Parking
Park at Abergynolwyn village hall (Y Canolfan Gymunedol), then follow the short but steep link route to Nant Gwernol station. There is no parking at the station itself.
Overview
About Cascades Trail
Why go
- Cascading river through a wooded gorge
- Compact loop with slate-heritage remains
Heads up
- Short but steep climbing and descent
- Unsafe old workings demand strict path discipline
Map & 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 Cascades 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
How Slate Hauled Slate0:00 / 0:27
“Above Abergynolwyn, Bryneglwys quarry used the weight of slate to move more slate. On its steep inclines, ropes ran from two wagons around a drum at the top.”
Plays on the road 0.5 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Eryri Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Quarry Beneath the Hill
- The Slate Village
- A Welsh Prince's Castle
- Dolgoch Falls
- 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 Cascades Trail
The short versionThis is a circular loop of 1.1 miles / 1.
This is a circular loop of 1.1 miles / 1.7 km, measured for the complete circuit from Nant Gwernol station, with a Moderate grade and about 1 hour of walking. The official climb is 377 feet / 115 metres, which is a lot of up and down packed into a mile.
How the route runsThe payoff is the water itself, the wooded rocky gorge, and the surviving remains of the…
The payoff is the water itself, the wooded rocky gorge, and the surviving remains of the winding and drum houses from the old slate works.
- Climbs uphill from Nant Gwernol station, staying close beside the cascading Nant Gwernol river.
- Crosses a wooden bridge over the water.
- Reaches the line of the old tramway on the higher ground.
- Drops steeply back down along part of the old Allt Wyllt incline to finish where you started.
What it feels like underfootWoodland path throughout, with steep climbing, a steep descent, uneven ground and the bridge…
Woodland path throughout, with steep climbing, a steep descent, uneven ground and the bridge crossing. Short does not mean easy or smooth here, so wear proper footwear and expect to be working on both halves of the loop.
Getting there and parkingPark at Abergynolwyn village hall (Y Canolfan Gymunedol).
- Park at Abergynolwyn village hall (Y Canolfan Gymunedol). There is no parking at Nant Gwernol station.
- From the village hall, follow the map along the short but steep link route to Nant Gwernol station.
- You can also start from Abergynolwyn village hall via that link, or from Abergynolwyn station along the separate Stations Link Trail.
- Access reference for the start of the walking trails is SH 681 067, LL36 9UU. The postcode covers a wide area, so use the grid reference and site map rather than trusting a postcode pin.
Permanent hazards to respectThis is a heritage industrial site, so the warnings are ongoing rather than seasonal:
This is a heritage industrial site, so the warnings are ongoing rather than seasonal:
- Do not stray from the paths. The old works are dangerous.
- Do not enter mine workings or buildings. They may be unsafe.
Setting and a longer optionCoed Nant Gwernol sits in a rocky river gorge, with the Talyllyn narrow gauge railway and the…
Coed Nant Gwernol sits in a rocky river gorge, with the Talyllyn narrow gauge railway and the Bryn-Eglwys Slate Quarry landscape all around. This loop is a river and woodland walk with glimpses of the industry, not the full quarry history walk. If you want that, the site's separate Quarryman's Trail is longer and strenuous, with more quarry remains and wider views.
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.
