Llyn Padarn stretches for three kilometres beside Llanberis, separated from its neighbour Llyn Peris by the narrow rock sill on which Dolbadarn Castle stands. The lake was the working heart of the slate industry that once made this valley the roofing-slate capital of the world, and today it sits at the centre of Padarn Country Park — a popular outdoor destination that combines industrial heritage, woodland walks, and watersports with outstanding mountain scenery.
Quick Facts
- Altitude: 105 m
- Access: Llanberis village; Llanberis Lake Railway on northern shore
- Best for: Family walks, kayaking, wild swimming, heritage
- Nearest village: Llanberis (immediately adjacent)
The Lake
Padarn occupies a glacially carved valley between the steep flanks of the Elidir Fawr massif to the north and the old Dinorwig quarry terraces to the south. The quarry itself — now home to the world's largest man-made cavern, where the Dinorwig pumped storage power station operates deep inside the mountain — dominates the southern skyline with its vast stepped terraces of grey-purple slate. The lake is deep enough to support arctic char, a post-glacial fish relic that has lived here in isolation since the ice retreated, sharing ecological status with the gwyniad of Bala Lake.
Dolbadarn Castle, a 13th-century Welsh tower house on the sill between Padarn and Peris, was painted by J.M.W. Turner in 1800 and remains one of the most evocative castle ruins in Wales — a single round tower on a rocky knoll with the lake glittering behind it.
Getting There
Llanberis is on the A4086, easily reached from the A55 North Wales Expressway. The Llanberis Lake Railway departs from near the village centre and follows the northern shore of Llyn Padarn to Penllyn, a 40-minute return journey. Padarn Country Park has pay and display parking and several marked walking trails around the lake shore and through the former quarry landscape.
What You Will See
The northern shore path through Padarn Country Park passes through mature sessile oak woodland that is among the finest in Snowdonia, with good populations of pied flycatcher and redstart in summer. Kayaking and paddleboarding are popular on the lake; wild swimming is permitted and the water is clean and cold. The slate museum in the former quarry workshops gives an absorbing account of the industry that shaped this valley, and the view back from the far end of the lake to the quarry terraces and Dolbadarn Castle on its sill is one of the great industrial landscape compositions in Wales.
Independently written — Snowdon.com