River Guidebook: Afon Ogwen
- James Greenhalgh
- Apr 15
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Afon Ogwen - A woodland whitewater rollercoaster ride from the mountains to the sea.
NB- Guidebook entries are made for the enjoyment and use of the whitewater community. Paddle365Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility for the choices paddlers make on how or when to use this information. For professional river guiding or skill development coaching, please contact us.
Gauging the river level.
Gauge the level of this river by looking over the A5 bridge at at 53°11'58.1"N 4°05'08.1"W. This spot is a similar width to most of the rest of the river and therefore gives a representative showing for how much power you’ll find in the other sections. If it looks low the river will be steep and technical. If the water here is flowing fast with rocks covered, the rapids will be fast and continuous with a few big pourovers to watch out for. There is also an online gauge for this river in Bethesda. You can view it's reading here. https://rivers.evoapps.cloud/ogwen. This is a new gauge, but we are currently working on the premise that it is at minimum flows at 120, medium at 140, and high from 160. Be wary of treating the gauge as gospel, as sediment movements in the riverbed can cause changes in the river height at specific points.
Access and Environment
The Ogwen used to be a real hotbed of access disputes and disagreements with Anglers. Things have been better for a good few years now, but please help us keep it that way. Remember to park respectfully, access at public footpath access points only, and make yourself aware of how to minimise your impact on fish spawning. If you see an angler, aim to give their fishing area a wide berth and to move through efficiently. See this article by Paddle Cymru on Winter Paddling and Spawning Fish. If you pick a piece of litter from the river as you go it is also always an appreciated good deed.
Major Hazards:
Prone to fast changes in river level.
Surrounded by woodland throughout, so is prone to tree hazards.
Fast continuous rapid sections can create long and dangerous swims.
The Upper Ogwen: Tyn y Maes
1km Grade 5
Access at 53°09'30.0"N 4°02'47.7"W
When free of trees this section of fast paced boulder blast action is a great addition to everything that comes below.
Ogwen Bank Falls and Gun Barrel
500m Grade 5
53°10'04.8"N 4°03'16.2"W to 53°10'22.9"N 4°03'26.4"W
For advanced paddlers who are on their game, these optional extras can be a brilliant way to begin a trip down the Ogwen. Put on in a beautiful serene pool above a weir and warm up. You'll have a very fast paced entry to the river here. A sloping weir leads under a small bridge and to the lip of Ogwen Bank Falls(5). Scout left for the full picture of this and Gun Barrel (5). One rapid leads directly into the next for an intense 2 minutes of kayaking, especially in higher water. If you decide while scouting that this was all a big mistake, you can portage river left too.
Braichmyelyn Bridge to the Expressway: The classic Ogwen lap
6 km Grade 4
53°10'22.9"N 4°03'26.4"W to 53°12'24.8"N 4°05'49.1"W
Continuous grade 4 read and run paddling. The pace of rapids in parts of this section of the Ogwen make descending it a really memorable experience. I've often thought after a lap through the Fisherman's Gorge that this style of white water rapids might be more at home in the French Alps than in Snowdonia, and it is that distinct flavour of fast paced river running that means many paddlers have considered the Ogwen the perfect river to return to again and again and make into their home run. It's worth noting that in high water due to it's narrow and continuous nature the difficulty increases to grade 5 and is a very committing paddle.
Put on and wiz under the bridge to begin the journey. There is usually a bit of tree branch slalom to do in the first few sections- fair warning. After a short fast flowing flat section, you'll come to a 90 degree right hand bend which signifies you're about to drop in to the first rapid of Bethesda Gorge (4). This action packed 500m section of waves, ledges and bounders is a perfect taster of what's to come later. As you pass the high embankment on river right you'll know the town of Bethesda is right overhead. Soon the rapids calm down and you're back to scenic flat water for a while. Soak it up!
You'll know the action is about to restart when you find a weir with a fun surf wave with eddy service from the right. Once you're all surfed out, the river will bend right and a boulder garden rapid will take you under the road bridge at Tregarth and down into Fisherman's Gorge (4). Alternatively, there is a footpath from the top of this rapid to the road along the river right bank (53°11'20.8"N 4°04'51.2"W). Guidebook author and local legend Tom Laws suggests that this first section through Bethesda on it's own is one of the most underrated Intermediate sections in the UK!
After this, you have Fisherman's Gorge to contend with. This is an iconic section of stunning grade 4 boulder gardens with too many beautiful rapids to describe. It is non-stop and a lot of fun for paddlers with the right skillset to meet the challenge. When you see the A5 Bridge overhead you'll know you're through the hardest whitewater of the section. Now the river will drop a grade and begin a long and enjoyable grade 3 paddle-out to the finish. Stay on your toes and on the look out for trees in this final section, especially when the river separates into channels as it does on a couple of occasions. After a sloping weir takes you beneath a footbridge, take out on the left and join the footpath to hike back up to the road.
A55 Expressway into the Sea: The Lower Ogwen
2.5k Grade 3.
53°12'24.8"N 4°05'49.1"W to 53°13'49.0"N 4°04'35.3"W
Info provided by Spike Green (Thanks!)
In medium or high water, it is well worthwhile paddling down to the sea. Access at the green footbridge upstream of the A55 flyover, as described for the gd 4 section egress. This is a good trip in its own right with enjoyable grade 3, so, if levels are medium high or you don’t fancy the harder stuff above, then paddle from here and enjoy weirs, woods, and castle views, before emerging suddenly onto the sea. Ideally you should arrive here at high tide. If so, a simple paddle along the shore (turning right) will bring you to your car. If the tide is out, you may need waders!
The weirs and following rapid near the A55 flyover present the main difficulties of this run. All are portagable on R left if necessary. The weirs lower down this section form some fantastic play waves (level dependant)... sadly none of them have eddy service so you should do your best to get the most out of each wave after catching it on the fly! There is a collapsed footbridge that is worth keeping an eye out for. The egress is used by cockle pickers, so often busy. There is a height barrier that may be open on dropping off your vehicle but potentially closed as you finish... So, if you have a high vehicle, beware!
Author: Jamie Greenhalgh
This guide is written to be instructive and helpful without completely taking away the adventure. If you have a comment or suggestion on how it can be improved please let us know.
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