How Hard Is the Panorama Walk at Barmouth?

The Eryri National Park Authority grades the Panorama Walk Hard/Strenuous. It is a circuit of 6.5 km (4 miles) that takes about 3 hours.

Expect steep climbs and ground that can be very wet underfoot.

The Authority says it is not suitable for novice walkers. The official walk starts at its car park above Barmouth, not in the town.

For families, an older Park leaflet calls the first section, up to the viewpoint, easy and very suitable for young families.

Where the official walk starts

According to Eryri’s Panorama Walk page, the start and finish is the National Park car park near Barmouth, at grid reference SH 625 166.

The Park’s older leaflet puts the car park 1 mile from Barmouth, up a narrow road above the town.

The official route does not cross Barmouth Bridge.

The circuit goes from the car park to the viewpoint, then along an old road to Cutiau. It climbs over Bwlch y Llan and returns by road, as the Park’s route PDF sets it out.

Eryri describes Barmouth Bridge as a Grade II* listed wooden railway viaduct, 820 metres long. In December 2017 the Cambrian News reported that walkers and cyclists crossing it were asked for a voluntary donation.

The viewpoint and the short walk

The Park lists viewpoints over the Mawddach Estuary, the Cadair Idris range and Cardigan Bay.

According to the Coflein entry for the walk, the best panorama is from the top of a rocky crag at the end of the path.

Three sources describe a walk to the viewpoint alone:

• The older leaflet calls the first section, up to the viewpoint, easy and very suitable for young families.
• From the station, Mud and Routes says you are soon uphill at the first proper viewpoint. You can cut the route short there.
• If you are low on time, 10Adventures says to park at the top of Panorama Road and head straight to the view point.

None of the three gives a distance or a time for the viewpoint alone.

The leaflet adds that other sections of the circular walk are very steep. It also says some sections can be very wet, so it asks for waterproof footwear.

The full circuit

Walking boots and waterproof layers are essential, says the Park, which lists OS Explorer OL23 (Cader Idris and Llyn Tegid) as the map.

The circuit runs in this order:

1. Walk down the road from the car park towards Barmouth. Turn left at the Panorama Trail signpost onto a grassy path.
2. Follow the old road into woodland, through two gates, then take the path up to the viewpoint.
3. Keep left as you climb through the trees to the top of the rock. Go round it and down a narrow path to the old-road gate.
4. Turn right along the old road, about 1 km down to Cutiau, passing the old Victorian gardens on your right.
5. Climb through Cutiau, past a chapel, onto a narrow path that climbs steeply through the woods.
6. Follow the road for about 100 m, then the footpath towards the radio mast.
7. Take the obscure path that climbs steeply to Bwlch y Llan.
8. Join the Taith Ardudwy path, follow the track to Gellfawr farm, pass the Garn, and take the road back to the car park.

Mud and Routes puts Bwlch y Llan at just over 300 m.

The route PDF warns three times that it can get very wet underfoot.

Longer versions from the town

Routes that start in Barmouth are longer.

Barmouth station is on the Cambrian Coast Line, which runs from Machynlleth to Porthmadog, says Transport for Wales, whose trains serve the station.

There are no car parking facilities at the station.

Mud and Routes says Barmouth has plenty of facilities and the route has none. 10Adventures rates the signage on its route as poor.

The way back

Past the Garn, the older leaflet has you cross the last stile of the walk and follow the road down to the car park.

On the short walk, return the way you came.

The Park’s circuit ends at the car park, so a start in town needs its own way home.

10Adventures brings its loop down a zig-zag track into Barmouth, with an optional short detour to a memorial.

A little history

Coflein describes the Panorama Walk as a well-made, well-preserved late Victorian footpath, about 2 km east of Barmouth. It is based on older roads and paths.

The road and the path to the viewpoint are both shown on the Ordnance Survey manuscript map of 1819. Coflein adds that the path formerly incorporated a tea room and “pleasure grounds”.

The Park mentions the old Victorian garden with its tea-room, popular in the early 1900s. The older leaflet says an old derelict building on the walk used to be the tea room.

The walk is on the Cadw Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, according to Parks & Gardens UK. The grade is Grade II, and the path is a public footpath.

Choosing the short walk or the full circuit

The Hard/Strenuous grade belongs to the full 6.5 km circuit.

• The short walk to the viewpoint: easy by the older Park leaflet, and you return the way you came.
• The full circuit: the Park grades it Hard/Strenuous and says it is not suitable for novice walkers.

Choose the short walk if you have young children, are new to hill walking or are short of time.

Choose the full circuit only if steep climbs, an obscure path and very wet ground sound manageable.

If neither suits, Eryri names the Mawddach Trail, on the estuary’s southern shore, as the more accessible option. It lists the trail as Access for All, one way, 15 km, 6 hours.

A different walk with Mawddach views is the Precipice Walk near Dolgellau.

We compile and explain public route and safety information. We guide nobody and sell nothing on the hill.

Park at SH 625 166, wear boots, walk up to the viewpoint, and decide there whether to carry on.