Barmouth to Dolgellau on the Mawddach Trail (one way by bus)
- daveatkinnerton
- Aug 1, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 29
Walk: Barmouth to Dolgellau
Distance: about 10 miles (but flat)
Parking: Pont y Wernddu Car Park (Free)
Bus Route: T3 Wrexham to Barmouth T3 - Barmouth - Wrexham | Transport for Wales (traws.cymru)
The Mawddach Estuary between the town of Dolgellau and the sea at Barmouth (Abermaw in Welsh) is a spectacular piece of landscape by anyone's standard. Access to this beautiful estuary in southern Snowdonia is made easy because of the disused railway line that has been brilliantly repurposed as a cycle/ walking trail. If you are fan of beautiful scenery, but also appreciate no hills and plenty of public loos along the way, look no further - this is your walk.
On a bike, a 'there-and-back-again' on the trail is pretty comfortable. However, if you want to walk it, 'there-and-back-again' is a bit of a mission. 'There' is fab; at about 9.5 miles each way though, 'and back again' can be a tad fatiguing: You know the bit where you are sure the end will be just around the next corner, and it's not? Anyway, factor in a one way trip on the excellent T3 bus service and you are left with nearly all the gain with hardly any of the pain. A classic Bus Pass N Boots walk.
As free parking is an absolute priority, we parked at the Dolgellau end where it is more plentiful. Remembering that it is an estuary, that my walking companion, Rosie the spaniel, is a swampophile, and that bus drivers would be well within their rights to forbid entry to a dog that looked and smelt as though it had gone 5 round's in a fight with a skunk in a sewage outflow (and lost), we elected to catch the bus first and walk back second. The favoured free parking is at the Pont y Wernddu carpark which is actually on the Mawddach Trail itself, located approximately 1 mile west of Dolgellau (toward the sea) . The car park is small - it has room for about 20 cars - but is rarely full. The entrance is on the right, just 20m from the roundabout (first exit) where the main A496 splits to let you go either straight on to Barmouth on the north side of the estuary, or left toward toward Towyn via Arthog and Fairbourne on the south side of the estuary (this first exit is the one the car park is on).
If you are catching the bus from Dolgellau, give yourself 30 minutes or so to walk the 1.25 miles to the bus stop in Dolgellau's main square (Sgwâr Eldon) (see picture).
The walk back into Dolgellau is actually along the first part the Mawddach trail meaning you take a mile off the walk back to the car from Barmouth end and yet have still done the whole estuary walk. It also offers a pre-bus-ride snacking opportunity. Cunning eh? Sgwâr Eldon is about 5 minutes walk further into town from the main Dolgellau car park at the official start of the Mawddach Trail. There are public toilets at the car park (20p charge at the time of writing).
The Minister for Holidays (abbreviated as M4H) joined Rosie and me for this walk bringing another dimension to the blog - The Meat and Potato Pie Review. She's from Wigan and therefore, genetically and culturally, an expert on all things pie.
The bus we aimed for was the T3 service to Barmouth, leaving Dolgellau's Sgwâr Eldon at 11:20 am. As we got to the car park at 10:40, we got the first mile of the day under our belts and arrived at the Square with 10 minutes to spare before the bus departure time. Right alongside the bus stop is the delightful-smelling DD's bakery. Pie time. We ended up with two different ones, a meat and potato pie and a lamb mint and pea pasty. The meat and potato pie is the one for review (for info though, the lamb mint and pea pasty was delicious). DD Bakery's Meat and Potato Pie scored 4 out of 5. This is praise indeed by the way. The pastry was first class and the filling plentiful and well seasoned, though, in the opinion of the expert, with a tad too much black pepper and the meat and potato seesaw weighing slightly too heavily on the potato side. A big tick for DD's.
Three busses turned up in the Square at 11:20 by the way - so it is well worth checking with the driver that you have chosen the right one.
The bus trip into Barmouth (along the A496) is about 25 minutes. We got off at the main bus stop (on Jubilee Road). Barmouth (or, if it is ever recalled by a French summer visitor with a good ear for accents, West-Midlands-Sur-La-Mer) is a popular little seaside town, in a picture-perfect location, with all the trimmings you'd expect. As we'd already had a belly full of trimmings, we headed toward the beach road rather than walk back through town. The first target for the return trip is the dramatic wooden railway bridge that spans the mouth of the estuary and which has a cycle and pedestrian walkway alongside. It is accessed via the harbour (where there are also public toilets (free)) followed by a narrow footpath for a short section along the main road on which the bus brought you in.
