelert). In front of the large stone monument, there are 2 black plaques, one in English and one in Welsh, each telling the same story of Gelert, the faithful hound of the medieval Welsh Prince Llewelyn the Great. The large stone behind the plaques is said to mark the burial place of Gelert.

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4. After admiring the historical grave, continue to follow the path through the field (keeping both the ruined house and Gelert's grave behind you), until you reach the gate shown in image 10. Go through the gate, take a right, and follow the path until you reach the river and then turn left. Walk along this stunning route, with the river flowing to your right and an old stone church in front of you on the left side of the path; you're about to enter the spectacular Beddgelert (head to the Hints & Tips section, for info about nice places to eat, toilets, Wi-Fi and more). At the end of the path there is a concrete ramp and a green bridge beyond it, go up the ramp, through the ornate metal gate, and turn left if you want to explore Beggelert or right and across the green footbridge if you want to continue with the walk. At the end of the bridge, take the path to the left, heading towards the row of beautifully coloured stone houses (see image 11). The path continues to the left of the houses, right next to the river, and eventually comes out near another green bridge. Don't go over the bridge, instead, right in front of you there will be a wooden gate (see image 12), head through this and continue on the gravelly path until you reach another wooden gate, which you need to pass through.

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5. Beyond this gate, the path turns from gravel to stone, and your surroundings become a little more rugged. Follow this path as it runs next to the river Glaslyn on your left; you'll eventually see a small, abandoned stone building on your right, after which the path turns gravelly again, and not far in the distance you should be able to see another bridge with green railings. The path will lead you to a black metal gate, right next to the bridge, which you need to pass through and then turn right (i.e. the opposite way to the bridge). Follow this path/road until you reach the Sygun Copper Mine↗ (see image 13); from the black metal gate near the bridge to the mine, it's just under one mile, which will take roughly 20 minutes to walk without stopping. The path/road is wide and obvious the entire way, there are no side roads so you can't go wrong. Image 14 shows an overview of the route from the gate to the mine. When I did this walk, I wasn't even aware that the mine existed, however, it looked too enticing to pass up and I spent a fun couple of hours there, exploring the museum and the caves; I highly recommend a visit (see the interesting facts section for more information).

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6. Follow the path left if you didn't enter the mine, or if you did, go straight ahead (see image 15) and follow the road past the mine car park on your right, and then where the road splits, take the right path through the forest (image 16). The path runs from the forest to Lyn (lake) Dinas, it's 900 meters in total between these points which will take around 10 minutes to walk; don't take any side paths (I think there's only one, on the left, just before you reach the lake) just stick to the main path until you reach the wooden gate near the lake (see image 17 for an overview of the route from the mine to the lake). Head through the gate (the stony beach on the shore of Llyn Dinas is a great lunch point on those nicer days) and then follow the path to the right, keeping the lake on your left. After walking for about 10 seconds or so, there will be a stone path heading upwards to your right, it's very easy to miss, so see image 18 so you know what to look for.

7. Follow the path into the hills; the view over Lyn Dinas from here is unbelievable. Once you get to the top of this area, the path will level off, continue to follow it through the hills. There aren't many distinct landmarks during this part of the hike, but the path is well-defined and easy to follow; for peace of mind, you may wish to use one of the navigation apps at the beginning of this guide. Eventually, you'll reach the sign shown in image 19, which is about 1 mile from the wooden gate near the lake and will take you around 20 to 30 minutes to walk, depending on your speed (image 20 shows a high-level view of the path from the gate to the sign). At the sign you want to take the left path, following the arrow pointing towards Aberglaslyn. After walking for around 1 minute you'll reach a stile ↗ which you'll need to cross, from here you'll be following the path to a forest, which is roughly 1.5 miles away (the route is relatively flat so it will take around 30 to 40 minutes to walk). During this walk, you will pass the ruins of Cwm Bychan copper mine (see image 21 and the Interesting Facts section for more information), after which you will soon reach the low-walled remains of several old stone buildings (see image 22). The path will run through a gap in one of the stone walls, a wooden bench will be just in front of you, head through the gap and turn left. The remaining path from here to the forest alternates between grassy, gravelly, and stone paved, it's quite defined, easy to follow, and continues straight with few turns. Eventually, you'll reach a stone wall that will run alongside the path, leading to a wooden gate, pass through this to continue to the forest.

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8. The path through the forest is well-defined and easy to follow. About halfway through there will be a sign just before a split in the path; the sign will have an arrow pointing to the left path, stating "Aberglaslyn Maes Parcio Car Park". Follow the left path which heads downwards (the right path heads slightly upwards and deeper into the forest). You will initially pass a bench on your right and then the path runs through several picnic tables and benches; just beyond this area, there will be a stone railway bridge that you'll pass under (see image 23). After you go under the bridge, walk a bit further and the car park where you started will be on your left, through the wooden gate.