Book data

Snowdonia Slate Trail
Aled Owen  
06 May 2022
UK price £14.99
80pp, 130 x 220mm, 190g
978-1-913817-09-1

Snowdonia Slate Trail

(2nd ed)

£14.99

Aled Owen

In stock

“This beautiful book will lead you along secret paths to special places" - Crag Jones, mountaineer

The Snowdonia Slate Trail is a waymarked trail that runs for 83 miles (134 km) from Bangor on the North Wales coast. It makes an 83-mile circuit through the heart of Snowdonia and the World Heritage Site of Northwest Wales. It visits welcoming villages with a choice of accommodation and refreshments. The walking is varied, from easy valleys to mountain passes, from wild moorland to river gorges. Highlights include the National Slate Museum of Wales, stunning views of Snowdon and abandoned slate villages high in the hills.

Our second edition has extra material about the World Heritage Site of Northwest Wales, several route updates and some fresh photos. It is perfect bound and despite having four more pages than before, it is slightly lighter (by 26 grams) and more pocketable than the previous edition.

This book is in our narrower, more pocket-friendly format, with stitched and glued perfect binding which makes it lighter than before.

Features

This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy the Snowdonia Slate Trail:

  • 15 pages with clear mapping of the route at 1: 40,000
  • detailed route descriptions, including refreshments and accommodation
  • practical information about public transport and travel
  • slate industry heritage, Great Little Trains of Wales and wildlife
  • inside information on how best to climb Snowdon
  • lavishly illustrated with 100 colour photos
  • in rucksack-friendly format, printed on rainproof paper.
Look inside

Click on the thumbnails below to view sample pages from the book "Snowdonia Slate Trail" in standard PDF format.
To reduce loading time, resolution is limited in these extracts, but all photographs are printed at top quality in our books. All text and images are copyrighted ©Rucksack Readers and licensors: please respect our intellectual property.

Contents
From Planning (pp5-11)
Great Little Trains of Wales
Llan Ffestiniog to Penmachno
Gallery

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

Reviews

From a review in Compass Sport magazine

I was very impressed with the Snowdonia Slate Trail guide. The design has been very well thought out: physically it is a convenient size … printed on rainproof paper, is spiral bound for ease of use when on the trail and the cover is slightly larger than the rest of the book and has a folded part which, when not in use as a bookmark, has a useful map key and a table showing where there are pubs, cafes, B&Bs etc along the way.

There is plenty to read about the slate industry, Snowdonia, the Great Little Trains of Wales and habitats and wildlife; these are in their own sections and sensibly kept separate from the directions of how to get from one place to another.

Railway aficionados will be interested to know that the route touches on a number of narrow gauge railways and there are chances of riding on them if you can tear yourself away from the walk. The route is close to the Welsh Highland Railway for several miles near Beddgelert so you should at least see a steam train or two.

There is all the information one needs to know about accommodation at the end of each day, safety, navigation markers, packing checklist, notes about mobile phone coverage, taking your dog in a sheep-farming area. For those not at all experienced in long-distance walking there are further notes on the publisher’s website.

… I have recently walked the first five miles of the route from Bangor and can confirm that the written directions are very clear and also that the path is very well provided with the distinctive markers specific to the trail.

The 14 maps have a good overlap so that there is no need to keep flipping backwards and forwards when moving between map sections. Each mile of the route is flagged on the map so that the walker can tell easily how far (s)he has gone or – possibly more importantly! – how far (s)he has to go.

… All in all, an excellent publication that, with a large number and variety of photographs, should satisfy the armchair explorer as well as the more active person.

Alan Brown, Compass Sport April 2018 page 47

Personal communication from a customer

Very well produced. Lots of thought gone into its design. Great quality. A commendable piece of work and a compelling product. Looking forward to exploring further!

Roger Greenhalgh, Madog Dog Walks

From a review in Outdoor Focus

This new, 83-mile circuit of the main Snowdon massif, from Bangor on the Irish Sea coast and reaching as far inland as Llan Ffestiniog, was developed over four years by the Cwm Penmachno Community
Action Group.

The distinctive blue-grey slate of Snowdonia which once roofed the world is the central theme, so it’s appropriate the guide is written by a man born and raised near Bethesda and who lived in a remote quarry village for many years.

Roly Smith in Outdoor Focus, summer 2018 p9

Personal communication from a customer

I would like to congratulate you, it’s excellent, full of interesting information and lovely photography, I intend getting friends and family to purchase some copies and spread the word.

Caroline Turner, Conwy County Borough Council

From the Foreword

There lies ahead a journey from the depths of the earth through the crown of Wales. This beautiful book will lead you along secret paths to special places. You will experience an inspiring, fresh perspective on Snowdonia. As you trek through this region, you cannot fail to marvel at the sheer scale of the industry, the landscape, its people and their history. From sea to summit and back, enjoy the best of Wales from past to present.

'Crag' Jones, first Welshman to summit Everest

Personal communication from a customer

I think the trail is really well planned and I enjoyed every minute … It was reallyinteresting to walk in the valleys and the less visited places and I like the eerie evocative desolate old slate mines. Signposting was good and the route was varied
and interesting. … So, thank you very much for preparing such a great walk. I appreciate
the work you put into it. I hope many people discover the trail’s fascination, ups and downs and
continual interest.

Neil Buick

Bonus content

GPX route file
Route updates
  • On page 46 bullet 1, aim for the kissing-gate (which has replaced the stile) ahead, and go through it. In bullet 2, at the farm use the ford if it is passable; if not, take the gate on the left, then a small gate just to the right, to bypass it.
  • On page 52 bullets 1 and 2, a gate has replaced the stile.
  • Two cafés have closed: the one at Lodge Dinorwig (which now operates as a bunkhouse only) and the café at Waunfawr: these affect pages 12 and 38.

More info to help with your planning

Support services

Service providers that support this route

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Recommended maps

For those who want a larger scale map

View maps

Links

Links relevant to this book

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