On a misty, drizzly, October day we set out to explore Beddgelert Forest in Snowdonia National Park. With multiple waymarked trails for walkers and cyclists to enjoy, almost all of which are gravelled paths, it is easy to spend at least a couple of hours wandering around this magical forest. We spent just shy of 2 hours walking around the forest and we barely touched the surface of the multitude of paths available to traverse.
One of the best things about this location is its large, easy to find, well surfaced car park! With multiple walking tracks starting from the car park itself, you really can’t go wrong in mapping out a circular walk for yourself.
At approximately the halfway point of our route, we came across the Llyn Lywelyn Reservoir, looking particularly eerie hidden away amongst the mist, the trees and the mountains. This provided the backdrop for one of my favourite ever photos of me and the dogs as well as providing them with a short paddling opportunity.
As already mentioned, we went on a drizzly Wednesday afternoon in October and saw very few other people out on their walks, however I can imagine that during periods of better weather and/or the school holidays and weekends that this forest park will get far busier. As such I have marked it as a 4/5 for both Quietness and Reactive Dog Suitability; I would say that even on the busiest days, and even if the car park was full, the forest itself is so huge with so many paths off of one another that I feel it would still be easy to have a stress free, quiet walk with a reactive dog.
In terms of the scenery, even with the dreary weather, the forest itself was beautiful and I’d love to visit again some day in spring or summer to make the most of the natural beauty. Little streams run through the woods, feeding little waterfalls along some of the paths, which when you go to Wales are a stable regardless of their size.
Overall, I’ve given Beddgelert Forest a rating of 4.5 because I’d like to return in better weather and to explore even more of it, but during this visit, I really enjoyed the route, the scenery, the lack of mud, the provision of a proper car park that was easy to find and the absolute perfect photo opportunity.
