Snowdonia Slate Trail

The Snowdonia Slate Trail is an 83 mile route that takes walkers on a historic tour of the Welsh mining industry, taking in some of the very best views and areas of natural beauty that the country has to offer. Starting in Bangor with a view of the Menai Straits and Anglesey, the Snowdonia Slate Trail loosely follows the main A5 road through the mountainous Ogwen Valley and then alongside the Afon Llugwy river to the popular town of Betws-y-Coed.

Heading south from Betws-y-Coed, the trail wanders to both Llan and Blaenau Ffestiniog which were once thriving hubs of the slate mining industry but are now home to many great tourist attractions such as the Bounce Below caverns where visitors can have fun exploring underground in a safe environment. Heading west, the Snowdonia Slate Trail passes between the mountains of Cnicht and Moelwyn Mawr and reaches another great historic town, Beddgelert. Views of Mount Snowdon itself are fantastic for a few miles until the trail wraps around the Nantlle Ridge, a lesser known but truly spectacular group of mountains.

Anglesey and the Menai Straits come back in to view for the final quarter of the trail, heading north east to Llanberis and the might of Dinorwic Quarry. Carved into the side of Elidir Fawr mountain, Dinorwic Quarry is certainly the most impressive and imposing of all the former Welsh Slate industrial sites to be discovered on the Snowdonia Slate Trail. After Dinorwic the trail wanders across lowland to it’s completion in Bethesda, next to Penrhyn quarry, now the site of popular attraction Zip World.

Walk The Trail

We found this mini series of videos where YouTuber “Pipes Hikes” walked the entire trail in just 5 days to raise money for the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. Please note, this content is entirely the creation of “Pipes Hikes”.

Welsh Slate Garden Products

The quarries and mountains seen on the Snowdonia Slate Trail provide Welsh Slate Water Features with the design and materials inspiration for a range of beautiful monolith standing stones and water features for garden designs and landscaping projects.