Cadair (Cader) Idris

The second most popular mountain in Wales commands the views of much of mid Wales and south Snowdonia from its peak of 2,930 ft, the mountain is the host of Arthurian legends of giants, bottomless lakes, dragons and is even the hunting grounds of Welsh legend Gwyn ap Nudd (the lord of the Welsh otherworld)

The name Cadair or Cader Idris, means “Chair of Idris” in Welsh, Idris being a medieval king in Wales that has since fallen into legend as a mythical giant who used Cadair Idris as his throne to survey his kingdom and chart the movements of the heavens. The real Idris ap Gwyddno may have also had connections to the mountain with historians believing that he may have defeated the Irish on its slopes during a great battle and was later buried somewhere on the Cadair, this may be the source of an alternative old Irish translation for the mountain as “Stronghold of Idris”.

Legend also says that anyone that spends a night on the slopes of the mountain will either wake up a poet or a madman, this tradition dates back to when bards would sleep atop the summit in hopes of gaining poetic inspiration, the only way to find out whether this is true though is by taking the risk yourselves and spending a night on the mountain. A good place for this would be Cwm Cau, a lake of legend in its own right said to be bottomless and the eternal prison of a water dragon that King Arthur himself captured, after the beast had rampaged through region killing and maiming people and animals alike.

As well as dragons and giants Cadair Idris was once said to be the home of legendary Celtic figure Gwyn ap Nudd, the lord of the Celtic otherworld known as Annwn or more commonly know as Avalon from Arthurian legend. Gwyn’s legend paint him as being the king of fairies, forcing sons to eat their father’s hearts, marrying his sister, hunting a legendary boar with King Arthur and finally commanding a host of huge spectral hounds known as Cŵn Annwn to harvest souls around Cadair and take them back to the his underworld. It’s said that he even commands the fogs and winds that plague the mountain and to hear the bark of his hell hounds means certain death, which will add a certain layer of danger to hikes!

There are several paths up the mountain of varying difficulty, the easiest and most used is the pony track from Ty-Nant (just up the road from Dolgellau) at around 3 miles and is relatively easy going. On the other side of the mountain the Minffordd path takes you through ancient woodlands and past Cwm Cau which was once thought to be a volcanic crater before being identified as a glacial cirque, this path is one of the shortest at under 3 miles but does involve the most elevation but the views are definitely worth it. The fox path starting just down the road from Ty-Nant is the most difficult official path due to its 1,000 feet of ascent up very unconsolidated scree slopes which demand a lot of physical fitness especially on the descent so this path should not be attempted unless you are experienced on this type of terrain.