Ogwen - Ogwen Bank falls to A5 Bridge trip details

A classic grade 4 Welsh wonder
Region: Wales
Discipline: Whitewater
Difficulty: Intermediate
Grade: 4
Length: 6 km
Average Time: 3 hrs
Start: Get on at the caravan site at Ogwen Bank, there's a lay-by on the main road, A5 that you can park in
Finish: Take out on the left on to a side road at the A5 halfway bridge, or you can continue down the Lower Ogwen for even more sport until you reach the old A55 bridge, where you take out just above it.

The Ogwen is a most excellent run, especially if it's high. It'll have the eyes popping and the tendons tight, especially at the start, where it begins with a punch, it is of no wonder it's in our top ten great British whitewater runs.

It's easy to check out Ogwen Bank Falls and the raging Gun Barrel below. Depending on your skill level and how you're feeling pick the start for you. Get in above the falls, or carry down a wee way on river left to access an eddy on river left, from here you can peel out in to the flow and get shot down the 'Barrel' The falls have a reputation and they are pretty manky. At medium levels it's not as hard as the 'stories' make out. It can be shot into a pool on the right and then there's a sneak route out to the left, which will avoid all the nasty metal work in the main fall. In high water it becomes more serious.

Next up is the Gun Barrel and you will feel like a bullet as your flying down through its not insubstantial holes. Eddy out at the bottom and get your breath back, some good read and run rapids follow, including Bethesda Falls, which lies on a right hand bend.

It mellows a bit now until you reach Scout Hut Bridge the start of Fisherman's Gorge, in our mind one of the best stretches of whitewater in the UK. You can eddy out on the river right and get out and scout the entrance rapid and what lies below from the bridge. Once you've picked your line and committed it all goes off, and there's little chance to stop, with waves and holes coming at you thick and fast. It is excellent. Technical eddy hopping at mid flows, full on 'speeder' boating, with some meaty holes and pour-overs in high. All to soon it eases off as you reach the A5 road bridge that marks the get out. Alternatively, to prolong your Ogwen experience, continue on for some more fun grade 3 (4 if it's running high) until you reach the old A55 bridge

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Accommodation: Bethesda or Capel Curig has some great bunkhouses and are all walking distance to a fine pub. Here's a few web sites to get you started: www.cabancysgu-gerlan.co.uk www.bunkhouse-tyddyndu.co.uk/ Lots of camping too - www.snowdonia-wales.net

Food and Drinks: Bethesda or Capel Curig have everything you need. For an evening's sustenance and there's some great local pubs around. Here's a couple of our favourites www.hafod-house.co.uk www.the-old-ship.co.uk

Canoe Shops: Cotswold Rock Bottom in Betws-y Coed supply some paddling gear -www.cotswoldoutdoor.com Surflines in Llanberris - www.surf-lines.co.uk Paddleworks - Llangollen or Bala - www.paddleworks.co.uk

Guidebooks: The Welsh Rivers by Chris Sladden - www.cordee.co.uk

Useful Websites:
www.metcheck.com
www.yha.org.uk
www.welsh-canoeing.org.uk

Kayaking and canoeing are assumed risk sports and you should take every effort to become aware of any dangers involved. These guides are not intended as instruction manuals they are just as the name suggests... guides. They can give you access and egress information and give you a flavour of the water you'll encounter, but water is an ever-changing environment. Rivers change with varying water levels, trees get stuck, and banks can collapse. Never assume a river is safe just because you read it in a guide. You must use your own judgement and experiences to make the decision whether to paddle, or not. And as rivers change so to at sea can the weather conditions and tides change. All information has been checked to the best of our ability, is given in good faith, and we hope will be helpful, but all information should be checked locally and you and you alone are responsible for your decisions to undertake any of the paddling trips contained within it. The authors and publisher can accept no responsibility for any inconvenience, injury or loss sustained by any persons as a result of information given in this guide.


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