To walk this path south from Porth Penrhyn is like walking hand in hand with the river Cegin. This part of the route which runs between Porth Penrhyn and the village of Glasinfryn, was developed in the 1980's and is also known as Lôn Bach. The disused narrow gauge railway upon which the path was built, was constructed by the Penrhyn Estate to transport slate from the quarries at Bethesda for export at Porth Penrhyn.
Lôn Ogwen Map
Extending the route to Bethesda - 'Tynal Tywyll'
Work has started on an exciting project which will improve people’s access to the beautiful scenery in the heart of the Ogwen Valley.
Lôn Las Ogwen currently stretches from Porth Penrhyn on the outskirts of the city of Bangor to Tregarth. Work is underway to extend the route to Bethesda as part of the Communities and Nature strategic project – a £14.5million project led and managed by Countryside Council for Wales and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government.
Once completed, the hope is that it will encourage more people to leave the car at home and choose to walk or cycle to work, school, to the shops or to see friends.
Photos of the ongoing work can be seen on Gwynedd Council's Facebook account
By now the work is nearing completion, and recently local residents and representatives have had a sneak-preview on an 800 metre long section of Lôn Las Ogwen which will open to the public in the coming weeks, and have named it the 'Tynal Tywyll', originating from the name that's been used by the local residents.
Following the completion of the work it will be possible to travel along the old railway tunnel between Tregarth and Bethesda without having to follow the main road and traffic.