Snowdonia

The Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri), established in 1951, was among the first areas in Britain to be designated a National Park. The Park covers an area of 2,132 square km (823 square miles) and has over 60km of coastline. It is the largest of Wales’ National Parks, and the second largest in the UK stretching from the Carneddau in the north to the Dyfi Estuary in the south. The landscape is characterised by mountains and upland plateaux intersected by deep glacially ploughed valleys, and is home to Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, the highest mountain in England and Wales. The nine mountain ranges cover approximately 52% of the Park, many of which exceed 3000 feet in altitude including Snowdon, the Carneddau and the Glyders.

The English name for the Park takes its name form its highest mountain Snowdon, while the Welsh name is thought to mean either ‘land of the eagles’ or simply ‘highland’. Traditionally before the establishment of the National Park the name was only given to the area around the highest mountains in the north.