(S/E) From the front door of the Royal Ship, walk past the Visitor Centre to Eldon Square. Turn left then immediately right into Meyrick St.
Pass a chapel on the right and another on the left, and follow the road right to its junction with Springfield St. Follow a narrow lane ahead that climbs steeply past two turnings on the right. At the top of the road, turn left into a walled footpath.
(1) At a bench, turn right to Y Bwthyn. Turn left and follow a walled bridleway uphill. At a gate and stile, turn right and continue along the winding bridleway as it climbs, before levelling off to a gate into open country. Bear right past a low crag and then left and right around another, to meet a wooded stream, which you follow to a lane.
(2) Cross and continue parallel to the stream (staying to the right of the trees on a faint path a little way from the stream). Cross a small side-stream and then continue along the main stream. Ignore a path on the left to a ford and continue on the right-hand side of the stream to a former sheepfold with ladder stiles at either end.
Follow the field edge to a waymark at the entrance to woodland and turn right to pass behind a ruined farmhouse. Go through a metal gate and right of a single-storey house. Follow the track beyond and go through a gate to the left of a modern barn. Follow the track to pass to the right of the house at Brynrhug.
(3) Go through a gate and over a plank footbridge. Bear left to a gateway then walk across the field to a gate to the left of a static caravan. Cross the drive and go through another gate. Cross three fields, separated by a gate and a ladder stile, to a second ladder stile, beyond which the path skirts through a garden. Walk down the drive to the road.
(4) Turn left along the road for 200 yards, then take a footpath on the left that climbs obliquely through woodland. Beyond a gate, continue across the brackeny hillside with views over Llyn Gwernan. Meet a wall and follow it to the left before leaving it to pass above a house and then rejoining it beyond.
Leave the wall and follow a path across the hillside. An intermittently rocky section leads to a gate and ladder stile by an old sheepfold, beyond which the path continues to a hand gate and plank bridge. Follow wall and fence to a stream, which you follow briefly before crossing.
(5) Cross a fairly level area before fording the stream flowing out of Lynn Gafr, which becomes visible to your left as you start to climb steeply. A loose, rocky path continues to Llyn-y-Gadair, below the dramatic horseshoe of Cader Idris.
(6) Leave the Fox’s Path here, instead following a narrow path to the right of the lake. By a small inlet, follow the path right, away from the lake, across a chaotic area of landslipped rock below the dramatic screes and cliffs of Cyfrwy Arête.
The vague path, alternately rocky and grassy, winds through and over the hillocks – a small upright stone is a reassurance that you are on the right path. At a vague fork, the path bears north (right) for a while before resuming its generally seaward direction, passing below a slight crag under the main Cader ridge.
You should pass to the right of a round sheepfold and then left of the remains of a rectangular building as the path becomes smoother and grassier.
(7) Passing some boggy springs, the path finally descends to meet the Pony Path at a gate by a small cascade. Turn right through the gate and follow the obvious Pony Path, slabbed and stepped in places, downhill. Pass a memorial stone to Will Ramsbotham and continue alongside a stream, before crossing a bridge to a gate.
Bear left of the farm entrance and follow the track out to the road.
(8) Turn right along the road, then leave the road along a bridleway just after the Ty Nant car park. Go through a gate and turn right at a fork. Beyond a clump of trees, turn right at the footpath sign to a ladder stile. Cross and follow the wall to the left, to a fingerpost level with the farm, where you turn right. Follow the remains of a wall to a ladder stile. Bear left through trees and join a wall, which you follow to another ladder stile.
Continue through the woods to a white waymark, where you bear left as directed. Ignore the boardwalk on the right, continuing to a gate by the lakeside.
(9) Follow the lake edge until the path forks, a little way beyond the end of a wall. Take the left-hand path, which leaves the lake to pass through mixed woodland. Beyond a gate at the end of the wood, follow the track to the road at Gellilwyd Fawr.
(10) Turn right and follow the road to a T-junction, ignoring footpaths to right and left.
(11) At the road junction, turn left and follow the road downhill for 3⁄4 mile back to Dolgellau. At the T-junction opposite the garage, turn right. Turn left into Lombard St and follow it back to the Royal Ship. (S/E)
