Cadair Idris
South Snowdonia
One of my favourite mountain in Wales is Cadair Idris (893m elevation) which in English means 'Chair of Idris', while 'Cader' could also refer to an ancient fortress. The mountain is located in South Snowdonia near the town of Dolgellau.
We have camped at a farm in Dolgellau, left our tent there and decided to go wild camping and enjoy the sunset at the tarn near the mountain. There were just 2 miles from the main road up to the tarn but the ascend with the backpack was a little bit more difficult and it felt like 4 miles. It is always good to start your hike with a good vibe and some ice cream so before we started our ascend we stopped at the cafe near the car park (Tŷ Te Cadair Tea Room). The path is through the woodlands and by the river so the views were magnificent but the heat and humidity in the summer made our walk more difficult. After few more stops we finally reached the tarn right before sunset.
We have found a perfect spot near the river, with a nice view towards the Cadair Idris. After we pitched our tent, we prepared our food using Jetboil to boil the water and we had some nice Expedition dry food.
The next day we woke up early in the morning before the sunrise as we like to have our breakfast at sunrise and pack everything, leaving no trace.
As we slept at the bottom of the mountain, in the morning we continued our hike, climbing the rocky path towards Cadair Idris. The ascend was quit difficult so early in the morning and until we warmed our body.
The views from the top are really beautiful, looking down to the tarn and the mountains around it. Climbing towards Cadair Idris, on a clear day you can see Snowdon in front, Dolgellau on the right and the sea on the left.
The path is difficult going up, rocky most of the way but it’s worth the effort. Don’t worry, once you reach the trig point you’re in for a treat, a spectacular 360 view.
If the weather is not good, once you get to the Cadair Idris trig point there is a shelter where you can safely retreat for a moment and enjoy a cuppa.
The next leg of the walk is mostly down and having the poles with us really helped. There is also a part of the descend, close to the path where we came up which is very steep, so again, having poles helps or just take your time and go slow.
When we reached the path closed to the car park around 10am, the smell of baked bacon was really inviting and we followed the smell back to the café.
The food and staff at Tŷ Te Cadair Tea Room are amazing. I had the best cooked breakfast in Wales and I don’t know if it was because of the fresh air, nice views, tasty food or a combination of all the above.
The entire route is around 6.2 miles which we could have done in one day but I am glad we decided to split it over the two days and enjoy a night wild camping.
This route is definitely in top 10 of my favourite routes in UK and I hope you will enjoy it too. South Snowdonia has so much to offer and it’s worth visiting.
