Hafod Garregog

Hafod Garregog is a quiet, isolated reserve. It includes a large area of woodland established on rocky crags and areas of wetland on low-lying land between the crags.

It is also designated the Coedydd Dyffryn Nanmor SSSI.

Grid Ref: SH601443 Area: 86.70 hectares

Hafod Garregog

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Visiting

You can walk in some of the woods or wander down to the river. The views from here back to the mountains are particularly fine.

The road is quiet and has some gentle hills (up to 1:10 for short stretches).

Hafod Garregog

Hafod Garregog _{Photographs, ©CCW}

The track leading to the river is level, and runs alongside the Welsh Highland Railway line currently under construction.

How to get there

The reserve is located 6.5 kilometres north of Porthmadog on the A4085 midway between Penrhyndeudraeth and Beddgelert.

There is informal car parking at the end of the tarmac road which leaves the A4085 at Pont Talyrni, about 5.5km south of Beddgelert. Limited car parking also exists at Hafod y Llyn Uchaf farmyard, which you can reach from a minor road leaving the A4085 on a hairpin bend about two miles south of Beddgelert.

Public Transport
A bus runs along the A4085 from Penrhyndeudreath to Beddgelert. For more information contact Traveline Cymru on 0871 2002233 or visit www.traveline-cymru.org.uk

Look out for details of the new Welsh Highland Railway service from Caernarfon (and eventually Porthmadog). The track is currently being built and more information will be available nearer completion.

Facilities

There are no facilities on the reserve.

The nearest accessible toilets are in Beddgelert or at the National Trust car park at Pont Aberglaslyn on the 4085 near Nantmor.

Hafod Garregog _Photo,©CCW

Who looks after it?

The National Trust owns the reserve (along with the adjacent farmland which includes the Glaslyn river) and manages it with CCW.

Contact the National Trust Welsh Regional Office on 01492 860123. You can also contact CCW’s Northern Team via our enquiries helpline, 0845 1306229, e-mail, enquiries@ccw.gov.uk or write to us under the ‘Contact the team’ section on this website.

Wildlife

Hafod Garregog _Photo,©CCW

There is a wide range of habitats here within a relatively small area, supporting a wide variety of plants and animals.

The woodland is a fine example of the Atlantic sessile oakwoods characteristic of this part of Wales. Birch and rowan mix with the oak in places and there is a sparse understorey of hazel and holly.

The ground layer consists of flowers such as sweet vernal grass, sheep’s fescue, cow-wheat, bluebell, bracken and a variety of mosses and liverworts and lichens. The wood is also important for its diversity of tree lichens.

There are also areas of acidic mire. Plants here include bogmyrtle. In less acidic areas there are bog-mosses, sundews, bog asphodel and white-beak sedge.

The reserve is also notable for its variety of insects, some of which are extremely rare, such as the silver studded blue butterfly and the uncommon damselfly Ceriagron tenellum.