Including Helygog Falls.
From Cardiff, take the A470 to the B4416, just before Dolgellau, signposted to Brithdir. In Brithdir, when the road turns hard left, continue ahead on a smaller road (the remains of a Roman road). After a couple of bends, the Roman road runs quite straight with only minor bends for about a mile. After it turns very sharply left, it soon crosses a stone bridge, and there is some limited parking space on a grass verge. SH 7889 1980.
Walk back over the bridge, and take the track on the right, then leave the track to the right to follow the stream very, very carefully. Just below the bridge is a weir followed by twin waterfalls. Immediately below the twin waterfalls, the stream plunges down the main Helygog Falls waterfall. Now things get more risky. At the top of the waterfall, leaning up against an overhanging tree, is the top of an iron ladder leading down to the base. However, this has been damaged by falling rocks - the ladder is bent severely, and the rocks do not appear to be held on very well. As the ladder is not officially maintained, this situation is not going to improve. You may consider it too risky to get down.
Alternatively, follow the rim of the gorge carefully further downstream, until you find a point where you can descend the bank to the stream, then head back upstream to the waterfall, and the remains of the old turbine house. Use this approach to get to the base of the next big waterfall as well (there is a stub of the ladder here to help, assuming you can locate it), and traverse the wall carefully to get upstream to the waterfall. You may wish to take a rope and belay off trees, being careful not to knock rocks down with the rope. This is a very tricky area, probably best left to skilled gorge walkers.
Waterfall | Grid reference | GPS coordinates | Image |
---|---|---|---|
Helygog Falls | SH 78869 19834 | 52.762485°N, 3.796582°W |
Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of this description, neither the author nor his fellow walkers can accept responsibility for loss or injury arising from any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in this description. This description is intended as a guide only, and you should select a route to suit your own abilities, at your own discretion. Ability requirements are a guide only. Route maps are approximated. You follow this description at your own risk.