The Roman Steps are an ancient paved trackway climbing through a spectacular defile in the Rhinogydd hills above Cwm Bychan — the slabs of stone forming a staircase through the rock that feels genuinely medieval, possibly older. The "Roman" name is almost certainly wrong; the steps were probably laid in the medieval period for packhorses. This is Experience #46 of the Snowdonia 100, distinct from Experience #19 (Rhinog Fawr via Roman Steps) in focusing on the steps themselves as a heritage feature.
The Steps
The paved section of the trackway is approximately 1.5km long, climbing from the valley floor to the col above. The individual slabs are large — clearly quarried and placed deliberately — and the path is well-engineered for a mountain route, with drainage channels cut alongside in places. The defile through which it climbs is narrow and dramatic, the rock walls rising on both sides, the sense of an ancient road through difficult terrain unmistakable.
| Start | Cwm Bychan car park, near Llanbedr |
| Steps section | 1.5km from car park — 30–40 minutes walking |
| Difficulty | Easy to moderate — the steps themselves are well-surfaced |
| Time needed | 1.5–2 hours return to the col |
The Rhinogydd Context
The Rhinogydd are among the oldest exposed rocks in Eryri — Cambrian quartzites over 500 million years old — and the landscape has the quality of extreme antiquity that the newer volcanic rocks of Yr Wyddfa and the Glyderau lack. Walking the Roman Steps through this terrain is to pass through a landscape that predates the mountains themselves in its rock, and to use a human route whose origins are genuinely obscure — a rare combination.
Experience #46 of 100 — Heritage category.
Independently written — Snowdon.com