Gwydir Forest

Gwydir Forest spreads across Conwy County Borough inside Snowdonia National Park. It takes its name from the old Gwydir Estate, once owned by the John Wynn family of Gwydir Castle. The forest covers more than seventy square kilometres, with productive woodland covering most of that area. Three rivers—Llugwy, Lledr and Machno—cut through the undulating plateau, which rises between 210 and 300 metres above sea level. Despite being a forest, wide views open across the valleys to the Glyderau, Carneddau and Snowdon massif. Rainfall ranges from 1,300 to 2,000 millimetres a year, feeding numerous lakes created for historic mine workings. The forest became a National Forest Park in 1937 and gained Forest Park status in 1993. A 28-kilometre mountain bike trail, the Marin Trail, winds through the heart of the forest with 860 metres of climbing. Over a hundred miles of roads and tracks allow access for forest workers, while several car parks offer picnic sites for visitors. The forest still employs seventy-five people directly and supports many more locally. More than twenty lakes lie within walking distance, each created or enlarged to supply water to the mines that once thrived here. Visitors find wide tracks, old miners’ paths and waymarked forest walks leading to lakes and mine remains. The Miners Trail links four principal mines—Parc, Hafna, Llanrwst and Cyffty—with information boards along the way. Parc Mine, the largest, produced more lead and zinc ore between 1953 and 1957 than the whole Llanrwst area in the previous century. Engine houses, waste tips and reservoirs mark the surface, while miles of tunnels lie hidden below. The forest’s varied planting includes conifers and native broadleaf species, offering changing colours through the seasons.