Introduction to the Park

Snowdonia is one of the eleven National Parks of England and Wales, and is the second largest after the Lake District. Designated in 1951, the Snowdonia National Park Authority celebrated 50 years as a protected landscape in 2001.

The National Park covers 823 square miles of the most beautiful and unspoilt countryside in north west Wales. Unlike "wild" National Parks elsewhere in the world, Snowdonia is home to just over 26,000 people, who live and work in its towns and villages, and on its hill farms.

The Dwyryd, Mawddach and Dyfi Estuaries, and 23 miles (37 kilometres) of coastline also contribute to the excitingly varied landscapes which are home to a wide range of wildlife.

Snowdonia is classic ground for the study of geology; the setting in the 19th century for the first scientific investigations of some of the world's oldest rocks. Building on those early studies, geologists have been able to piece together a very full description of its creation over the course of hundreds of millions of years of submersion, lifting and erosion.

Snowdonia's geology consists of four different types of rocks - the Pre-Cambrian, the Cambrian, the Ordovician and the Silurian - even the youngest of which, the Silurian, is over 400 million years old.

Detail was added to the landscape, in geological terms, relatively recently, by the Great Ice Age. The last of the glaciers did not disappear until about 10,000 years ago, and their relics are abundant in the National Park, in the form of u-shaped and hanging valleys, erratic boulders, cirques, moraines and glacial lakes.

Getting There

BY TRAIN The Park is served by rail by Arriva Trains Wales. 

Getting Around the Park

The Park can be explored on foot, bike and by an extensive local network of buses and trains.  Traveline Cymru: 0870 608 2 608 Open 0700 - 2100 daily for information on all scheduled public transport services in Wales.

Links

 Snowdonia National Park
 Park Authority Web Site