Llyn Crafnant is a lake that lies in a valley in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

where the northern edge of the

Gwydir Forest Gwydir Forest, also spelled Gwydyr, is located in Conwy county borough and the Snowdonia National Park in Wales. It takes its name from the ancient Gwydir Estate, established by the Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet, John Wynn family of Gwydir Castle ...

meets the lower slopes of the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in Wales and England (although l ...

mountains and, more specifically, the ridge of

Cefn Cyfarwydd Cefn Cyfarwydd is a ridge in Conwy county borough, north Wales. It is located above the village of Trefriw on the western side of the Conwy valley, and dramatically separates Cwm Cowlyd and the rugged mountains of the Carneddau from the ...

. The

head of the valley The head of the valley or, less commonly, the valley head, refers to the uppermost part of a valley.Leser (2005), p. 935. Description The head of a valley may take widely differing forms; for example, in highland regions the valley often ends i ...

offers a profile of crags which are silhouetted at sunset. The Forest Park guide (2002) states that "the (view along Llyn Crafnant) is one of the most breathtaking views in all

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

". The summits include Crimpiau 475 metres (1,558 feet), and Craig Wen 548 metres (1,798 feet) which provide views to

Moel Siabod Moel Siabod ( Welsh for "bare hill" with unknown meaning of 'Siabod'), is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, which sits isolated above the village of Dolwyddelan. At , it is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. The UK National Mo ...

and the

Ogwen Valley Dyffryn Ogwen, or Ogwen Valley, is a valley mostly located in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The upper section of the valley, east of Llyn Ogwen, lies in the county of Conwy. Geography The valley lies to the south of Bangor. It is bordered one s ...

, and

Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...

. Further up is Creigiau Gleision. At it is the best part of a mile long, although it was clearly once much longer - its southern end shows the evidence of centuries of silting. Jehu's survey ''(see references)'' recorded a maximum depth of . Crafnant takes its name from “craf”, an old Welsh word for

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, and “nant”, a stream or valley. The lake can be reached by car only from

Trefriw Trefriw () is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the river Crafnant in North Wales, a few miles south of the site of the Roman fort of Canovium, sited at Caerhun. At the last three censuses the population of the ...

in the

Conwy valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

, though many visitors walk there from the village or from the neighbouring lake of

Llyn Geirionydd Llyn Geirionydd lies in a valley in northern Wales where the northern edge of the Gwydyr Forest meets the lower slopes of the Carneddau mountains. The lake is almost a mile long and covers an area of , but is never any deeper than according ...

, which runs parallel to it, but a mile distant, the two being separated by Mynydd Deulyn – “mountain of the two lakes”. The lake can also be reached on foot from

Capel Curig Capel Curig (; meaning " Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 ...

. There is a

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Count ...

car park with toilets, which is reached just before the lake itself, and the lakeside cafe (open from Easter until late summer) offers car parking for patrons. The lake is a popular

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

spot, and is kept stocked with

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

. From the cafe, it is possible to hire boats for fishing or for pleasure. Private boating and swimming are not permitted. The lake is a reservoir and was dammed at its northern end in 1874, but the dam itself is barely visible as the outflow plunges down steeply from it. By the outflow is an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

, erected in 1896 by the inhabitants of

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

which commemorates "the gift to that town of this lake with of land" by Richard James. The lake is leased to the owners of what is now the cafe. In the upper part of the valley there is no mains water connection and during the particularly dry summer of 2006 many properties were without water. The

River Crafnant The Afon Crafnant ( en, italic=yes, River Crafnant) is a tributary of the River Conwy (''Afon Conwy'' in Welsh), which is the main river of the Conwy valley in north-west Wales. It flows from picturesque Llyn Crafnant, joining the river Con ...

("Afon Crafnant" in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

) joins the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

at Trefriw, but not before some of it has been diverted to pass through the

Trefriw Woollen Mills Trefriw Woollen Mills is a woollen mill in the village of Trefriw, Conwy, in northern Wales, that has been operating since around 1825. History The Woollen industry in Wales was once an important part of the Welsh economy. Originally called the ...

to generate hydro-electricity for the machinery. ''Cornel'', a large property in on the southern banks of the lake, is owned and operated by the Welsh

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

Council. Areas around the lake have been used for location shots in

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

Tomb Raider II ''Tomb Raider II'' is a 1997 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released on Windows and PlayStation (console), PlayStation. Later releases came for Classic ...

,Daily Post.co.uk
/ref> the 1981 fantasy movie ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'', and the lake also appeared briefly in the 1966 film '' Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment''.

Gallery

Image:crafnant7.jpg, A view of Llyn Crafnant Llyn Crafnant - North Wales.jpg, View of Llyn Crafnant File:Llyn Crafnant Monument - geograph.org.uk - 211840.jpg, The monument, commemorating the gift of free water to Llanrwst Llyn Crafnant - a lake in Conwy Borough County, and within the Snowdonia National Park, Wales 21.jpg Llyn Crafnant - a lake in Conwy Borough County, and within the Snowdonia National Park, Wales 04.jpg

Gallery

References

Further reading