Parking
Park at Abergynolwyn Village Hall car park and take the short, steep link route to Nant Gwernol Station. Abergynolwyn Station car park is another access option; there is no parking at Nant Gwernol Station.
Overview
About Quarryman's Trail
Why go
- Waterfalls and broad views
- Slate-quarry history along the route
Heads up
- Long climbs and steep descents
- Dangerous old quarry workings off path
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 Quarryman's 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 0.4 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 Quarryman's Trail
The route in briefA waymarked 3.2 mile / 5.
A waymarked 3.2 mile / 5.1 km loop through Coed Nant Gwernol, starting and finishing at Nant Gwernol Station. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours for around 981 ft / 299 m of climb. The official leaflet map also shows an optional longer alternative route if you want to extend the day.
What you walk throughThe payoff builds: enclosed woodland and water first, then height and views, then the…
The payoff builds: enclosed woodland and water first, then height and views, then the industrial landscape that shaped the village, before the descent back toward the station.
- A rocky river gorge with cascading waterfalls in the early stages
- Long climbs out of the valley to wide open views
- Old tramway routes and the remains of Bryn-Eglwys Slate Quarry, part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site
- Interpretation panels and wind-up listening posts telling the stories of the quarry workers and their families
Difficulty and footingOfficially graded strenuous.
Officially graded strenuous. Expect long, sustained climbs and steep descents, with rough and rocky ground in places. Boots with good grip and a steady pace on the downhill sections make the biggest difference.
Safety around the quarryStay on the paths.
Stay on the paths. The old quarry works are dangerous, and you must not enter mine workings or buildings. Keep children close where the route passes ruins and drops.
Getting there and parkingThere is no parking at Nant Gwernol Station.
- There is no parking at Nant Gwernol Station.
- Most visitors park at Abergynolwyn Village Hall car park and take the short but steep link route up to Nant Gwernol Station to start.
- Abergynolwyn Station car park is another documented access option.
DogsDogs are welcome on public footpaths and open-access land under Eryri rules.
Dogs are welcome on public footpaths and open-access land under Eryri rules. Keep them under close control, use a short lead near livestock and wildlife, and on open-access land a lead of no more than 2 m is required from 1 March to 31 July.
Compared with the Cascades TrailThe Cascades Trail leaves from the same site and is a much lighter outing: 1.1 miles / 1.
The Cascades Trail leaves from the same site and is a much lighter outing: 1.1 miles / 1.7 km, about 1 hour, moderate, with 115 m of climb. If you want the waterfalls without the sustained ascent, choose that one. The Quarryman's Trail is roughly three times the distance with more than double the climb, and it is the only one of the two that reaches the quarry remains and the high viewpoints.
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.
