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Maybe I’m just biased because I’ve been here for so long, but Wales is always deserving of another travel post. I’ve written about its capital city, Cardiff and one of its beach towns, Aberystwyth. Both are beautiful and lovely places to visit. But Wales holds so much more than those two places. So now I think it’s time to talk about one of its stunning mountains, Cadair Idris. (Note: You may see it spelt ‘Cader Idris’. The correct spelling is debated.)

Cadair Idris is one of the tallest mountains in Wales. Its peaks overlook a gorgeous valley and a deep blue (deep as in the shade of blue) lake. It’s rich in legend and mythology, providing a fascinating glimpse into Welsh history and culture.

Hiking to the top of Cadair Idris is an absolute pain if you aren’t much of a hiker, but the views are worth it. (Personally, my favorite views were somewhere between half and two-thirds up, but I’ll get to that later.) If you’re lucky enough to go on a sunny day, it’s beautiful. I would strongly advise against going in the winter and/or when it’s raining or snowing. That would be pretty dangerous.

Where is Cadair Idris?

Cadair Idris is in Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park in North Wales. Snowdonia contains nine mountain ranges (which include Wales’s highest peak) and the largest lake in Wales (Snowdonia National Park). Cadair Idris is one of the highest peaks in Snowdonia (I believe it’s the second tallest, but I can’t confirm).

To summarize, it’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s up north, and it’s worth visiting.

What are the legends?

As my title suggests, Cadair Idris was said to be where a giant named Idris would sit to survey his kingdom or “to contemplate the trials and tribulations of man” (Snowdonia National Park). It was his throne (Land of Legends) and the boulders surrounding it are said to be rocks he shook out of his shoes (Snowdonia National Park and Land of Legends). Depending on the spelling (Cadair or Cader), the name can translate to ‘Chair of Idris’ or something more along the lines of ‘fortress of Idris’ (Visit Wales).

The giant Idris may have been an astronomer, philosopher, poet, and/or a king. Some legends say he even fought beside King Arthur (Land of Legends).

No matter how legends may disagree, they all say that if you spend the night on Cadair Idris, you will wake as either a poet or a madman. If you’re already both, maybe you’d be fine, but it’s not recommended to stay on the mountain overnight anyway because of limited shelter from bad weather and because low visibility would make it difficult to see the cliff edges (Visit Wales).

How to get there and how to get up?

This is the slightly annoying part. (Well, the slightly annoying part of planning.)

There are three paths up Cadair Idris. The Pony Path goes up the north side. A second path, which starts on the southern side before connecting with the Pony Path, is the Llanfihangel y Pennant Path (don’t ask me how to pronounce that). This is said to be the easiest path up the mountain, but it’s by far the longest. The third path is the Minffordd Path, which is the one a friend and I chose. This one is the shortest and steepest path up Cadair Idris.

How you get there depends almost entirely on which path you choose. The only path with a bus station anywhere near it is the Minffordd Path. To get to either of the other paths, you’d need to drive or walk several miles from the bus stop by Minnffordd Path. I don’t know about you, but walking several miles just to walk miles up a mountain doesn’t sound hugely appealing to me, especially when you have to work with the bus schedule. But if you have a car, you can pretty easily drive to the parking lots by the Pony Path or the Llanfihangel y Pennant Path.

The Climb

Now comes my favorite part of posts like this. The part where I get to stop giving information and start telling stories.

During a summer break, a friend asked me if I wanted to go hike a mountain with her the next week. I am NOT an active person, and I’d never heard of Cadair Idris before, but I agreed, and we were both so excited for our trip. She came to stay with me for a couple nights beforehand, and I learned she had also never climbed this mountain, neither of us knew how to get there, neither of us knew what or where the trails were, etc. The night before our trip was spent looking up bus routes/times and trails.

The morning of, we hopped on a bus with a day ticket, starting our trek to the middle of nowhere, essentially. We’d gotten maybe three to five hours of sleep that night, which didn’t help us. Several of our snacks were gone before we even started hiking.

The only reason we chose the Minffordd Path is because we didn’t have a car. We (mostly me) were a little nervous because this was supposed to be the steepest of the trails. The first half mile (or maybe mile, I’m bad with gauging distance) was rough. Steps were present in most of the rock, so it felt like walking up stairs for most of that section. Every few ‘flights’, we’d step to the side to catch our breath. Great start. I will say, though, that people tend to be very friendly when hiking. There was another woman who had to stop at all the same places, and we chatted with her each time, encouraging each other. She assured us the views at the top were worth it and that not all of the path was going to be this bad.

Even with the difficulties of this first section, it was beautiful. We were in a canopy with a waterfall running next to the trail. The shade was lovely, even at that point in the morning. The spots to step off the trail would’ve made for cute picnic spots if you wanted to have breakfast on the trail (or lunch, if you started later in the day).

