Cadair Idris, Mynydd Moel and Craig Lwyd Circular

The route

This circuit takes the long way round Cadair Idris, climbing onto the ridge at Craig Lwyd before following the rim of Cwm Cau across Mynydd Moel to the true summit, Penygadair, at 893m. From there the ridge continues around the horseshoe with Tal-y-Llyn lake visible below for much of the descent. It's a proper mountain circuit rather than a single out-and-back, and the 1044m of climbing is spread across a ridge line that rarely lets up.

Cwm Cau

The reason to do the full horseshoe rather than the shorter paths up Cadair Idris is Cwm Cau, the huge cliff-ringed bowl that sits at the mountain's heart. Running the rim of it, with Llyn Cau dark in the bottom, is one of the better mountain moments in Wales, and it's the kind of terrain that photographs badly and feels enormous in person.

Local legend

Cadair Idris translates as the chair of Idris, a giant said to have used the mountain as a seat, and local folklore holds that anyone who sleeps on its slopes overnight wakes up either a poet or mad. Whichever way that goes for you, the summit shelter on Penygadair is a welcome stop on a rough day, with views out over Cardigan Bay when the cloud lifts.

Getting it right

The ridge is well defined and mostly on clear paths, but the ground close to Cwm Cau's rim drops away sharply, and cloud on this side of the mountain comes in fast off the sea. Give yourself a proper weather window rather than chancing it, and treat the exposed sections above the cwm with the same respect you'd give any mountain edge.

Getting there

Minffordd sits on the A487 between Machynlleth and Dolgellau, well south of the busier approaches to Snowdon itself, so this side of the national park stays noticeably quieter even in peak season. That's worth factoring in if you're chasing solitude on a clear day: you can run the full horseshoe here without the queues that build up on the more famous mountain in the north.