Parking
Start at the Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre car park, signposted from the A470 about 8 miles north of Dolgellau (SH 723 268, LL40 2HZ). Public parking and toilets are available; parking charges apply.
Overview
About Bloomeries Trail
Why go
- Historic bloomery destination
- Seven benches along the route
Heads up
- Mostly forest roads and loose gravel
- The return retraces the outward route
From the visitor centre the route sets off on internal paths and tracks, then gains height steadily on forest roads before joining the line of Sarn Helen, the Roman road, for the final approach to the long-disused ironworks. The walk rises from about 124 m at the centre to roughly 247 m at the bloomery, so the effort is spread across a gradual climb rather than a single steep pull. Be clear about what you are walking towards: the reward is a quiet, historically rich clearing rather than a summit view or a waterfall.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe sequence and the payoffMap & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Eryri Tour Guide
Your drive to Bloomeries Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Eryri National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
Coed y Brenin Forest Trails0:00 / 0:34
“You're coming up on Coed y Brenin, Britain's first purpose-built mountain biking centre, with forest trails for riders and walkers alike.”
Plays on the road 0.2 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Eryri Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Rhaeadr Ddu at Ganllwyd
- The Forest That Fueled Iron
- The Walls Made to Give Way
- The King's Guards at Pont Ty'n-y-groes
- 298 audio storiesacross Eryri’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grey Heron, Tawny Owl, Common Raven, and 9 more
- Works offlinemaps, 120 trails, 82 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Bloomeries Trail
Route and distanceThis is a waymarked out-and-back walk from the Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre to the Llwyn Du…
This is a waymarked out-and-back walk from the Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre to the Llwyn Du bloomery site and back along the same corridor. The official distance is 2.8 miles (4.5 km) there and back, with 482 feet (147 m) of climb and a typical time of 1.5 to 2 hours. It is graded Moderate.
History at the destinationLlwyn Du is a medieval bloomery, where iron was produced in small furnaces long before the…
Llwyn Du is a medieval bloomery, where iron was produced in small furnaces long before the Industrial Revolution. An interpretation panel at the site explains how the bloomeries worked and what survives here, which makes the turnaround point worth lingering over before you retrace your steps.
Footing and difficultyThe walking is mainly forest roads and purpose-built trail sections, with asphalt and gravel…
The walking is mainly forest roads and purpose-built trail sections, with asphalt and gravel near the centre giving way to compacted path and gravel forest road, including the Sarn Helen corridor. Official guidance notes that forest-road surfaces can be uneven, loose or potholed, so watch your footing, but this is not technical hill walking. Seven benches along the way give plenty of chances to pause on the climb.
Access and parkingStart from the Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre car park, grid reference SH 723 268, postcode LL40…
Start from the Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre car park, grid reference SH 723 268, postcode LL40 2HZ, signposted from the A470 about 8 miles north of Dolgellau. There is a public car park and toilets on site, and parking charges apply.
DogsDogs are welcome on this route and should be kept under control throughout, with consideration…
Dogs are welcome on this route and should be kept under control throughout, with consideration for other walkers on the shared forest roads.
Planning notesSensible preparation covers most of what this walk asks for:
Sensible preparation covers most of what this walk asks for:
If you would prefer something shorter and easier underfoot, the Afon Eden Trail starts from the same visitor centre and is a well-surfaced accessible riverside route.
- Footwear with grip for gravel and compacted forest surfaces
- Water and a snack for the 1.5 to 2 hour round trip
- Time to read the interpretation panel at the bloomery
Wildlife
Wildlife in Eryri
77 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
17 sightingsTawny OwlMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
32 sightingsCommon RavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
21 sightingsGreat Spotted WoodpeckerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
18 sightingsEuropean RabbitMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
161 sightingsViviparous LizardMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Eryri. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
