A circular ride through an abandoned slate quarry.
The quarry section is steep in places with a surface of slate waste so suitable only for a touring bike with strong tyres or a mountain bike.
Distance 11 miles
Time 2 hours
Cross the A4244 with care and up the hill, turning right at the junction and then through the village of Deiniolen, which grew to serve the Dinorwic slate quarry but is now somewhat run down. Follow the road as it winds upwards through Dinorwic to the bus turning area where you take your bike through the gate into the quarry. The track runs through the bottom of the fenced-off quarry and allows good views of the inclines and decaying buildings.
The track drops down to the A4086 road where you turn right and ride back along Llyn Peris and along the Llanberis by-pass. Take the right turn to “Y Glyn”, the tarmac stops by a gate and you carry on along the trackbed of the former railway branch line along the western shore of the lake. On the eastern side ran the Padarn Railway which transported slates from the Dinorwic Quarry to the sea at Y Felinheli for onward transportation. The lake section was converted to narrow gauge as a tourist railway operated by some of the locomotives that worked on the narrow gauge upper levels of the quarry.
After cycling through the tunnel, the track brings you out at the main road, cross over and turn right along the path which soon turns left through a pair of gates along part of the old road.
Continue through Brynrefail, there’s an excellent café called “Caban” in the village. At the A4244, you can turn right and ride along the adjoining multi-user path road to the turning for Graianfryn. Alternatively take the first left through Penisarwaun and loop back to Graianfryn.
