Snowdon - 1085 metres

Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and offers walkers the least demanding walk to the summit starting out at 359m from the top of Pen-y-Pass.

The mountain is probably the busiest in Britain and has one of the wettest climates receiving an annual average of more than 4,500 mm (180 in) of precipitation.

Snowdon has six ridges: these are steep and rocky to the north and east, shallower and grassy, but more remote to the south and west. There are many cwms formed by glaciation in the ice age, some filled with tarns (meltwater lakes).

Subsidiary summits include Garnedd Ugain (1,065 m), the knife-edge summit of Crib Goch (923 m), Y Lliwedd (898 m) and Yr Aran (747 m).

Our Route

We start our walk at the Pen-y-Pass Car Park following the old Miner's Track originally constructed to access to the surrounding mine workings strewn around the mountain.

After about 1km, we pass above Llyn Teyrn and then continue for another kilometre before reaching the shore of Llyn Llydaw reservoir.

We cross the reservoir via a well made causeway and contine around the reservoir where the track rises more steeply to Glaslyn, a stunning glacial lake beneath Snowdon.

The final part of the Miners' Track consists of a scrambly walk from the edge of Glaslyn onto the latter part of the Pyg track, although recent step-building has improved this considerably.

For most of the way our route affords easy walking without any significant ascent until we reach the steeper path above Glaslyn where we make our final ascent to the summit.

Although we can descend via the Pyg Track, we generally find a return via the Miners' Track the easiest option with an easy walk back to the car park after the initial descent.

• Start / Finish: Pen-y-Pass Car Park
• Ascent: 2381 feet via Pen-y-Pass
• Target time: Ascent: 2 hours / Descent: 2 hours

Snowdon offers some of the most extensive views in the British Isles: on exceptionally clear days, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales are all visible.

It is also possible to see 24 counties, 29 lakes and 17 islands as well as the newly built Beetham Tower in Manchester from this lofty vantage point.

The view between Snowdon and Merrick (southern Scotland) is the longest theoretical line of sight in the British Isles at 144 miles (232 km) and visible in good conditions.