Lôn Eifion is part of Lôn Las Cymru, the

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 peopl ...

National Cycle Route, which is about long. Lôn Eifion is the section which runs for from

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor i ...

to Bryncir along most of the former Caernarfon to Afon Wen line. This line was that of the

Carnarvonshire Railway The Carnarvonshire Railway was a railway connecting Caernarvon railway station (terminus of the Bangor and Caernarvon Railway line from Bangor) with Afon Wen. History The Carnarvonshire Railway was absorbed into the LNWR in 1869. At the gr ...

(later

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...

and

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

), and joined with the Cambrian Coast Line at Afon Wen. Running alongside for part of the way is the trackbed of the old

Nantlle Tramway The Nantlle Railway (or Nantlle Tramway) was a Welsh narrow gauge railway. It was built to carry slate from several slate quarries across the Nantlle Valley to the harbour at Caernarfon for export by sea. The line provided a passenger service b ...

, along which horse-drawn

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

s carried slates from the quarries in the Nantlle Valley to the port at Caernarfon from where they were exported. From Caernarfon to Llanwnda Station the Lôn Eifion runs alongside that of the

Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...

. At the Llanwnda station the Lon Eifion continues south over Glanrhyd to the A487/A499 Pwheli/Porthmadog roundabout, which prior to the

Penygroes bypass Penygroes or Pen-y-groes may refer to any of several places in Wales: * Penygroes, Gwynedd **Penygroes railway station Penygroes railway station was located in Penygroes, Gwynedd, Wales. The narrow gauge, horse-drawn Nantlle Railway had a s ...

, was the site of the old

Llanwnda Rail Station Llanwnda may refer to: *Llanwnda, Gwynedd *Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire Llanwnda is a rural village and parish to the north of the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire and part of the community of Pencaer. It lies some two miles northwest of the port of Fi ...

on the

. Crossing the roundabout you join the Llanwnda - Groeslon section of the route Lon Eifion, passing on your right the railway cottages built to serve the railway station. The route continues alongside the A487 before passing underneath the road bridge at Afon Llifon before continuing to the village of Groeslon. Crossing the road at the Tafarn Pennionyn the Lon Eifion continues on the East side of the A487 until crossing over again via a foot bridge. Once over the foot bridge the Lon Eifon cuts through woodland heading due South, passing the rear of

Inigo Jones Slate Works Inigo derives from the Castilian rendering (Íñigo) of the medieval Basque name Eneko. Ultimately, the name means "my little (love)". While mostly seen among the Iberian diaspora, it also gained a limited popularity in the United Kingdom. Ear ...

and further on to open field land with views to the West of Pontllyfni and Aberdasach and

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 episode of th ...

until reaching another footbridge at the end of Clynogg Road and continuing down to the roundabout of A487/B4418. Continuing south the Lon Eifion continues to closely follow the A487 until vearing away and more South Westerly at Nebo. It continues on a much quieter and greener route along the old railway line through trees and farm land down to Bryncir. At Bryncir the cycle route deviates from the old railway line and heads westerly and steeply upward through a farm and on to single track road before heading south again into Cricceith.

References

https://www.whr.co.uk/ https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/new-link-road-bid-ease-12923049 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanwnda_railway_station. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnarvonshire_Railway https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/groeslon-gwynedd-ll547tn https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/bryncir-gwynedd

External links

Gwynedd Council - Recreational Routes - Lôn EifionSustrans Routes2Ride: Cycling Lôn Eifion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lon Eifion Cycleways in Wales Transport in Gwynedd Rail trails in Wales

See also

References

External links