Llyn Crafnant Circuit

This is a closed loop of 3.1 miles (5 km), starting and finishing at the Llyn Crafnant car park, and it usually takes one to two hours at a relaxed pace. It is graded Easy. The route climbs gently up the valley, with about 486 ft (148 m) of ascent spread across the circuit rather than concentrated in any hard pull.

Most of the way follows wide tracks, tarmac and forest roads, with rougher going in places along the lakeside. Gates on the route include accessible kissing gates, and the final stretch back to the car park is on a tarmac road. The circuit is suitable for adaptive equipment, including adaptive cycles, adaptive wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

Llyn Crafnant sits at the heart of the walk, framed by imposing crags at the head of the valley and the remains of old slate mines. The loop also looks across to Cwm Glas Crafnant National Nature Reserve, a steep site with no paths through it, so this walk is the best way to appreciate it. The woodland clinging to those cliffs is a rare type of ash woodland.

Parking at the site is free, with Blue Badge spaces available, and overnight parking is not permitted. Accessible toilets are on site and open at all times. There is a lakeside cafe, but it is privately owned, so plan as though refreshments may not be available.

Dogs can be walked on public footpaths and open access land. Keep dogs on a lead because of livestock, wildlife and other visitors. Access designations vary along the route, so the safest approach is a short lead throughout, with close control at minimum on public rights of way and a lead of no more than 2 m on open access land from 1 March to 31 July. Always clear up after your dog.

The walking itself is straightforward, but the crags and the nature reserve slopes above the lake are not places to explore. Keep to the route, and remember that the reservoir and the lakeside cafe are in private ownership.