View of Bwlch pen Barras from Foel Fenlli - geograph

Bwlch Penbarras (also known as ''Bwlch Pen Barras'', or the ''Old Bwlch'') is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Clwydian Range and Dee Valley The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley () is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; also known as a ''National Landscape'') located in north-east Wales, covering the Clwydian Range (), and the valley of the River Dee, Wales, River D ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

, in north-east

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

. The gap, which is at an altitude of , lies between the hills of

Moel Famau Moel Famau is the highest hill in the Clwydian Range and the highest point (county top) of the county of Flintshire in Wales (both the historic county and the current council area). It lies on the boundary between Denbighshire and Flintshire ...

and

Foel Fenlli Foel Fenlli or Moel Fenlli is a hill in Denbighshire, North Wales. With a summit at an elevation of , it is the second highest peak of the Clwydian Range. A popular ascent leads south from the car park at Bwlch Penbarras, which is also a pop ...

. An unclassified road between Tafarn-y-Gelyn and

Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd is a small village and community in Denbighshire in Wales, approximately 2 miles north-east of the town of Ruthin on the main A494 road towards Chester. There are several places called Llanbedr in Wales, as the word lite ...

runs from east to west through the pass.

Offa's Dyke Path Offa's Dyke Path () is a long-distance footpath loosely following the Wales–England border. Officially opened on 10 July 1971, by John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Lord Hunt, it is one of Britain's National Trails and draws hillwalking, walkers from th ...

, running broadly south–north, crosses the road at its highest point. The alternative name of Old Bwlch references its position on the historic route between

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

and

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

via

Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd is a small village and Community (Wales), community in Denbighshire in Wales, approximately 2 miles north-east of the town of Ruthin on the main A494 road towards Chester. There are several places called Llanbedr (disamb ...

. It was superseded by the 18th-century Mold to Denbigh turnpike (now the

A494 road The A494 is a trunk road in Wales and England. The route, which is officially known as the Dolgellau to South of Birkenhead Trunk Road, runs between the terminus of the M56 motorway between Mollington, Cheshire, Mollington and Capenhurst and t ...

), which crosses the Clwydian range several miles to the south, at Bwlch-y-Parc. The eastern side of Bwlch Penbarras is an almost straight ascent with no severe gradients; however, the western side of the pass is characterised by long drops, a narrower road and steep gradients: the road drops in with

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

s approaching 25% and a sharp

hairpin bend A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the h ...

Leisure

The pass is a popular access point for walkers venturing to Moel Famau, and there are two

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales () 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 Countryside Council for Wales, E ...

car parks to meet demand: one at the summit of the pass, and one a mile down the eastern side towards Tafarn-y-Gelyn. Access tracks climb through the forest from both car parks to Moel Famau's summit. The steep climb on the western approach from Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd has made the pass popular with cyclists. ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

'' magazine has featured it as a 'Killer Climb', and also listed it in the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge

cyclosportive A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term ''Gran Fondo'' is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and som ...

. Nigel Blackwell of

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Cr ...

mentioned the pass in a 2012 interview when he said: "the biggest achievement for me is creating a situation for myself whereby I can get up of a morning and decide to go and tackle Bwlch Pen Barras on the bike".

References

External links

RoadcyclingUK 'Ten Steepest Climbs' - Bwlch Penbarras

The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (Welsh language horror film, 2023)
{{coord, 53.137, -3.251, type:pass_region:GB, display=title Mountain passes of Denbighshire Roads in Denbighshire