The National Park covers more than 800 square miles, a region of haunting beauty & grandeur, rocky mountains, cascading waterfalls, Roman Forts & Castles by the score.
Pen-y-Pass is the Warden Center, (ranger station) includes Rest Rooms, Information Center, (Including, The Everest Room), Café, Car Park, Bus, Sherpa Stop, & Trailhead to 3 waymarked footpaths to the summit of Mount Snowdon.
"Pen y Pass, situated at the high point of the Llanberis Pass at an altitude of 359 metres (1,178 ft), the road was built in the 1830s to allow ore from the mines on Snowdon to be transported to Llanberis. It would be taken down the Miners Track to a store-house at Pen-y-Pass first. Previously, the miners had had to move the ore over the Snowdon summit and down to Beddgelert, which is located at around a third the height of Snowdon.
The Llanberis pass road extends beyond Pen-y-Pass to join the Beddgelert-to-Capel Curig road at the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel. That notable climbing hotel was used as a base by Sir John Hunt, Baron Hunt and his team whilst training for the successful 1953 expedition to Mount Everest and equipment and autographs from that and other expeditions may be seen in the Everest Room.
The former Gorphwysfa Hotel at Pen-y-Pass is now a youth hostel operated by YHA, and opposite is an information centre and café and a Snowdonia National Park-run car park. There is also a car park at the foot of the Llanberis Pass at Nant Peris as well as others in Llanberis village. There is a park and ride bus service to Pen-y-pass car park, which is the hub of the year-round Sherpa bus network provided by Express Motors and GHA Coaches. This service links Pen-y-Pass to Llanberis, Capel Curig, Betws-y-Coed, Beddgelert, Porthmadog, Rhyd Ddu and Waunfawr." Text Source: (
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Snowdonia National Park Situated on the west coast of Britain, in the beautiful area of North Wales. With over 800 sq miles of mountains, forest, rivers & lakes. Many historic Roman Forts, Medieval Churches, & Castles by the score, Snowdonia is a living working area, home to over 26,000 people. Welsh is the main language to 2 thirds of the population. The park is a very popular tourist hotspot, with amazing opportunities to hike, climb, take part in watersports and even paint a picture or photograph the spectacular scenery all around.
The official website for Snowdonia describes the geology:
"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.
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 higher than any peak in 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)." Adapted from: (
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