Cross the bridge and soak in the view (see panoramic photo at the head of this post). Back in the day, there used to be toll booth but this has since been replaced by an honesty box - with a catchy request of 'Pay the Troll'.
Once you've crossed the watery bit, you have a choice. Straight on takes you past the train station to the car park and loos (free) at the end of the Mawddach trail & directly onto the disused railway line that, after about 8 miles, would lead you back to the car. On the left however, a stile gives access along the estuary side (see picture) allowing you to join the main trail a little closer to Dolgellau by walking through the little wooded peninsular on marked paths and bridleways. I'm pretty sure that I have seen this bit flooded in the past, but it wasn't on the day of our walk, so we took it. Digression alert: A little further on than this left turn, by the station, is another footpath turning right and crossing over the 'used' (beware!) railway line onto a raised dyke that forms part of the present, controversially light-weight, sea protection for the small settlement/resort of Fairbourne. I had heard several years ago that Fairbourne was to be abandoned to the waves - it being deemed too expensive to protect the settlement from the future climate-change-driven cataclysm. Before you start planning your Fairbourne Ruins Diving Holiday for the 2050's however, there is more recent optimism about other schemes that will keep this quirky resort's head above water for the foreseeable future. I can't see why it wouldn't be an ideal test bed for new ideas that could be adopted elsewhere on our substantial coastline. I hope that happens.
Anyway, on the basis that we would be walking on the disused railway for the majority of the return trip, we elected to turn left and head around the wooded Peninsular (Fegla Fawr). The way we went doesn't make the walk longer, just adds a little to the variety.
The walk around the early part of the peninsular really is quite picturesque with some great views up the estuary (picture), and also some great views back toward the iconic bridge and Barmouth Harbour. Views that are obscured by the very peninsular you are walking around if you were to go directly onto the Mawddach Trail.
Once over the stile at the end of the railway bridge, and committed to the peninsular, follow the clear track across the flood plain alongside the estuary and access the path into the trees. Continue on this path and you will eventually come, unexpectedly, to an avenue of what look like Victorian seaside Guest Houses.
The road and small beach/harbour in front of the houses is private, the path therefore directs you onto a track behind them. This track leads to a lane. Turn left here back toward the estuary and after a few hundred meters bear right continuing on the track alongside the estuary until you reach a wooden gate with a collection of at least 3 path signs to the right hand side. The footpath that is signed straight on (alongside the track) takes you around the rest of the peninsular and would add another 20 minutes to the walk. We took the bridle path, at right angles to the track on which we approached, which arrives, less than half a mile later, at the Mawddach trail - also at a right angle. The bridle path is so straight that the Romans could have planned it. The trees overhanging the path would indicate that any horse you met would be a tiny one, or else any rider you met would be walking, or probably both those things. It does end up going alongside a sparsely wooded field that had cattle in it. They didn't bother us but I admit to stepping up the pace through that bit.
Once you are at the trail (obvious repurposed railway line), turn left and enjoy the eye-full of estuary on the left and the craggy northern aspect of Cader Idris on the right as the trail meanders west, estuary-side, into the distance towards Dolgellau. You'll share the trail with plenty of other walkers, runners and cyclists enjoying the same eye-full as you are.
After about 4.5 miles, you end up at the popular watering-hole called 'The George'; the pub that sits trailside by the pretty old road toll bridge at Penmaen-Pool.
This is a lovely, timeless spot to have a sit down and enjoy some liquid (and/or solid) refreshments before embarking on the last leg of the trail back to the car.
The Pont Y Wernddu car park is just 25 pleasant (though unremarkable - in comparison with the scenery through which you've previously wandered) minutes from the pub.
If you have the energy, you could repeat the mornings walk and spend some more time in Dolgellau. It is a very pleasant town with a good selection of pubs and eateries down little alleyways or overlooking Squares, often in the evening sunshine. On the basis that it was good weather, and that you are only young twice, that's what we did. If you decide on a kebab, a word of advice, unlike so many portion-sensitive establishments nowadays, Large means Enormous. A grand day out.
Only cycled this before, will now give it a go on bus and foot