Cwm Penamnen (Long)

A circular 9.5 km walk from Dolwyddelan up Cwm Penamnen to the head of the valley near the eastern foothills of Moel Penamnen, returning through the village on Sarn Helen. That figure is the whole circuit, and it takes about 3 hours with 410 m of ascent. Rated moderate (5/10). It stays quiet, so you can have long stretches to yourself.

• Leave the car park and cross the railway bridge, follow the road left, then turn right towards Cwm Penamnen past Glan Gors.
• Climb the track through woods past Carreg Alltrem, the crag climbers come for.
• At the fork keep right for the valley views, with Moel Siabod, Pen yr Helgi Du, Pen Llithrig y Wrach and Carnedd y Cribau on the skyline, then bear left up the valley.
• At a canopy opening turn left and head down the valley on a forest track, straight on at the crossroads.
• At a waymarker drop down to join Sarn Helen, the old Roman road, then turn right at the signpost past Ty's y Cwm onto tarmac, passing Pont Carreg Alltrem.
• Descend past the ruins of Tai Penamnen, back to the train bridge, cross it and finish at the car park.

Mostly forest roads, tracks and village road, so nothing technical, but it is a long hilly walk with uneven ground on the tracks. The section where you drop to Sarn Helen near the waymarker can be wet and boggy, and that is the part people remember for the wrong reasons. Boots rather than trainers. You also spend a fair share of the return on tarmac, which is easy going but less interesting than the woods.

The published visitor distance of 9.5 km is what we quote. Our mapped track for the same route measures nearer 8.7 km once the short station approach is closed up, which is normal for a corridor drawn on a map and is best treated as a cross-check rather than a correction.

Start and finish at the car park at Dolwyddelan railway station, which is run by the local community and has a parking charge. Use designated parking only. The walk is genuinely doable by train, which is rare enough to be worth using. Dogs are welcome on the public footpaths under close control, on a short lead around livestock and wildlife. The general rule for open-access land in the park is a lead no longer than 2 m from 1 March to 31 July; not all of this route crosses open-access land, but a lead is the sensible default here anyway.

There is an official short Cwm Penamnen route of roughly an hour that turns back earlier and rejoins this walk on its return leg. It is the sensible option with small children, in poor weather, or if you only want the woods and the ruins.