Sychnant Pass ( Welsh: ''Bwlch Sychnant'', "Dry-stream Pass") in

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the north Wales, north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrativ ...

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 ...

, links

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an ...

via

Dwygyfylchi Dwygyfylchi () is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community (Wales), community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353. The electoral ward of Capelulo which includes Dwygyfylchi had a population of 1,485 in 201 ...

. Much of the pass is in

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

, and a large area of land within it has been designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. At the bottom is the village of Capelulo, which lends its name to the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

. Before the coming of the railway to the

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

coast, the road through Sychnant Pass was the route of choice for

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

es at high tide, when the faster and safer route along the sands was unusable. After leaving Conwy, the route runs westward through the valley on the south side of Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain), which is topped by the

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

of Castell Caer Seion. There are parallel tracks and footpaths (including the North Wales Path) on Mynydd y Dref for most of the way. Also Allt-Wen () and Penmaenbach () can be climbed from here. At the western end of the valley, the Sychnant Pass Road runs between the stone walls of the Pensychnant estate and through a narrow gap in the surrounding hills before descending steeply to the valley floor at Capelulo, reputedly the site of an early medieval

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of Saint Ulo. Here there are two inns, a restaurant and a bistro, and in the ravine behind the inns is Nant Ddaear-y-llwynog (the Fairy Glen), a Victorian nature trail. From Capelulo it is an easy walk or short drive to the coast at Penmaenmawr.

External links

Conwy's secret - the Sychnant Pass
{{coord, 53.2750, -3.8800, type:pass_region:GB, display=title Conwy Penmaenmawr Mountain passes of Conwy County Borough Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Conwy County Borough Roads in Snowdonia Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Gwynedd