The Arans, in southern Snowdonia, are one of Wales’ best kept secrets. Aran Fawddwy, the highest peak in the range, sits at 905m and the views from the summit rival Snowdon.
As the area is often mistakenly overlooked, you’ll have the mountains to yourself for hours on end. The linear ridge walk is one of the most straight-forward routes in the region and the panoramic views include the peaks of north Snowdonia, Bala Lake and much of mid-Wales.
Start and End Location: Car Park on the B4403 south of Llanuwchllyn, just before the road bends sharp left and crosses the river
Start Postcode: LL23 7TR, approx. only
Distance: 16km
Time: 6 hours
Facilities: Public toilets on the B4403 north of Llanuwchllyn, where the road crosses Afron Dyfrdwy river
GPX Download: Link below map
Grade: Medium Mountain Walk
From the car park, cross the road and turn left. Do not cross the bridge; instead go through the farming gate straight ahead. There is a blue sign on the gate for the Aran Ridge.
Follow the farming road as it bears right and continues uphill. A few metres after crossing the cattle grid, go over the ladder stile on the right.
Follow the grassy footpath across the field, with brilliant views down to Bala Lake behind.
Continue on the path to a second gate and ladder stile. Go over the stile and follow the grassy track to the large wooden gate in a dry stone wall. To the right of the gate, there is another ladder stile. Cross the stile and continue straight ahead, keeping the fence to the right. The path climbs before dropping down, with Moel Ddu appearing ahead.
Continue straight on as the path steadily climbs towards a dry stone wall. Use the stiles to cross the fence and then cross back on the other side of the stone wall.
The path gradually moves away from the fence and climbs across the moorland; the grassy footpath is well defined and marked with a few wooden posts.
Eventually, a large cairn appears at the base of a steep slope. Behind the cairn is a wide path of loose scree. To the right of the scree, a faint footpath zigzags uphill. Take this footpath, which soon becomes more defined and continues uphill to reach a fence and a ladder stile. Cross the stile and follow the path as it bears right across rocky terrain.
The path drops slightly to meet a fence on the right, with a ladder stile ahead. The views to the left are superb.
Do not cross the ladder stile. Instead, keep the fence to the right and follow the footpath along the edge of the fence as it bears right and then uphill.
For the rest of the route, the path follows the fence line until the final 20-30m scramble to the summit of Aran Fawddwy. Along the way, there are various ladder stiles leapfrogging the fence to avoid walking too closely to the edge of the ridge and to avoid marshes. At the summit of Aran Benllyn, the path bears left, a few metres away from the fence, but the fence should never leave your sight; the Arans are notoriously difficult to navigate and the fence line provides an extremely helpful guide.
After passing the summit of Aran Benllyn, the path continues downhill to reach two ladder stiles and a large gap in a fence. This is also the end of the fence line which has been used as a guide.
Go through the gap in the fence and follow the rocky path as it zigzags steeply uphill. When the path levels out, the summit is to the left.
After taking in the views, retrace your steps to the car park.
