All walks › Eryri: Ogwen and the Carneddau
Eryri: Ogwen and the CarneddauSlate Trail: Bethesda to Llanberis
Stage of the route linking the slate villages, over the hills between the two largest quarries in the world.
- Distance
- 7.5 mi / 12 km
- Time
- 4 hr
- Ascent
- 420 m
- Difficulty
- Demanding
- 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
The Slate Trail climbs from Bethesda over the shoulder towards Deiniolen and Llanberis. Open hill and quarry tracks.
Worth knowing
- The Slate Trail runs 83 miles in a loop through the quarrying districts.
- The whole landscape became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
- Quarry ground is unstable; keep to the waymarked route.
What you’ll see
Penrhyn quarry terraces, open hill, and the Dinorwig workings ahead.
Background
Welsh slate roofed the industrial world, and the two quarries at either end of this walk produced most of it.