The Best Place to Park for Tryfan and the Glyderau
By The Bald Scrambler
Parking
Parking Map With Over 200 Spaces (Updated 2023)
The Glyderau is a group of mountains in Snowdonia, located north east of the extremely popular Snowdon Range.
It contains routes along Tryfan’s North Ridge, Bristly Ridge, Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, to name but a few.
Parking here is very limited, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, the area saw an influx of visitors that led to dangerous parking with hundreds of cars towed and ticketed.
Below is a map showing the location of over 200 parking spaces in laybys, car parks and off-road. All of these locations are subject to restrictions by the council. Click on the marker for details and the number of spaces:
Parking For The North Ridge of Tryfan
The North Ridge route up to the summit of Tryfan is a popular grade 1 scramble, and the best place to park is:
- In the laybys at the east end of Lake Ogwen.
- In the long layby opposite Glen Dena.
- In the car parks opposite the middle of the lake.
Parking is possible at the Ogwen Car Park, but this area is popular with walkers going up to other parts of the Glyderau, and the car park fills quickly.
Here is a brief guide to how early you’ll need to arrive to get a space; obviously, I can’t predict how busy the area will be but with hundreds of ascents under my belt, I’ve learnt to arrive early or later in the afternoon:
Bank Holidays
If the weather is good, this area will be heaving with tourists, while not as busy as the Snowdon range, the car parks and laybys will still fill up quickly.
Arrive before 7.30am or after 4pm when some of the early birds are finishing their treks.
School Holidays (w/ends)
The Glyderau is often busy during the school holidays but more so on the weekend and when the weather is fine.
Arrive before 8.30am or after 4pm, depending on the weather.
School Holidays (w/days)
Weekdays during the school holidays are much quieter than on weekends and bank holidays, and finding a parking space before 9.00am is rarely an issue except on unusually fine weather days.
Out of Season Parking
Parking out of season is rarely an issue except on very fine weather days, but I would still aim to arrive before 930am for a morning scramble.
Looking down from Tryfan to the laybys and car parks next to the A5 and Lake Ogwen
Video showing the layby at the east end of Lake Ogwen, my lonely car and the starting point for the North Ridge route at 6.45am on an early September Saturday. The layby was full by 830am.
Parking Rules
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Glyderau experienced an influx of visitors, many of which hadn’t been here before and some clearly didn’t understand the parking regulations or basic parking etiquette. If you’re unsure of the rules, this section may help:
If you park on the A5 road, you’re will likely get a ticket and possibly towed. By “park” I mean any part of your car is on the road; a single wheel, half a wheel width etc.
If you park on the A5 road opposite a solid white line (in the middle of the road) and overtaking cars are forced to cross the white line into oncoming traffic, expect your car to get towed, possibly within an hour.
If you park on the pavement, you may get a ticket or towed, you will likely get towed if your parking forces pedestrians to walk on the A5 road.
Some of the pavements alongside the A5 are wide enough for a car and pedestrians and prior to the Covid outbreak, the parking enforcement officers (sometimes) applied a common-sense and light-touch approach to ticketing but from 2020 onwards, anyone parking on the pavement may get a ticket or towed.
Just because others have parked on the A5 or pavements and they haven’t been ticketed or towed, doesn’t mean they won’t be later in the day.
The authorities have no problems issuing parking fines and in 2020, dished out 180 penalty notices in a single day in just one area.
While the fines are often lower than other councils, the police and enforcement officers are now being more proactive and towing cars rather than just issuing fines.
Summary and Further Parking
Parking for Tryfan and the Glyderau can be problematic on bank holiday weekends when one should arrive very early or plan an afternoon/evening hike when the early birds are coming off the mountains.
School holidays are busy times, especially on weekends, but parking spaces can usually be found without having to arrive ridiculously early.
Parking enforcement is much stricter than it was pre-pandemic and one should avoid parking on:
- Pavements.
- Verges.
- The A5.
- Opposite any solid white line in the middle of any road.
The sat-nav postcode for Ogwen Cottage is: LL57 3LZ .
Away from Lake Ogwen, there is parking at Bethesda, and during the school holidays in 2021, an hourly bus service ran to and from the lake. Outside of the school holidays, the bus only runs twice a day.
The Visit Snowdonia Twitter page often posts parking updates during busy periods.
Parking on Pavements
If you look on Google Streetview, they currently (2021) show lots of cars parked on pavements throughout the Tryfan and Glyderau area.
Parking like this is at your own risk.
Sometimes the enforcement officers will let it pass, but they have been ticketing and towing more recently.
This photo shows an Audi about to be towed for blocking the footpath next to the A5 below Tryfan, while the cars behind, which partially blocked the path, we left alone.
Photo: North Wales Police.
Photos of Tryfan and the Glyderau
Tryfan in the background. Photo taken from Y Garn.
Looking down to Lake Ogwen and the A5 from the shoulder of the North Ridge.
A sweeping panorama of the Gylderau taken from Y Garn after an all-day trek up the North Ridge, Bristly Ridge, Glyders Fach and Fawr before finally ascending Y Garn.
More:
The Glyderau is a popular destination for walkers, hikers, scramblers and climbers.
If you enjoy scrambling or would like to get started with this fun activity, try Scrambles in Snowdonia by Steve Ashton.
Over 80 of the best routes are described and graded in this popular book, which is often referred as the bible of Snowdonia.
Go on, get off the sofa and enjoy life
By The Bald Scrambler