Miners Track up Snowdon from Pen-y-pass – Virtually
By Dave Roberts 
Posted in National 3 Peaks Planning, Routes, Welsh 3 Peaks
Miners Track up Snowdon from Pen-y-pass – Virtually
Further Details
Route Summary:
Along with the PYG Track, this is a popular choice for the Wyddfa section of the National 3 Peaks
Start and Finish: Pen-y-pass - Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon
Distance: 6.5km
Ascent: 770m
Time: 3 hours
Timings are approximate and depend on the individual. Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.
Facilities:
Café and toilets at Pen-y-pass as well as a Youth Hostel opposite with a café bar
Hazards:
Usual risks involved with hill walking. Section from Glaslyn upwards is trickier and steep.
Public Transport:
You can reach Pen-y-pass using the Sherpa’r Wyddfa bus service from Porthmadog/Beddgelert, Llanberis, Caernarfon and Betws-y-Coed. Park and ride available from Nant Peris.
See our page on Walking up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) using Public Transport
Parking:
IN SEASON – LIMITED & PRE-BOOKING required! 8 hrs – £18 / 8-12hrs – £25 / 12-24hrs – £40. Park in Nant Peris for the Park and Ride.
Off Season – £10 a day – card only
See Snowdon Parking 2023 on Walk up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) for more info.
Post Code for Sat Nav: LL55 4NY
Weather Forecast:
We recommend Met Office Snowdonia and MWIS and live conditions on Adventure Smart – live conditions
Recommended Guidebooks:
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A Pocket Guide to Snowdon: A Guide to the Routes of Ascent, The Ascent of Snowdon: The Six Classic Routes Up Snowdon, Snowdon – The Story of a Welsh Mountain: Biography of a Mountain
Recommended Maps:
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Miners Track up Snowdon from Pen-y-pass – Virtually Ordnance Survey Map and GPX File Download
Download file for GPS
Miners Track up Snowdon from Pen-y-pass – Virtually
Join our virtual walk up The Miners’ Track / Llwybr Mwynwyr up Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa. Planning your walk up Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon for the three peaks challenge by reading about it is all well and good, but a virtual walk gives you a better feeling of what to expect.
While there are loads of fly through videos being shown on social media, we don’t think that they’re a ‘virtual walk’ – unless you’re flying! They are however a great introduction to visualise a route, like this example from the SNPA on the Miner’s Path below.
Better still is to follow the google street-view for those paths – thanks to the hard work of the Snowdonia National Park and Google, and a few notable photosphere contributions along the way.
So why not follow this virtual Miner’s Track to the summit of Snowdon?
1 – Start of the Miner’s Track Pen y Pass
This is the start of the Miner’s Track at Pen-y-Pass. You can follow the street view all the way to the summit from here, or you can follow the main viewpoints below for the best bits.
2 – Llyn Teyrn
After a short and steady climb on the Miners’ Track, you’ll be treated with the view across the small tarn of Llyn Teyrn as well as the first glimpse of Snowdon’s summit.
3 – Llyn Llydaw
Now the walk gets going as we arrive at Llyn Llydaw. You can just about see it peeking over the hillocks to the right, and is only a few clicks away! The path left is towards Y Lliwedd, which you cannot follow on Google Streetview, but we will be adding a virtual walk up Y Lliwedd soon enough.
4 – Llyn Llydaw – Causeway
One of the more memorable sections of the Miner’s Track is the causeway over the north eastern end of Llyn Llydaw.
5 – The Britannia Copper Mine
Now with a name like the Miner’s Track, you should expect some mining remains and the substantial Britannia Copper Mine mill is the first obvious one you’ll pass. Bonus points for anyone who spotted any earlier on. The Britannia Copper Mine wasn’t particularly successful, closing in around 1916 after a century of intermittent mining.
6 – Glaslyn
Glas, confusingly is the welsh for both green and blue, though thankfully modern welsh provides us with gwyrdd for green. That’s why Glaslyn translates as the Green Lake, discoloured due to the copper. This is one of the most striking views towards Snowdon on any of the trails up the mountain.
7 – Steps up to the PYG
This is one of the few sections where you’ll be glad you’re on your keyboard as the Miner’s Track heads relentlessly uphill to join the PYG Track on endless steps. These used to be eroded, but thankfully steps have been built to make the going a bit easier.
8 – Joining the PYG
There’s a notable finger stone here – and the path gets busier as the traffic from Pen-y-pass’ two walker’s paths join up.
9 – Bit of a scramble here – just to add some interest.
Not long after joining forces, the PYG/Miner’s Track forces you to get using your hands, if only a little bit.
10 – The zig-zags
The gabions at this point is a traditional resting point – use the excuse of looking back on the walk to sit down at the bottom of the zig-zags. They look worse than they are as you’re practically at the top of the summit ridge at this point, but tired legs scream otherwise!
11 – Bwlch Glas
This is where the path leaves the dark cwm… and the walk finally opens out as you join the Llanberis and Snowdon Ranger Path to the summit of Snowdon. There’s also the Snowdon Mouintain Railway which runs parallel nearby.
12 – The Summit of Snowdon
You’ve arrived at the highest point in Wales, make yourself another cuppa and rest that mouse finger. Surprisingly you’ve found the summit to be reasonably quiet. In season, there will be queues up to the summit trig as the walkers mingle with the tourists from the train. Quite a social event in some regards. Makes you almost glad to be indoors.
We have to add this excellent photosphere of a winter vista from Snowdon. Full marks to anyone who can name more than 10 of the mountains you can see in this panorama! Hint, just about all of Snowdonia. The real challenge is naming any of Snowdonia’s well known mountains that you can’t see from the summit.
Don’t foget about the ‘caff’ – or Hafod Eryri as it’s now known. We cant find a virtual shot of the inside, but here’s the main entrance. Have a virtual pint or coffee in Hafod Eryri on us while you’re here!
Dave Roberts
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