Walking in Snowdonia

Q. I wonder if you can help me, please, or direct my inquiry. I am from Maine in the U.S. and will be visiting friends working in England (Stroud) over the next few weeks. We would really like to do some walking in Snowdonia and the rest of Wales. I have heard that there is a Snowdonia 'coast to coast' walk, but I haven't been able to find much info in the available guidebooks here or on the web.

We are looking for a 3-5 day overnight trip, although a few day trips may work too. Do you have any info/recommendations?

My only experience in the U.K. is on the West Highland Way, Ben Nevis (although we did the back ridges :) ), and some peaks in NW Scotland, but we are seasoned walkers in the US.

However, we are used to 'backpacking' here and tent camping at night (usually no facilities near mountain trails).

May one camp in the park? Should we bring a filter for drinking water? Any other advice you have is greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help!,

Paula Thomson, Fayette, Maine, U.S.A.

A. See Walks in The Snowdonia National Park. Walks in The Brecon Beacons National Park and Walks in The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

You cannot legally wild camp anywhere in Wales (though it is tolerated - see below) and I would bring water purification tablets if you are planning to wild camp.

Hope this helps.

Mike (Editor)

A. Wild Camping and The Law in England, Scotland and Wales.

Tents cannot be pitched just anywhere because every piece of Britain is owned by some individual or some organisation and according to the strict letter of the law permission must be obtained prior to pitching tent and camping.

In practice however, this is often impractical and wild camping is usually tolerated in the more remote areas - typically, more than half a day's walk from an official campsite or other accommodation providing you:

Keep groups small
Camp as unobtrusively as possible
Leave camp as you found it
Remove all litter (even other people's)
Carry out everything you carried in
Carry out tampons and sanitary towels (burying them doesn't work as animals dig them up again)
Choose a dry pitch rather than digging drainage ditches around a tent or moving boulders
Toilet duties should be performed 30m (100ft) from water and the results buried using a trowel
At all time, help preserve the environment
And if you are in any doubt about what you're doing, find out more

In Scotland, the current access legislation (which came into effect in early 2005) is explicit about your right to wild camp on hill land. However, there are exceptions. Since March 2011 you are not permitted to wild camp between Dryman and Rowardennan on the shore of Loch Lomond. See Loch Lomond Wild Camping Ban for more information.

There appears to be an exception to this with respect to camping in Dartmoor National Park where the right to wild camping is actually enshrined in the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act, 1949 amendment Dartmoor Commons Act, 1985 - see Wild Camping in the UK for more details.

For the definitive answer with respect to wild camping in Scotland see the answer supplied by the Scottish Natural Heritage

For a few (tongue in cheek) tips on wild camping see Some Wild Camping Tips.

NB. go4awalk.com cannot offer any advice on suitable locations for wild camping - but click here for walks from exisiting campsites.

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

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