Snowdonia National Park - North Wales, UK - National Parks of the World on Waymarking.com

Located in the beautiful area of North Wales, Snowdonia National Park covers 823 square miles of mountains, forest, rivers and gorges. Welsh is the main language to 65% of the population here and is a very popular tourist hotspot. There are fantastic opportunities to hike, climb, take part in watersports and even paint a picture in the spectacular scenery all around.

Stone Age burial chambers, Roman forts, churches, castles, slate quarries and other industrial works are dotted throughout the area. The slate distinctly covers the mountains where it has been quarried creating steep drops or slippery slopes and gleaming blue in the rain.


The offical website for Snowdonia describes the geology:

'Snowdonia National Park was established in 1951 and is the second largest of the 11 National Parks in England and Wales. The Park covers 2,132 square km (823 square miles) and stretches from Cardigan Bay's High Water Mark in the west, to the Conwy Valley in the east and from the River Dyfi and its estuary in the south to the coast of Conwy Bay as far as Conwy in the north.

The Snowdonia National Park takes its name from Snowdon which, at 1085m (3,560 feet), is the highest peak in Wales and England. In Welsh, Snowdon used to be called Yr Wyddfa Fawr (the Great Tomb or the Great Throne) or Carnedd y Cawr (the Cairn of the Giant). Nowadays it is simply called Yr Wyddfa, but the various names bear testament to a land steeped in legends, history and tradition. This is the ancient Kingdom of Gwynedd, the heart of Wales and the stronghold of 'Cymraeg', the Welsh Language. The Welsh name for the National Park is Eryri (The Highland).

Snowdonia is synonymous with extensive areas of windswept uplands and jagged peaks, the "raison d'être" for its National Park designation. The nine mountain ranges cover approximately 52% of the Park and include many peaks that are over 3000 feet (915m). Apart from the beauty and charm of its high mountains, Snowdonia has inspiring natural and semi-natural habitats. It is a delightfully varied landscape of steep river gorges, waterfalls, passes and green valleys. Remnants of the once common oak, ash, rowan and hazel woodlands are found scattered throughout the Park whilst the beautiful Dyfi, Mawddach and Dwyryd estuaries and 23 miles of coastline and sandy beaches contribute to the overall diversity of habitat forms. This range of habitats is recognised nationally and internationally by the numerous designations ranging from Local Conservation Areas and Sites of Special Scientific Interest to Special Areas of Conservation and the Dyfi Estuary which is a proposed World Biosphere Site.

The Geology of Snowdonia:
The complex and diverse geology of Snowdonia has done much to shape the present landscape as land and sea have changed place more than once. Great mountain ranges have been pushed up out of the oceans only to be slowly eroded away, their debris carried by the rivers and laid on the sea bed to form the substance of future mountains. Volcanic rocks have produced distinctive features on Snowdon, Cadair Idris, the Glyderau, the Carneddau and Arenig.

A distinguishing feature of the rocks of Snowdonia is that some are ancient. The fossil shell fragments on the summit of Snowdon are a memory of life on the seabed over 500 million years ago. The oldest physical feature of Snowdonia is probably the ‘Harlech Dome’ created in the Cambrian era before the volcanoes erupted. Snowdon and Cadair Idris form the northern and southern extents of the dome respectively. What we now know as the Rhinogydd stand at the centre, on what was the original ‘uplift’ of sedimentary rocks, composed of muds and sands, but later altered by the volcanic activity to become the slates and grits of today. In recent geological terms, Ice Age activity has done much to shape the landscape. The glaciers that were at their peak 18,000 years ago in Snowdonia scoured out great U-shaped valleys including Llanberis and Nant Gwynant in the north and Tal-y-Llyn in the south. The same period also formed rocky ‘cwms’ or corries, hanging tributary valleys many of which have breath-taking waterfalls cascading over them, whilst the characteristic pinnacled knife edge ridges or arêtes like Crib Goch are found where two ‘cwms’ formed on either side of a mountain.

Snowdonia has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in England and Wales with Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in the North and Cadair Idris in the South. In all there are more than 90 summits over 2,000 feet and 15 0ver 3,000. All of which are listed here.

Wildlife:
With its varied landscape and wide range of habitats, high mountains, wooded valleys, rivers, lakes and coastline, it is not surprising that Snowdonia supports communities of plants and animals which are of international and national importance.

Approximately 20% of the Snowdonia National Park is specially designated by UK and European law to protect its distinctive wildlife. About half of that area has been selected by Government under the European Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation.

Amongst the arctic alpine plants found in the high peaks, the Snowdon Lily is unique to Snowdon. So too is the Snowdon or Rainbow Beetle. Three areas - the Dyfi Estuary Biosphere Reserve, Cwm Idwal and Llyn Tegid are RAMSAR Sites - wetlands of international importance. The entire coast and marine environment below low water mark has been selected for designation as a Marine Special Area of Conservation.

There are 17 National Nature Reserves in Snowdonia; more than in any other National Park in England and Wales; and 56 Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

In Llyn Tegid, the largest natural lake in the Park, lives another Snowdonia rarity, the Gwyniad, a unique sub-species of the European white fish, trapped in the lake at the end of the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago.

History and Culture:
History and culture are everywhere in Snowdonia.

Snowdonia's landscape illustrates the history of the area through Stone Age burial chambers, Roman forts, churches, castles, slate quarries and other industrial works.

Ancient stone burial chambers indicate the intimate relationship humans and wildlife have had in Snowdonia since 4000 BC. Since these Neolithic times, Eryri has been dominated by a pastoral tradition. A variety of livestock was farmed in Eryri until the Enclosure Acts in the late 18th Century when sheep displaced cattle as the predominant livestock.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, numerous mines and hillside galleries were opened with significant impacts on the region and its communities. However, throughout this period traditional farming practices were largely maintained. After the Second World War an enormous increase in recreational use, together with rapid changes in agricultural practices, had a significant impact on the landscape of Eryri.

Today the main land-use is sheep farming and, to a lesser extent, cattle farming with coniferous forestry becoming more important relatively recently. The tourism industry continues to grow with many coastal towns having already developed as seaside resorts and yachting ports.

This long history of transhumance and industrial development has shaped the Snowdonia of today.

Park Name: Snowdonia Historic/Cultural Park: yes Natural Park: yes Recreation Area: yes Wildlife Refuge: yes Park Website: [Web Link] Type of Listing: Plaque/Educational Display Fees in Local Currency: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Dates of Access: From: 01/01/2008 To: 12/31/2008 Hiking: yes Camping: yes Bicycling: yes Horseback Riding: yes Off-Roading: no Swimming: yes Snorkling/Scuba: yes Boating: yes Rock Climbing: yes Fishing: yes Other Park Type not listed above: Not listed Other Type Detail: Not listed Hours available: Not listed Other Activities: Not listed

Visit Instructions:

A log will require a recent photograph at the coordinates. Some of these locations will be placed for the scenery, so a gpsr will just ruin the picture.

If you don't have a digital camera post a descriptive log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/13/2015 The_Senior_Crabbes visited it 02/01/2013 Ddraig Ddu visited it 07/04/2008 Meirion visited it 06/25/2008 cldisme visited it

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