Moel Siabod is not amongst the highest mountains in Wales. In fact, at 872m there are 22 mountains higher in Wales than this one.
But this is one of my favourite Eryri mountain hikes to date, offering up spectacular scenery, relatively straightforward navigation, a really fun grade 1 scramble and arguably the finest views of any summit in the National Park.
Add to that the remarkably gradual descent (my knees thank you kindly) and this is actually just one of those mountain hikes I’d describe as genuinely lovely.
I took the hike in August 2025 on a particularly sunny day and here’s how it went, with data from my Garmin Epix 2.
| Hike date | 15th August 2025 |
| Weather conditions | Warm/hot and sunny |
| Distance hiked | 12.32km (route I was going to take was just over 10km but I took a little diversion towards the end to extend a bit |
| Walking time | 4.5 hours including stops for photos and so forth |
| Elevation gain total | 783m |
| Terrain | Clear paths lots of the way. A bit boggy by some of the lakes. Rocky scramble and summit |
| Hiked with | Solo |
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Was a beautiful part of the country and a spectacular mountain to hike.
It’s a really great scramble too, not overly exposed in my opinion, but very fun and one I’d probably take a beginner to try if they wanted to sample a scramble.
Bear in mind, I did this one a hot and dry day. Any scramble will be significantly more precarious on a wet day!
Moel Siabod via the Daear Ddu Ridge – My Route
This isn’t the typical route. I extended slightly at the end and walked further – just because I had a bit of excess energy and really wanted to extend the walk to make sure I caught sunset. So here’s the route I ended up taking.
`the AllTrails estimate here is just under 11.5 km but my Garmin tracked just over 12km.
From the moment you step out of the car (and theres not a bad sized little free car park at the start point in Capel Curig) the scenery just starts giving. There are waterfalls roadside and a beautiful river. I got some lovely views of this towards the end of the walk approaching sunset.
From here, you head up on s tarmac track a little way up a steep hill. It’s not long until you’re on open hillside enjoying views. Pass some holiday cottages and you’ll quickly get your first glimpse of the Moel Siabod summit ahead:
The route is pretty straightforward to follow here, up past a small lake, the signage for which advises you not to feed the penguins, so do take note!
The paths are beautifully well maintained and easy to follow here. In August, the heather was purple and the scenery was magic:
A lake known as Rhos Quarry Lake follows soon after. This one is one with a warning of danger of death and you’re advised not to swim in here at all:
Soon after, you come to the larger lake of Llyn y Foel (or “Lake of the Foal”), the area around which can be a little boggy depending on the weather we’ve had!
Not too far along from here marks the point in your hike where you can choose to head off up the Daear Ddu Ridge (a grade one scramble to the summit) or you can continue a long a more simple path.
I took the Daear Ddu ridge.
It was a really fun scramble. It’s a grade 1 ridge scramble in good conditions, but (compared to the likes of Crib Goch or Crib Lem Spur) has very little exposure. On that basis, I think it would be a really great option for someone new to scrambling and looking to bad their first grade 1.
Some parts of this ridge are simply walking with a bit of hand steadying, while other parts give you something to get your teeth into:
Is Daear Ddu ridge difficult?
I didn’t think so myself. But – this is completely objective. For someone with no concern with heights and scrambling experience under their belt in good conditions, this ridge would likely be an incredibly straightforward undertaking.
In poor weather when the rock can be slippy or even in ok conditions, a newer scrambler may find themselves feeling very uncomfortable. So perceived difficult is very much subjective.
I enjoyed it though:
The Moel Siabod Summit
After the ridge comes the summit. And what a spectacular sum, it this one is. It may not BE one of the Welsh 3000s. But its summit offers views of almost all of the Welsh 3000s, including a glorious vista of Tryfan:
I could’ve stayed up here hours just looking about:
It was just utterly magnificent.
Add to that the fact that you get to enjoy these views much of the way down and this is just glorious.
The descent is also relatively gradual and much easier on the knees than many other descents in Eryri.
On the Whole…
Moel Siabod is a glorious hike and when you add the Daear Ddu ridge scramble into the mix as well, this is an absolute winner of walking day in Wales.
Would I do it again? You bet!