After a little while, the trail opened up and started to flatten out. We followed this section for a while. We were in the valley with the peaks of Cadair Idris all around us. Heather was growing up the sides of the mountain, and old stone walls climbed the steep cliffs. Sheep greeted us every now and then on our trek toward the lake.

As we reached the lake, the path became steep again. We had to be much more careful about our steps, and it took a lot more out of us. I missed the flatter section in the valley for the rest of the trip up. We did have the excuse at that point that we weren’t tired, we were just admiring the view of the lake.

Beautiful, right? Is it just me, or does it kind of look like Mickey Mouse from this angle?

The next, very steep section of the trail gave way to the most beautiful views of the surrounding area (valleys, lakes, everything). And we hadn’t even reached a peak yet. Our progress really slowed, partly because the views were just so good. During this part, we stopped to have a snack and chat for a while. The rest of the hike up Cadair Idris could wait.

I will warn you here that if you struggle with loud noises, there are low-flying planes over the valley throughout the day. I feel like, when we were there, they were probably about 30-60 minutes apart. It was pretty cool. The sound does echo super loudly off the mountains, so it is something to be aware of.

Now, this part of the trail was still kind of steep, but the next part was worse in a different way. Near the first peak, the trail was made up of loose rocks. Most people slowed down here, and it wasn’t uncommon for your feet to slip slide around as you tried to find steady footing.

There was then a short ladder over a fence to the first peak. This is where my friend and I finished our trip up and had lunch. The peak was super rocky with sheep grazing nearby. The views over the lake and valley were beautiful, but honestly, I think the views were better further down.

(Sorry most of these pictures are pretty much the same.)

The Descent

As difficult as it was to hike up Cadair Idris, going back down was another level. The worst part on the way up was how exhausting and challenging the steep sections were. Then, of course, you have sections with loose rocks or other dangerous footing. So maybe it would be more accurate to say that the way up is difficult, and the way down is dangerous.

My clumsy self managed to fall before even getting to the ladder at the peak (which was literally right there). My friend and I avoided as much of the loose rock as possible by walking through the grass on the edges, but I quickly discovered that the grass could be slippery. With the peak still in view, I slid several feet down, with my friend watching in panic several yards away. The best part was I unknowingly slid through red berries, so I looked pretty hurt when I got up. Between the berries and my fruit scented conditioner, the bugs LOVED me.

So basically, while I managed to stay on my feet the entire trip up, I fell between 3-5 times on the way down. Meanwhile my friend was speed walking and jumping all over the place. Not sure how she managed that safely.

Because the trail was the exact same on the way down as it was on the way up, I don’t have much more to say here. The big thing is to be careful and take it slow. Downhill may be easier in some ways, but it can be dangerous.

(I did get at least one new picture on the way back down Cadair Idris.)

Advice and Things to Know

Cadair Idris is an absolutely beautiful hike, no matter how much you may work for it. I’d absolutely recommend it, especially if you can go on a nice day. (That might be asking a lot of Wales, but one can always hope.) There are some things to be aware of, so without further ado, my ‘best tips’ for you.

• As already mentioned, do not try to hike Cadair Idris in the winter unless you are a very experienced hiker. It is a dangerous trek.
• Personally, I think a lot of people seemed a little dramatic when mentioning how much food and water you should bring. Definitely bring food, but don’t worry if you don’t have several meals worth. I will suggest you bring lots of water. People weren’t being overly dramatic about that. There’s a place to get water at the base of the mountain, but it was out of order when we went. The only other option was the hotel by the bus stop, and they didn’t seem thrilled to have us show up.
• Wear comfortable clothes and good hiking shoes. Don’t try it in Converse or sandals or anything crazy. You actually do need good footwear.
• You can go swimming in the lake if you want to. The trail splits most of the way through the valley. One path goes to the lake, and the other continues up the mountain. People were swimming and hanging out at the lake all afternoon.
• Plan which path you’ll take in advance, how you’ll get there, bus times, and anything else you need to know. It’s great to spend a day hiking, but unless you want to end up a madman or a poet, you need to be back down in time for the bus.
• There is a visitor center at the bottom of the Minffordd Path. This is not open year-round. My friend and I went in late August, and it was completely empty. Thankfully, there are still bathrooms at the parking lot.
• Stretch. No further explanation required.
• Bring a first aid kit with you, even if that kit only contains a few Band-Aids and antibacterial wipes.
• Bring sunscreen if you burn.

There’s probably so much more I could say about Cadair Idris. It really is beautiful, and if I can hike it, most people can. So start planning, and I might just see you up there some beautiful day.