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Summit facilities opening for Easter
April 2025 – The railway will be opening to the summit early this year as a result of recent good weather. From Good Friday (18 April) trains will be running to the summit, which means that Hafod Eryri, the summit building, will be open daily to the public, weather permitting.
Parking at Pen y Pass
April 2025 – Parking at Pen y Pass (for the Pyg Track and Miners’ Track) has reverted to pre-booking only.
High season bus service
April 2025 – The Sherpa buses are now operating on the high season summer timetable, so buses are much more frequent.
Path maintenance work
Autumn 2024 – Path repair work on the upper Miners’ Track, just below the Intersection, is now almost complete after about 3 months’ work. The path was slipping away following storm erosion over recent years and the repair work was extended to either side of this spot, including the installing of a new gully to prevent damage happening at this point again. It’s actually a rather impressive piece of work!
The name ‘Yr Wyddfa’
November 2024 – The Snowdonia National Park Authority has confirmed its intention to continue using only the names ‘Yr Wyddfa’ for Snowdon and ‘Eryri’ for Snowdonia, even in English documents. The park logo is also to be redesigned to only show the name ‘Eryri’. You can read more about this on the National Park website. However, just because the Park have made this decision doesn’t mean that visitors can’t continue to use the English names. (By the way, you will see that the name ‘Yr Wyddfa’ appears on most pages on this website, and is the name of choice on our blog pages.)
The old logo (left) and the new one (right), with no mention of the name ‘Snowdonia’
Construction work at Hafod Eryri
November 2024 – The construction work at the summit has now been completed, and all traces of work removed. (The flat area on the summit side of the building – the roof of the shop, canteen and service block – has had its 15-year-old waterproof membrane replaced as it was starting to leak.)
Mast at Pen y Pass
In late 2024 a communications mast was erected at Pen y Pass. Although it is not functional yet, the disruption that the construction caused to the car park is now over. This mast, one of six which will eventually circle the mountain, will initially only be able for use by the emergency services and EE users. We’ll have more information on the mast as details emerge.
New wall at Bwlch y Moch
Work to erect a new wall at Bwlch y Moch, on the Pyg Track, was completed in autumn 2024. This is where the path starts for Crib Goch, and the aim is to stop people drifting onto the Crib Goch path by accident.
No bins at Rhyd Ddu and Snowdon Ranger (Cwellyn) car parks
Last spring the bins were removed from Rhyd Ddu car park as an experiment to see if more people can be encouraged to take their rubbish home with them, and to then recycle as much as possible. It was deemed to be a reasonable success; the bins have not returned, and moreover, the bins have now also been removed at Snowdon Ranger (Cwellyn) car park.
Water-filling facilities
Water refill taps have now been placed in several car parks at the foot of Snowdon, namely at Pen y Pass, Rhyd Ddu, Nant Peris (Park & Ride) and Pont Bethania (for the Watkin Path). This covers all the main paths except the Llanberis Path (which has no SNPA car park) and the Snowdon Ranger (which has no mains water).
New mobile signal at Rhyd Ddu
The new mast recently erected adjacent to Rhyd Ddu station (as part of the Shared Rural Network) can now be used by the public, though only by EE subscribers (or others when dialling 999). This will be widened at some future point to other operators, a move which will considerably improve communications on both the Rhyd Ddu Path and Snowdon Ranger Path. (Current teething problems with the mast mean that a second temporary mast by the farm is covering for it.)
Gully clearing
March 2024 saw gully clearing and some path repair (after flood damage) on the lower Miners’ Track between Pen y Pass and Llyn Teyrn.
Launching COPA 1
In February 2024, the National Park Authority launched COPA 1 (‘copa’ is Welsh for ‘summit’), a competition aimed at secondary school children to devise Big Ideas regarding ways of reducing litter and the presence of single-use plastic on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Eryri (Snowdonia) more widely. Shortlisted entries were invited to present their ideas at a summit meeting to be held at Pen y Pass in September 2024.
You can read more about this on the Park’s website here.
Full fibre broadband heading for the summit?
There is already a good 4G mobile signal at the summit, but BT Openreach’s much-publicised plan to run fibre broadband to Hafod Eryri, the summit building, has stalled.
It was hoped that, when completed, it would improve the likes of contactless payments in the cafe, and a small mobile communications mast would provide emergency mobile coverage for mountain rescue services. However, the fibre only got as far as Clogwyn, and for the last two years has stalled.
You can read a news report here.
A plastic-free Snowdon?
Yr Wyddfa‘s popularity means that litter and waste is becoming a real threat to the mountain’s sustainable future. Following a consultation period, the National Park Authority has appointed a ‘plastic-free Yr Wyddfa’ officer. The plan is to create a clear and ambitious strategy to reduce the amount of waste on Yr Wyddfa’s paths and help businesses to transition from single-use plastics. You can read more about the scheme and how we can all help, and watch a YouTube clip about it.
Improved signage for Crib Goch
Plans are in hand to place further signage near Bwlch y Moch on the Pyg Track to stop people accidentally heading up Crib Goch, thinking that it is the main route up to Snowdon. (This usually happens when people blindly follow those in front.)
Path maintenance on the lower Watkin Path
Path improvement work is being undertaken in several places on the lower Watkin Path. This will help a great deal to reduce erosion. In one place, sheep fleece is being used to ‘float’ a gravel path across a boggy area, such as is described here.
Path maintenance on the upper Watkin Path
Funding is now in place to see the work continuing laying steps on the upper part of the Watkin Path. However, the contractor is currently working elsewhere so nothing will be happening immediately.
Path maintenance on Allt Maenderyn (the South Ridge)
A line of helibags has been placed near the top of Allt Maenderyn (the South Ridge) where the path here is being improved by the National Trust. Although not one of the 6 main paths up Snowdon, this route forms part of the Cambrian Way.
Path maintenance in Cwm Llan
The National Trust (the landowner) is currently upgrading the section of path between Bwlch Cwm Llan and the old tramway. A line of helibags marks the location. This route is used if returning from Allt Maenderyn (the South Ridge) to the lower Watkin Path, and forms part of the Cambrian Way.
Bwlch Maesgwm loop path upgrade
The Right of Way directly linking the bottom of the Llanberis Path to the Bwlch Maesgwm bridleway has recently been considerably upgraded and improved. To see more about this route and this specific section, see our Bwlch Maesgwm page.