Swallow Falls (Rhaeadr Ewynnol)

Swallow Falls, on the Afon Llugwy about two miles west of Betws-y-Coed, drops through a series of cascades rather than one single fall, over a total height of around 42 metres. The Welsh name is given two ways: Rhaeadr y Wennol, waterfall of the swallow, from the way the flow splits around a rock into two tail-like streams, and Rhaeadr Ewynnol, the foaming waterfall, a later description of the same place.

The 2nd Lord Ancaster gave the falls to the local council in 1913, and Betws-y-Coed Community Council still runs the site today through an unmanned turnstile, charging a small admission fee, coins or contactless, year-round. A short, flat concrete path leads from the car park just off the A5 to the uppermost viewing point, but reaching the fuller set of platforms lower down involves steps, so this is not a step-free visit throughout. Disabled access to the lower platforms is limited to April to October, during set daytime hours.

Natural Resources Wales manages the surrounding Gwydir Forest Park, where the falls stand on the Afon Llugwy. The falls were a well-established sight for Victorian travellers. George Borrow described them in his 1862 travelogue Wild Wales as “not a majestic single fall, but a succession of small ones,” which remains an accurate description of what a visitor sees today: water breaking over broken rock through a wooded, craggy gorge rather than falling in one clean drop.

This suits anyone wanting an Eryri waterfall with minimal walking, and it makes an easy stop by car between Betws-y-Coed and the Ogwen valley. Anyone expecting a fully accessible visit should look elsewhere, since steps stand between the upper platform and the rest of the site.