Glyder Fach from Pen Y Gwryd via the Miner's Track

ALL, Glyderau Snowdonia, Snowdonia / Eryri

Glyder Fach from Pen Y Gwryd via the Miner’s Track

October 19, 2025

A panoramic view of the Glyderau mountain range, showcasing rolling hills and valleys under a cloudy sky, with a hint of snow on some peaks. — Looking down at Pen y Gwryd from the miners path up to Glyder Fach

Can you get into the Glyderau from Pen y Gwyrd?

Yes! It’s a lovely quiet route and not too steep, although this does make it a slightly longer route. The path isn’t as clear as if you start from Ogwen Valley and ideally you want a nice clear day to help with navigation. It’s definitely worth exploring but if you haven’t walked up the Glyderau before or you’re a bit inexperienced I would 100% suggest starting from Ogwen Valley and following a more well trodden path. My favourite route up into the Glyderau is via Cwm Tryfan.

Quick Pronunciation Guide
> Glyderau is pronounced Glid-ur-eye. The ‘eye’ sound on the end just makes it plural – you’ll hear the anglicised version as The Glyders.
> Glyder Fach is pronounced Glid-ur Vakh – it’s like saying vack but the cchhhhh at the end is longer and not as hard. It means small heap of stones.
> Glyder Fawr is prounced Glid-ur Vow-rrr. It means big heap of stones.

A person standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking a mountainous landscape, accompanied by a dog. — I’m looking out over Llynau Mymbr – I wasn’t on the exact path at this point as I did take a little ‘detour’ thanks to the low visibility at the top! But I found myself on this stunning rock shelf.

The Miners Track up to the Glyderau from Pen Y Gwryd Layby

I’d driven past the layby just before the Pen Y Gwryd Hotel countless times, and finally decided it was time to head up the Miners’ Track. On the map, this path is just one of those little black dashed lines, an OS Maps feature that always feels a little bit like a gamble from my past experiences!

This one, thankfully, is named, which confirms it actually exists. However, it was quite tricky to follow in places, especially with the semi-snowy conditions and low visibility I was dealing with.

The conditions weren’t great for a longer day on this occasion. So I kept this walk to a simple out-and-back. However, for a future visit, the map above clearly shows the potential to extend this route significantly via the Cambrian Way and perhaps coming back past Llyn Cwm Ffynnon. This would make it into a spectacular full-day circular that takes in both Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach summits.

Do Let me know if you’ve tried this – there looks to be a little dotted path to the lake and the possibility to follow the stream back to Pen y Gwryd (but it could be all fenced off!) Alternatively you can just pick up the road and slog back up to the layby.

Get the route and GPX on OS Maps

The Route Starts at the Pen Y Gwryd Layby – spaces are limited.

View of cars parked along the roadside near Pen y Gwryd, with a signpost in the background and fog obscuring the landscape.

A wooden stile leading over a fence in a foggy, grassy landscape.

A dog sits on grassy terrain, looking toward a small footbridge over a stream, surrounded by misty conditions and scattered rocks.

Climb over the stile from the layby and head towards a little bridge, then over another stile.

A map detailing the Miners' Track route from Pen y Gwyrd Hotel to the Glyderau, showing terrain contours, landmarks, and the surrounding area.

Follow a wall which veers off to the right (there are two so make sure you’re following the correct one.

A view of the Glyderau mountain range with rocky terrain and a stone wall in the foreground, under a cloudy sky. — The stone wall at the bottom, looking back towards Yr Wyddfa (NB this image is taken further along the wall on my way back down)

A detailed map showing the Pen y Gwyrd area, including contour lines and labeled features such as fords and paths.

Once you have crossed over the stone wall the path can be picked up, it veers off to the right. Keep heading up and you can check you’re on the right path as you cross over the ‘waterfalls’ of nant Ddu (Black Stream) which are marked on the map.

A foggy landscape featuring rocky terrain and patches of grass, with a stream of water flowing through the foreground. — The path crossing the stream

View of a rocky landscape with a stream flowing down a slope, surrounded by heather and grass, in the Glyderau mountains. — The rock does look really black in places – so it’s aptly named Nant Ddu (Black Stream)

As you keep following the path up it may become much harder to find in the boggy top section as you approach the saddle between Y Foel Goch and Glyder Fach. On a clear day this is no problem, if you have low cloud as i did it may mean you find yourself off track. I relied heavily on OS Maps to check I was going in the right direction and I’ve walked the top of Glyder Fach many times before which also helped with navigation.

A misty landscape showing rocky terrain and patches of grass, with hints of melting snow in the foreground. — Boggy landscape around Caseg Ffraith as I was picking my way back down

You should be able to pick up the much more obvious Cambrian Way path (green diamond path on your OS Explorer map)- you can just see it snaking up on the right of the photo below.

A rocky mountainous landscape shrouded in clouds, with patches of grass and snow visible on the slopes. — Looking at Llyn y Caseg Ffraith from the path up to Glyder Fach – from this viewpoint I have walked up from the right hand side and then met the Cambrian Way which heads up onto the main Glyderau summits.

Be sure to seek out the cantilever stone which you’ll reach just before the summit of Glyder Fach. If there isn’t a group of people waiting for a picture it can be easy to walk right past it, especially on a cloudy day.

A person standing on rocky terrain in misty conditions, holding a walking stick with a dog beside them. The background features large rock formations partially obscured by fog. — The cantilever stone looking less impressive from this vantage point but I wasn’t hanging around to take any more selfies as we had icicles forming on us and needed my phone battery for the navigation down! Ziggy doesn’t look too impressed (scroll to the end for a far better pic on a sunny June day)

Close-up of a dog's eye and fur featuring frosty elements, set against a blurred natural background.

Head back down the way you came or as I mentioned at the start use this as the starting point for an extended walk around the Glyderau. I’ll end with a few less foggy pictures from some of my previous walks up here!