10 BIKE MAGAZINE
SNOWDONIA
WELCOME TO SNOWDONIA By Llinos Angharad The Snowdonia National Park Authority Croeso is the Welsh word for ‘Welcome’, and the Park Authority welcomes all cyclists to Snowdonia. Everyone must see for themselves the splendours and wonders of the National Park.
Snowdonia National Park is a special part of the country where people come to relax and enjoy a wide range of leisure activities in spectacular surroundings. Its landscape is unique. Nine mountain ranges cover approximately 52% of the Park and include many peaks that are over 3,000 feet (915m). Apart from the beauty and charm of its high mountains, Snowdonia is a delightfully varied landscape of steep river gorges, waterfalls and green valleys. Oak, ash, rowan and hazel woodlands are found scattered throughout the Park whilst the beautiful Dyfi, Mawddach and Dwyryd estuaries and twenty-three miles of coastline and sandy beaches contribute to the overall diversity of the landscape. There are more National Nature Reserves in Snowdonia than in any other National Park in Britain, and it is home to a wealth of special habitats and fauna and flora– the Snowdon lily (Lloydia serotina, a rare arctic-alpine plant), found on the slopes of Snowdon and ‘y gwyniad’ (Corgeonus clupeoides pennantii, a fish that is unique to Llyn Tegid) are just two
examples. In addition to conservation work, management work is also essential. The Park works continuously to control the Rhododendron ponticum and Japanese knotweed within the National Park. Considered as the backbone of Wales, the area has inherited the geological developments of the Ice Age. There are numerous U-shaped valleys, crushed scree on cliff-faces and mountain lakes, all shaped by glaciers. History and culture is everywhere and the Welsh language is the mother tongue of 58.6% of the population. The landscape illustrates the history of the area through Stone Age burial chambers, Roman forts, churches, castles, slate quarries and other industrial works. Snowdonia National Park was created in 1951 and is the largest in Wales at 823 square miles or 2,176 square kilometres. It is twice the size of Anglesey, a little smaller than Pembrokeshire, making it the third largest National Park in Britain after the Cairngorms and Lake District. It’s the same
