Ogwen Cottage - Llyn Bochlwyd - Glyder Fach - Glyder Fawr - Devil's Kitchen

David and Chris Stewart

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An absolutely classic round of the Glyders with their fabulous rock formations, returning through the impressive cleft in the rock that is the Devil's Kitchen.

All along this walk you can take in one of the best examples of a glaciated valley in the U.K. Everywhere you look there are the hallmarks of a time when this environment was shaped by the ice.

The first part of the walk takes you up to Llyn Bochlwyd, the archetypal small tarn in a hanging valley. From here we climb to the shoulder between the Glyders and Tryfan. Hardened scramblers can take the direct route up the appropriately named Bristly Ridge - our route takes an easier route up to the plateau of the Glyders.

We cross the Glyder plateau with its evocative bouldered landscape. There's usually someone perched on the Cantilever stone having their photograph taken. Further on there is the Castell y Gwynt (Castle of the Winds), where a castellation of huge rocks have been projected skywards.

After summitting Glyder Fawr we descend a scree slope to Llyn y Cwn, another small tarn. And then plunge down into the Devil's Kitchen, to watch the stream (or torrent, depending on the weather), itself plunging down to Llyn Idwal. We skirt the lake and return back to the start.

Wales - North Wales - Caernarfonshire - Snowdonia

Features

Cafe, Great Views, Lake/Loch, Mountains, National Trust, Toilets, Waterfall
03/04/2012 - David and Chris Stewart

We have graded this walk as a 'mountain challenge' because it really does call for good map and compass skills, in almost any weather. The summit ridge of Glydyr Fach and Glydyr Fawr is boulder strewn and individual features are difficult to identify. You do have to navigate using the map and compass. On a good day you probably can't go far wrong following the main line of the ridge but in poorer visibility navigation can be very tricky indeed. The ambiguity in the instructions that Daniel Haigh refers to has been removed.

01/04/2012 - daniel haigh

My partner and I have done many walks on the Walkingworld site...I have to say that this one is the poorest in terms of description and useable photographs, it's the only walk we have given up on. I can understand how Lucy Goddard got lost on Glyder Fach..in one sentence the guide is telling you to go left of the summit and the very next right of it. It's a shame really because it should be a great walk.

09/08/2011 - John Blundell

Did this walk on Sunday 24th July with my dog. The weather was great at the bottom but cold and cloudy on the summit but really enjoyed the walk although Fudge, my dog, struggled a bit with the large boulders on the summit. Definately recommend this to anyone but check the weather on MWIS.org before you set off. A real Classic!!

26/08/2009 - Lucy Goddard

I did this walk in May 2009, and unfortunately sustained a serious injury when a large rock fell on my hand, crushing and fracturing it. Long story. My undoing was somewhere between waymarks 7 and 9, where I had ended up too far to the right on Glyder Fach in low cloud and high wind. Difficult to say how much the instructions helped or hindered me at this point, but in trying to identify "rocks sticking up on the skyline" and "big piles of rocks on the left" (of which there are many up there!) it's clear I got it wrong. Alas, my error led me into a steep-sided area with loose rocks. I'm not trying to point the finger of blame at all - these things happen, and the weather was too wild for me to have been up there in the first place - but could this section of the walk be reviewed? Made clearer, perhaps?

08/10/2007 - Peter Hodd

Fair comments, David and Chris. I have done this route in February, and although there were only tiny patches of snow visible from valley level, once above 900m there were pockets of refrozen meltwater which was hard to spot and very treacherous to walk on even on the flatter bits. Plus even on a warm winter's day, the wind chill still took the temperature down to about-10C. Wrap up- and get a proper mountain weather forecast!

15/01/2007 - David and Chris Stewart

As far as snow and ice gear is concerned you will need to make a judgement based on the conditions at the time. If there is snow on the tops some of the ascents and descents will be difficult and you will certainly need appropriate equipment. Bear in mind that some of the route is like walking on a rocky beach, so if there is soft snow cover that you cannot walk on the top of, the going will be difficult and potentially quite dangerous.

15/01/2007 - Charlie Gobbett

Is it fair to assume that this walk is not advisable in March without specialist snow/ice gear? Thank you!