Porth Penrhyn, start of the Slate Trail
Slate kissing gates and slate fences on the Slate Trail, Day 1.
Update 28/07/2021. The North Wales Slate industry has been declared as a Unesco World Heritage site. Click here
The Snowdonia Slate Trail is a new 83-mile circular walking route, connecting the many slate mining and quarrying communities.
Porth Penrhyn, Bangor-Bethesda-Llanberis-Waunfawr-Nantlle-Rhyd Ddu-Beddgelert-Croesor-Tan y Grisiau-Llan Ffestiniog-Penmachno-Betws y Coed-Capel Curig-Bethesda.
We walked the Slate Trail in nine one-day walks in winter 2019/2020. We added an extra day at the end, from Bethesda back to Porth Penrhyn, Bangor in the morning. We visited the wonderful National Slate Museum in the afternoon.
Distance walked = 96 miles.
See http://www.snowdoniaslatetrail.org for route, maps and accommodation.
How did you plan each walk?
We used taxis for most of the legs. I booked them and agreed a price in advance. We parked (two people, one car) at the end of each walk. We arranged an early morning pickup, back to the start of the walk, before the taxi went off to do a school run. This gave us the maximum hours of winter daylight for walking.
There are very few bus services on the Slate Trail. See https://www.traveline.cymru/ for bus services.
See walks planning, SST to download our detailed planning for each section of the walk.
Guide book
We used Aled Owen’s guide book, very good, with plenty of useful information. Aled Owen devised the Slate Trail. Order direct from Slate Trail website.
Here are a few random pictures of the the Slate Trail…
Tryfan
Goat
Bridges at Capel Curig
End of the Slate Trail, Bethesda
Porth Penrhyn, start of the Slate Trail
National Slate Museum, unmissable.
Slate Museum
Slate Museum
One of the many fabulous waterfalls
Prize winners!