OS Explorer OL17 Snowdon & Conwy Valley

The OS Explorer map range are Ordnance Survey's most detailed maps, shown in 1:25 000 scale - 4cm on the map equals 1km on the ground. They and are ideal for outdoor activities like walking, horse riding and off-road cycling. They show roads and rights of way, permissive paths and bridleways, plus essential information such as youth hostels, pubs and visitor information points. OS Explorer OL17 covers Wales' highest peak, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) and the surrouinding area. Snowdon has the perfect mountain form, with textbook glacial corries and knife-edged aretes. It has big paths, which can get overcrowded in summer, but when you turn your back on the new cafe complex and look across the horizon of a hundred hills you'll know why you came. The view from the summit shows the difference between the north and south faces of the range. Y Lliwedd's north face is hung with cliffs and gullies, but in contrast the south faces of Carnedd Ugain and Crib Goch are pallid and barren, consisting of dusty pink screes and broken rock. Snowdon is at its most rugged when its' flanks coincide with the top of the Llanberis Pass. Here, huge glaciers, which were slow to melt on the shady side of the mountain, scoured out the gorge, leaving a devastation of boulders and severe precipices which must have struck fear into the early traveller. It's not just Snowdon; in this area you can also discover Conwy, The Menai Strait and Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Beddgelert, Conwy, Bethesda, Betws-y-Coed, Bangor, Caernarfon, Carnedd Llewelyn, Carnedd Dayfydd, Glyder Fawr, Glyder Fach, Tal y Fan and Tryfan. The OS Explorer range of maps includes a digital version of the paper map, accessed through the OS Maps phone app for Android and iOS.