The incredible industrial town of Blaenau Ffestiniog has so many stunning vistas and things to both see and do that we have found ourselves returning again and again to explore various parts of it - today, we're a little ways outside of the slate mines and in the wooded slopes to the south to explore a lovely stretch of river. Rhaeadr Cymerau is a strip of water that connects up with the A496 at multiple points, allowing for several breathtaking views of the many cascades a "Rhaeadr" is naturally going to have. It is a fairly quick walk through a beautiful and interesting stretch of woodland, with the secondary woodland loop of Coed Cymerau-Isaf a perfect little accompaniment. You could even adjust this walk a bit and turn it into a quick stop by parking at the Coed Cymerau-Isaf end of the walk, then you only need take a short stroll to the main waterfall of this walk. So let us guide you on an adventure into the wilds of Blaenau Ffestiniog, starting from an unassuming lay-by.
To complete the full descent walk as we did today, you are best off parking at this lay-by here on the A496, leaving you just a short walk to get underway. This is about 1.5 miles along the road from Blaenau Ffestiniog but you may be able to cut this walk down to about 1.2 miles by following a public footpath from Bowydd View on the south side of town (I haven't personally tested this path but it is marked on OS maps and is clearly visible on Satellite View). Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of public transport that will get you closer, so if you are navigating that way then walking from Blaenau will probably be your best bet. If you are trying to cut this walk down a bit and turn it into a quick stop then you could potentially park at the far end here, this lane has very limited parking, when we visited one or two cars had pulled up alongside the lane, so it will be less reliable than the lay-by at the top, but this means you are about a third of a mile away from the waterfall viewpoint.
From our lay-by start point just south of Blaenau Ffestiniog, the waterfall walk starts just a short distance back down the A496, you will only be walking back on yourself for a moment but I will grant you that this isn't the most pleasant thing to do, especially if you are visiting on a busy day as the fast roads will have wagons and you only have a grass verge to walk on. Once you reach the first gravel lane entrance you can break away from the busy roads, and you will immediately be on a bridge over the Afon Goedol, the river that feeds into our sequence of waterfalls, although it is no disappointment itself. Granted, the best of the waterfalls is directly beneath you, but there is a way to get a view of that too - if you are willing to follow the A496 a little further down to the next bridge then you can snap some lovely photos of the falls here. Otherwise, cross the bridge and start making your way along the lane, where it splits ignore the downhill path to the left and stay right, eventually, you reach a house and just past that is a small field to cross. On our visit, the field had a beautiful Airstream camper which I believe is a rental you could stay at.
Beyond the camper there is a little screen to hop across at which point you start into the dense woodlands that will guide you back down to the river's edge - this charming stretch of trees seems seldom explored, as we pushed forwards I was repeatedly forced to stop to break spider's web and move nettles aside, but it is beautiful all the same. While the route forward is a mostly gentle downward gradient, the paths were littered with roots and rough rocks and intermittent stretches of boggy mud to navigate. It won't be long before glimpses of Rhaeadr Cymerau come back into view, and, depending on how willing you are to explore a bit, you may just be able to grab a handful of nice photos of various waterfalls along the way down. Keep making your way down the path as it tracks the route of the river, and eventually, you will link up with a more substantial path where you will need to take a left - you're about to reach the main viewpoint.
Following the path will bring you to a little bridge with a carved piece of slate denoting "Pont Cymerau" over the river. This stretch of the water gives the illusion of a calm and gentle flowing Rhaeadr Cymerau, but I am sure by now you have been able to hear the roaring torrents that follow the river along its path. Before the bridge is a path off to the left, following this to the end will give some great uninterrupted views of the waterfalls here. If you are willing to do a little bit of light scrambling you can get some amazing shots of these great falls, but regardless this is a wonderful spot to just relax before adventuring further on.
Across the bridge and down to the second walk of today - Coed Cymerau-Isaf. This woodland walk begins on a small lane just off of the A496, where I mentioned previously that you might be able to park up and take a shorter route to the waterfall (plus potentially a lap of the woods here too). It seems like a popular spot for local dog walkers, as that is who we encountered parked up here on our visit. Into the woods and you will be following a fairly straightforward loop through some nice stretches of woodland, open fields and woodland track - the loop is less than a mile in length, so if you are already in the area as we were then you might as well do a lap of Coed Cymerau-Isaf. Then we needed to make our way back to the start, the simplest route would have been to follow the road back up the hill, but this is hardly the most exciting option so we simply opted to retrace our footsteps back up the hillside, through the beautiful woodlands and to the lay-by.
Today's walk was a simple adventure along some lovely stretches of river to discover the beauty of Rhaedr Cymerau, combined with a lovely little woodland loop on the end at Coed Cymerau-Isaf - I think this is a great sampler for some of the great adventure potential that exists around Blaenau Ffestiniog, its neighbouring towns and the incredible network of public footpaths that exist around here. Some of our favourite walks can be found around here, from the amazing retired slate mines of Cwmorthin (plus that incredible dam!) and the equally beautiful waterfalls in neighbouring Ffestiniog - and this walk certainly belongs amongst them. In fact, I think you could use this and some of the neighbouring walks to plan an absolutely incredible day out all around Blaenau Ffestiniog, or you could grab an OS map and just start picking your way through the paths and bridleways, who knows what else you might discover!
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