Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia National Park covers almost 1,350 square kilometers in northwest Wales, home to some of Britain’s most spectacular mountains and heathland. Its jewel is Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.
General Information
There is one curious exception to the National Park, the village of Blaenau-Festiniog, whose inhabitants mine slate. In 1949 it was decided that this industrial area did not merit inclusion in the national park. However, the village is worth a visit, if only for the delightful walk through the Llechwyd slate caves.
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The village of Bettus-y-Coed, 13 km to the north, is often visited by mountain walkers. Many trails leading into the surrounding mountains start from here.
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Maple Curig, 8 km west of Bettus-y-Coed, is another center for tourism and mountaineering. Information can be obtained from the mountaineering center.
The jewel of Wales is Snowdon, or in Welsh, Ir Uitva, meaning “grave”, at 1,068 meters high. According to legends, here rests the giant Rita Gaur, who wore a cloak woven from the beards of the kings he killed. This monster was killed by the great King Arthur.
.You can climb Snowdon from the Pen-y-Pass Youth Inn, located on the A4086, halfway from Maple Quarig to Llanberis (take 5 – 6 hours for the 13km climb, sometimes on very steep slopes, and the return journey). It is also possible to climb the Snowdon Mountain Railway (closed from Nov. to mid-March and in bad weather) from Llanberis.
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In clear weather, Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland can be seen from the summit for 400 km around.
.The forests of Snowdonia Park are of the mixed deciduous type. Of the trees, oak is the most common, with birch, ash, rowan and hazel also common. There are also coniferous trees planted in Snowdonia, for example in Gwydir Forest near Betws-y-Coed. Some land that used to be used for agriculture is now re-growing with trees.
The north of Snowdonia is the only place in the UK where the Snowdonia lily (Lloydia serotina, named after the Welsh naturalist Edward Lloyd who described it) and the beetle Chrysolina cerealis can be found. Endemic to Snowdonia is the snowdonia hawkweed Hieracium snowdoniense.
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