Cadair Idris

The Walks
Cadair Idris is a fantastic mountain. It is included in our programme in most years and attracts a lot of members. The mountain is itself the highest landmark in the vicinity where most other mountain summits in the area are low to medium in height. The destination our coach gets us to is either to the north or south of the summit and both areas have their own attractions.

Cadair Idris has its summit at 893m and it is the second highest summit in Wales outside central Snowdonia (Aran Fawddwy being higher at 905m) - though still in Snowdonia National Park. To the north of the summit plateau lies a very steep and craggy 4km long north face where the crags often fall 200m in a sheer drop.



Few walking routes breach this face and where they do, they become a steep scree slope. These cliffs are a much photographed site and always impress. To the south steep slopes of scree, heather and crag provide another formidable barrier.

A spur called the Craig Lwyd encloses the Llyn Cau which is surrounded on all sides by huge, steep cliffs and is another well-photographed site. Out to the east lies a broad spur that is lined all round with steep cliffs.





The summit plateau itself is about 1.5km long, running in an east-west direction. It's quite similar to Ben Nevis in that it is lined with steep cliffs on the north and convex steep slopes to the south. Thus, in a white-out, expect tricky navigation as no fence runs along its ridge! The summit itself has a well-built bothy, and legend says that anyone who spends a night on Cadair Idris will come down as either a poet or a madman.

South of Cadair Idris lies the valley of Cwm Rhwydfor. The summits of Craig Goch and Mynydd Fron-fraith lie south of this valley. They lie at 586m and 514m respectively and provide moderate walks overlooking vast forestry developments. Craig Coch in particular has a steep north escarpment overlooking the Tal-y-llyn Lake.

North of Cadair Idris lies Dolgellau. This is a moderately sized town conveniently based for lots of low-level walks including the precipice walk and a pleasant walks along the estuary of Afon Mawddach to Barmouth.



Route Notes
The foxes path from Pen y Gadair to to Llyn y Gadair is, while marked on the OS maps, so eroded as to be no longer recommendable. The Pony and Minfford paths are however in good condition. The broad ridge of Gau Craig offers an alternative route on to the main summit plateau from the far end of the mountain.

Gallery Links
22.10.06 - Cadair Idris

17.10.04 - Cader Idris

Dolgellau
Numerous eating and drinking establishments exist in this town. The southern side of Cadair Idris doesn't have anything at all but is still a nice place to linger after a long walk on a summers day.

Travel
Details of travel to Dolgellau are provided by Gwynedd Bus Service

You can get to Machynlleth or Barmouth by train from Manchester.