For Caerberllan, Gamallt and Ffridd Cocyn. Three Marilyns in the Tal Y Llyn Valley, Dolgellau.

Updated: Oct 3, 2020

21.1.2020 - Foel Cae’rberllan 380m, Gamallt 288m and Ffridd Cocyn 313m.

Foel Cae'rberllan and Gamallt

Foel Cae'rberllan and Gamallt were two Marilyns out of a total of three down the Tal-Y- Llyn valley near Dolgellau in North Wales. I parked in a small cutting just north of Abergynolwyn on the B4405 by a small bridge. Just across the road from the cutting there is a foot path and style that takes you up the hill.

The trail is easy enough as it takes you uphill across some fields and onto a wide track that heads West. Not long after you leave the track on the left and head uphill again following a stone wall. After coming to a wall junction you head due West now across country still going steadily uphill. The views of the valley are beautiful even on this pretty dank day. Within an hour from the start you are on the summit which is marked by a small cairn.

You now keep on heading due west going downhill and meander your way down the hill on and off a trail. I followed the path of least resistance downhill ending up in the valley coming out on an unclassified road near Caerberllan farm. It is all easy enough. I then followed the road around to cross the river Dysynni and turned right on a trail just before Rhiwlas that headed SW and uphill. Again I followed the path of least resistance here and made use of gateways and now headed SE towards the looming bulk of Gamallt. I picked up a wide trail at some point and then followed the fence line towards Gamallt forest. I hopped over the fence and picked up on an unmarked trail that appeared to take me in the direction I wanted skirting the edge of the cliff/forest.

At the appropriate point (nothing marked on the ground) I headed into the forest on a faint path to pick up the high point of Gamallt. It is unmarked and it is nothing more than a tump of earth but there is a path to it/back to the edge of the forest.

Shortly after I continued skirting the edge of the forest for a little more until I picked an appropriate point to hop over the fence and walked steeply downhill to an obvious wide trail that would take me all the way into Abergynolwyn. I had a quick coffee at the pub here before walking the obvious route back to the van along the road. This last stretch is about 4kms.

Parking and Access: Small cutting at the start point by the bridge. Enough room for a couple of cars.

Route Summary: Marked trails, faint paths and roads. Steep hills and forests with beautiful valley views.

Route Statistics: 11.5km with 715m height gain done in 4 hours.

Ffridd Cocyn 313m.

This was the second hike of the day about 10km down the road from Foel Cae’rberllan. Here you will come across a static caravan site near Geufron Farm. Right outside this site is an ample lay-by. Here I just went along the road a little bit, went into the forest and hopped over the fence into the field (no marked trails here). I headed uphill skirting the forest as I went. Eventually I started to head across the fields again and carried on going steadily upwards to the summit. There are no issues here and many of the fences/walls marked on the map are not there or fallen. The summit is marked again by a small cairn. I was up and down within the hour.

Parking and Access: Sizeable lay-by outside a caravan site at the start point.

Route Summary: Unmarked trails and a steep hill. Nice valley view.

Route Statistics: 2.8kms with 288m of height gain done in 54 minutes.

GPX files: For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’