Betws-y-Coed Gwydyr Forest . Gwydir Forest, also spelled "Gwydyr", is located in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. It derives its name from the estate which was at one time owned by the John Wynn family of Gwydir Castle. The forest encircles the village and much of it lies within the parish. It heads northwards to Trefriw, and southwards to the village of Penmachno. It covers an area of over 7,250 hectares, including 4,900 hectares of productive woodland. The forest , reaches to between 700 and 1000 feet above sea level, and is divided by the valleys of the rivers Llugwy, Lledr, and Machno, all of which are tributaries of the river Conwy.Excellent game fishing can be had from these rivers and day tickets can be obtained from The Betws-y-Coed Angling Club Secretary. Fine views from the high points take in the mountains of the Glyders the Carneddau and the Snowdon mountain itself. The forested areas contain fine stands of Douglas Fir , Larch ,Pine and Tsuga occupy the steep slopes.Rainfall in the forest varies from under 50 inches (1270mm) to over 80 inches (2032mm) p.a. especially nearing Capel Curig and Dolwyddelan . Gwydyr Forest was established by plantings the Forestry Commission did in 1921, after much of the land was acquired from Lord Ancaster, whose family had inherited the Wynn estate. Millions of seedlings were grown in the small nursery near the Ugly House, and the first areas planted were those which previously had some coverage. Most of the original plantations have now been felled but there are some fine stands of timber which are 85 years old. The majority of the planting is coniferous (Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Japanese Larch, Norway Spruce and Scots Pine), relatively suited to the area's poor, shallow soils, but recently planting of native hardwoods species such as Sessile Oak, Beech, Southern Chile Beech and Ash. These species being selected for aesthetic reasons, i.e. to produce variety and to reduce the hard lines produced by conifers. However, commercial reasons will always dictate the need for faster growing conifers. These have a felling rotation of between 20 and 40 years (depending on type), whereas the oak requires a hundred years or more. The forest still uses some direct labour ,but increasingly the work is being done by contractors . The forest also has numerous lakes, all of which are reachable by footpaths.Llyn Elsi is a very popular viewing spot and walk. Forest TourismThe land owned by the Forestry Commission in Snowdonia National Park is just over 12%, of the forested areas, and Gwydyr Forest is probably the most popular,based on visitor numbers. In 1937 Gwydyr was designated a National Forest Park, and since 1993 the forest has been accorded the special status of Forest Park. The forest is very accessible by wide tracks, old miners' paths, and long established forest walks, a number of which follow way-marked routes. The popularity of Mountain Biking has led to the creation of The Marin Trail which is approximately 28km in length and test s the skills of Novice and Experienced bikers with 860 metres of climbing in all. Whilst the forest has to be accessible to Forestry Commission vehicles (there is over 100 miles of roads and tracks in the forest), it is not open to private vehicles except on designated Open Days. However, there are a number of forest car parks and most of these have picnic sites and viewing points..
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