Snowdonia Riding: Moel Eilio? Nr Llanberis.

We’ll be in Anglesey for a week from the 1/08 and I will likely ride the big fella one evening but just looking at other half day rides in the area.

One that looks interesting is a loop from Llanberis incorporating 3 summits: Moel Eilio, Foel Gron and Foel Goch. On the OS maps it has a black dashed line connecting all 3 and comes down to meet telegraph alley. My understanding is a bacl dashed line has no designation, just wwhere there iss a path on the ground, so that’s a go for bike riding afaic. Anybody ridden or walked it? Any good? Stile hell? Steep walking steps?

The walking route guides reckon it takes 4 hrs and 8 miles long, so that’s maybe less than 2 hrs on a bike? Could even tag it on the end of Snowdon ride or at the start if I wanted to go up rangers, or tourist path I suppose.

There’s also another smaller summit just to the north of there called Cefn Du, which is littered with tracks. All of that area looks like good to explore. So perhaps for a good afternoon’s ride, up the north of Cefn du and make my way over to do those 3 summits as above.

Please answer above Qs and any other thoughts?

I have just PM you

Ian

Bump.

Sent you another pm!

Used to run it lots in the evenings when I lived in the area. It’s a grassy ridge, on a bike it’d be better from Moel Eilio towards Snowdon as there’s a steep descent from Moel Eilio and very steep from Foel Goch down to Telegraph Pass. Very long grassy drag from Bwlch y Groes onto Moel Eilio. One or two stiles from memory (it’s over twenty years since I lived there), easy to lift the bike over the wire fence though.

Can’t remember much about Cefn Du other than we used it for night navigation exercise.

Shots from geograph.org.uk

Path up Moel Eilio

Moel eilio descent

Looking back to Foel Gron

Foel Goch descent – goes out of shot to left

Thanks Whitestone, great post. Could you suggest an alternative ride under 4hrs in the area that isn’t Snowdon? Staying in Anglesey.

You could easily get to Abergwyngregyn and then go up to Drum. Its a fantastic ride, and the descent is a s fast as you will go on an mtb. Its ace and very very quiet.

I second the something around Drum. We rode there when we stayed in Conwy and really enjoyed it, great to be able to see the sea almost the whole day.

I did the route that Whitestone mentions a while ago on the bike. It was a push up most of Moel Eilio and then steep grassy banks across to Telegraph Valley. Great views.

I did bump into some locals on the way down into Llanberis and they had just started out doing the route in reverse. They said they prefer it that way to get the downhill of Moel Eilio in.