Pen y Garn (head of the cairn) is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
in the
Cambrian Mountains,
Mid Wales standing at 611 metres
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
.
Pen y Garn tops a 500–600 m high plateau, which includes the controversial Cefn Croes wind farm. The summit has a very large shelter cairn hollowed out from the remains of an ancient burial cairn and a
trig point. The wind turbines are very near the summit. To the north some 10 km, the whole
Plynlimon
Plynlimon, or Pumlumon in Welsh language, Welsh (also historically anglicised as Plinlimon, Plynlymmon or Plinlimmon), is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales (taking a restricted definition of the Cambrian Mountains, ex ...
range can be seen, including the summits of
Y Garn,
Pen Pumlumon Fawr,
Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan and
Pen Pumlumon Arwystli. 21 km to the west is the town of
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...
;
Drygarn Fawr lies 20 km to the SSE .
[Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Mountains of England & Wales - Volume 1: Wales (2nd edition ed.). Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. .]
References
{{reflist
Hewitts of Wales
Marilyns of Wales
Nuttalls
Mountains and hills of Ceredigion
Elenydd