Conwy Falls (Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd)

Betws-y-Coed / Snowdonia National Park, Wales, UK (Great Britain)

About Conwy Falls (Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd)


Hiking Distance: 1/2-mile round trip
Suggested Time: 20-30 minutes

Date first visited: 2014-09-02
Date last visited: 2014-09-02

Waterfall Latitude: 53.06512
Waterfall Longitude: -3.77869

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Conwy Falls (Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd in Welsh) was kind of a throw in waterfall that we hadn’t planned on visiting when we set up our itinerary for North Wales.

However, when we just so happened to be passing by its well-signed car park (see directions below) as we were approaching Betws-y-Coed from the south, I decided it was something we shouldn’t pass up.

Conwy_Falls_026_09022014 - Conwy Falls
Conwy Falls

Anyways, after seeing the waterfall in person, I was pleasantly surprised at how scenic it was.

This was largely because it kind of reminded me of a smaller and less vertical version of Burgess Falls in that it had split segmented drops tumbling away from each other.

It was smaller because its drops were about 15m tall (Burgess Falls was probably over 30m tall).

Experiencing Conwy Falls

Once I got past the coin-op turnstile (which demanded 1 pound for entry), I found myself in a lawn area behind the waterfall cafe building.

In this lawn area, there were some stone benches lined up in the grass as well as some wooden stage looking thing.

Conwy_Falls_006_09022014 - The lawn area behind the waterfall cafe building on the way to Conwy Falls
The lawn area behind the waterfall cafe building on the way to Conwy Falls

From here, I had a choice of some paths to take according to a map sign here.

I had intended to take the shortest path down to the overlook of the falls (said to be 15 minutes round trip according to the signage).

However, I must have misinterpreted the maps because I ended up taking the left path onto a longer and rockier path following some cliffs above the river (near the “Victorian Path”).

This path eventually dropped towards the main viewpoint of the Conwy Falls, where the other trails converged to.

The route that I went on apparently was said to take 25-30 minutes of walking (maybe they meant round trip?).

Conwy_Falls_014_09022014 - Descending the forested trail leading down to the lookout for Conwy Falls
Descending the forested trail leading down to the lookout for Conwy Falls

I didn’t take nearly that long spending only 10 minutes or so to get down to the bottom.

Anyways, down at the lookout for the waterfall, I was able to get the photo you see at the top of this page.

The lookout also allowed me to see the Conwy River bend and continue further downstream.

I didn’t notice any salmon attempting to leap and continue their way above the falls, which a sign at the top said tended to occur starting in August.

Nevertheless, the woodland in which the foot trail and the falls was located was said to be within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Conwy_Falls_015_09022014 - Descending to the lookout area for the Conwy Falls
Descending to the lookout area for the Conwy Falls

Apparently, this meant that the area was to be kept as natural as possible.

Given the naturesque feel of the woodland during most of the walk, it seemed like there was indeed a concerted effort to indeed keep things as natural as possible.

When I had my fill of the split Conwy Falls (spending about five minutes or so), I then made it back to the car park in another 5 minutes.

So my overall visit was a quick 20 minutes, but I can easily envision someone in less of a hurry spending even more time here.

Welsh Nomenclature

Finally, it took me some time to decipher the meaning of the Welsh name for the Conwy Falls (it’s those mutations again).

Conwy_Falls_020_09022014 - View of Conwy Falls from the lookout area at the bottom of the trails
View of Conwy Falls from the lookout area at the bottom of the trails

According to my Welsh dictionary, craig means “rock” and graig could be a mutation of the word.

Meanwhile, llwyd (commonly associated with the surname Lloyd) might mean “grey” and lwyd could be a mutation of it as well.

So if you put these meanings together, Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd could mean “waterfall of the grey rock”.

Authorities

Conwy Falls resides in the Conwy Falls Forest Park and Cafe in Betws-y-Coed in Conwy County, Wales. It is administered by the Conwy Falls Forest Park and Cafe. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Conwy_Falls_003_09022014 - Approaching the turnstile next to the cafe to enter the woodland containing the Conwy Falls
Conwy_Falls_008_09022014 - Descending through the forested trail leading down to the Conwy Falls lookout
Conwy_Falls_030_09022014 - Looking back down at the lookout area for Conwy Falls as I started my ascent back up to the cafe
Conwy_Falls_034_09022014 - Looking back at some kind of stage at the lawn area behind the turnstile in the back of the cafe, which I still wasn't quite sure what this stage was for


I’ll describe the driving route from Swallow Falls Hotel since that seemed to be a sensible landmark for waterfall lovers given its relatively close proximity to Conwy Falls.

To get to Swallow Falls in the first place, see that page for specific directions on how to get there from Conwy.

So driving east on the A5 from the Swallow Falls Hotel, we continued through the town of Betws-y-Coed to the junction of the A5 and the B4406 road (4.4 miles).

Conwy_Falls_001_09022014 - Looking across the fairly spacious car park for the Conwy Falls Forest Park snf Cafe
Looking across the fairly spacious car park for the Conwy Falls Forest Park snf Cafe

The Conwy Falls Cafe and Car Park was right at the western corner of this junction on the right.

It took us about 10 minutes drive to cover this distance.

Now we were actually driving west on the A5 after having visited Pistyll Rhaeadr earlier in the afternoon.

It took us about 80 minutes to make that drive.

In any case, once we got to the junction of the B4406 road with the A5, we turned left then made a quick right into the large car park by the Conwy Falls Cafe.

For some more context, Conwy was 27 miles (about 45 minutes drive) northeast of Caernarfon, 55 miles (over an hour drive) west of Liverpool, 83 miles (2.5 hours drive) north of Aberystwyth, 192 miles (4 hours drive) north of Cardiff, and 259 miles (4.5 hours drive) northwest of London.

Find A Place To Stay



Booking.com

Sweep of both segments of the falls before briefly looking downstream then ending off with another look back at the falls' entirety

Related Top 10 Lists

No Posts Found

Trip Planning Resources


Nearby Accommodations




Booking.com


Tagged with: conwy, betws-y-coed, snowdonia, national park, snowdon, wales, uk, united kingdom, waterfall



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

Conwy Falls (Wales UK) March 31, 2013 3:07 pm by Ruth Williams - The Conwy Falls (or Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd in Welsh) can be found alongside the A5 road just outside of the town of Betws-y-Coed in North Wales. Here the River Conwy is squeezed into a dramatic steep wooded gorge and plunges 50ft (15m) split by a large central rock island. From the café car park… ...Read More

Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps

Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.