Starting from the Ogwen car park, follow the obvious track that leads past Llyn Idwal. It’s easy to navigate at first, but you may need to double-check your route once you begin the climb up Twll Du (Devil’s Kitchen).
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Devil’s Kitchen is a dramatic crack between Y Garn and Glyder Fawr and its steep, rocky ascent can be very slippery in wet weather.
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Once you reach the top, take a breather and enjoy the views… because the hardest part is still to come! From here, the route becomes a relentless scree slope as you climb toward Glyder Fawr. It feels never-ending and makes Devil’s Kitchen look like a warm-up.
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At the summit, you’re rewarded with a landscape straight out of Lord of the Rings, full of jagged rock spires and giant boulders. The walk across to Glyder Fach is fairly level, with a few fun scrambles across larger rocks.
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Riley handled the route well, but she’s used to North Wales hikes involving scree and scrambling. I'd rate this as one of the tougher hikes we've done, not necessarily for technicality, but for the unrelenting ascent. Dogs not used to this kind of terrain may struggle, and smaller breeds will likely need help over some of the bigger boulders in Devil’s Kitchen.
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After Glyder Fach, we turned right to join the Miners’ Track, which is slightly different from the AllTrails route (see image below). If you’re walking with a dog, I’d highly recommend this alternative to avoid the very steep scree descent or Bristly Ridge.
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The route back to the car park is easy to follow, but the path is uneven and rocky, so do take care.
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This is easily one of my favourite hikes to date, but I wouldn’t recommend it in high winds or wet weather.