All walks › Eryri: Ogwen and the Carneddau
Eryri: Ogwen and the CarneddauCwm Idwal Nature Trail
The short version: up the made path to the lake outflow and back, which gets you into the cwm and its view for about an hour of easy walking.
- Distance
- 2.2 mi / 3.5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 15
- Ascent
- 110 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- There and back
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
A pitched path climbs from Ogwen to the lake in twenty minutes. Turn back at the outflow rather than circling the water for the shorter option.
Worth knowing
- The made path is good enough for most people in trainers as far as the lake outflow.
- Darwin studied the glacial evidence here and it changed how geologists read the landscape.
- Busy. Early morning or an evening in summer is much better.
What you’ll see
The lake in its cwm, the Devil’s Kitchen cleft, and the Idwal Slabs.
Background
Darwin visited in 1831 and again later, and the cwm was central to establishing that Britain had once been glaciated.