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The Best Lower Summits in Eryri North Snowdonia

By Dave Roberts   

on December 13, 2014    5/5 (1)

Posted in Walks in Snowdonia National Park5 things, Conwy, Gwynedd Walks

The Best Lower Summits in Eryri North Snowdonia

We all love a good view, but sometimes you don’t have to climb too high in order to get it. You may not have a lot of time, or the conditions higher up might be too harsh or even dangerous to bother with so you want something with a bit less loft.

Don’t take their lowly height or short walking distances as a sign of them being easy. Once you get away from the Snowdon/Glyder axis of tourism then the going in Snowdonia can be as tough as anywhere in the UK, and we do mean anywhere. So don’t expect waypoints, paths or even an easy way up any of these. There’s not a single Catbells on this list.

Here’s our top lower viewpoints in North Snowdonia.

1 – Clogwyn y Garreg.

This summit can be found while the view from this 336m crag is only marginally better than from Llyn y Dywarchen below, it’s the fun of achieving the summit that’s most fun! We know it’s one word on the OS maps, but that’s just the result of the cartographer being unable to tell where one bit of Welsh ended and the next begun. A bit like trying to say Steve McManaman after a whole bottle of Kahlúa.

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 2 – Moel Berfedd. 

Nestling between Pen y Pass and Pen y Gwryd, nobody gives this peak a second thought. Well this little hill is in the centre of it all – basically what the name translates as. It’s also got it’s own lake, which makes it a strong candidate for a wild camp. It’s also conveniently between two bars, not that we’d condone that sort of thing…

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3 –Carnedd y Cribau

This one’s opposite Snowdon, providing a glimpse into the Horseshoe if you can get conditions as awesome as Ian Medcalf did below. Though as it’s also taken at dawn, that’s us out of the picture. Carnedd y Cribau not only has a pair of  lakes nearby, it’s also got it’s very own one on the summit instead. That makes the summit a most convenient overnight spot. You could conceivably get up and down in two to three hours from Pen y Gwryd, though it’s an interesting proposition in mist.

Llyn bach ar Garnedd y Cribau gyda haul y wawr yn lliwio'r Wyddfa / A small lake on Carnedd y Cribau with the sunrise colouring Snowdon. © Copyright Ian Medcalf and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Llyn bach ar Garnedd y Cribau gyda haul y wawr yn lliwio’r Wyddfa / A small lake on Carnedd y Cribau with the sunrise colouring Snowdon.
© Copyright Ian Medcalf and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

  © Copyright Ian Medcalf and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

4 – Moel y Dyniewyd

This is a corker of a summit, which has some extremely popular paths from Beddgelert and Llyn Dinas  leading up to it. Fortunately, the final half a k is less frequently visited which suits us fine. Views from here are impressive all around with Snowdon, Nantlle, Moelwynion and the Pen Llyn peninsula all  vying for your attention. There’s also a good mobile signal…

Moel y Dyniewyd 046_960

5 – Yr Orsedd

A quick fix of the Carneddau is rather hard to come by considering their scale. However, this little route takes you high above Cwm Anafon and provides a glimpse of the scale of these hills in one direction and out to Anglesey and the sea in the other. Excellent spot for catching the sunset, and a bit of pale man-leg.

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6 – Crimpiau

The undoubted best of the bunch as far as we’re concerned! Unfortunately, we haven’t got a picture that gets close to proving that! You’ve got the Snowdon Horseshoe in one direction, and the whole of the Glyderau, Tryfan and Carneddau in the other. Lets not forget Moel Siabod, Llyn Crafnant and Creigiau Gleision. At 475m, we reckon this provides great value for money.

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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