Traws Eryri: Across Snowdonia

The Traws Eryri is a 196 kilometre mountain bikepacking route across the heart of Eryri, the national park better known in English as Snowdonia. It was created by the cycling charity Cycling UK in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and launched in 2023, running south to north from Machynlleth to Conwy. It links mountain paths, ancient cobbled highland roads, forest trails, coastal tracks, and quiet country lanes, with a total ascent that makes its reputation as a serious ride well earned.

Barry rode it solo from the south, where the Welsh weather and a bad virus turned it into a humbling, unfinished adventure. Read his full story here.

This is a mountain bike route, and it means it. Expect long, steep climbs that turn to pushing, sections of centuries-old cobbled road that beat up your hands and your pace, and stretches where the track becomes a running stream over loose, tire-shredding shale. The descents are the payoff, bombing off the tops back toward sea level through impossibly green grassland.

The route is a tour of wild Welsh landscape and history. It climbs from Machynlleth past misty lakes into ancient highland country dotted with standing stones and the sheep that own these hills. It threads the trails of the Coed y Brenin mountain bike park, passes shepherds' bothies tucked into the hillsides, and rolls by the lake at Trawsfynydd before the final run north to the coast at Conwy.

Come ready for a hard ride. Cycling UK grades it a challenging route, and with well over 3,000 metres of climbing on rough, technical ground, a capable mountain or rugged drop-bar bike with low gearing and tough tires is the right tool, not a fully loaded touring rig. Ride it in the drier summer months, pack for rain and exposure on the tops whatever the forecast, and plan your resupply around the towns. For the official route, GPX, and trail notes, start at Cycling UK's Traws Eryri page.