Llyn Clywedog

Our Review

Llyn (Lake) Clywedog is a massive lake of 615 acres spanning 6 miles, set in the rolling mountains and hills of Mid-Wales.

Yet this large lake is not as well known as its larger cousin Bala (Llyn Tegid), to the north.  However, unlike Bala, this is not a natural lake resulting from a massive dam across several valleys, which has created this S-shaped highland lake.

Access for Water Sports

Access to the water is via Clywedog Sailing Club, who provide a Day Sailing pass for both sailing dinghies and canoes, which includes the use of club facilities (fully equipped kitchen, showers, toilets, and changing rooms).

Dinghies and Canoes must have 3rd party insurance to use the lake.

The club also has a small camping area, so that can be arranged if you want to stay overnight.

When we visited, even though unannounced, we were given a very warm welcome, and the slipway provided an easy point to launch our Hudson inflatable canoe.

The lake is 1000ft above sea level, so access is only between March and the end of October due to access difficulties during Winter.

The Lake

The lake winds up the valleys in roughly an S-shape.  We found that meant winds came from many different directions, but it wasn't too bad in our canoe as hugging the shoreline provided some shelter.

The sections provide a very different 'feel' from rocky shorelines, tree-lined shorelines, heathland shorelines, grassy shorelines, and sandy shorelines.  This makes for a great place to explore.  Some of the shores are only accessible from the water, making it a great place to stop for a while and have a picnic.

The Llyn Clywedog Dam is the tallest mass concrete dam in Britain and is 236ft / 72m high and 750ft long, holding around 11,000 million gallons.  Severn Trent has a small visitors centre and observation platform to look down on the dam.  You pass this on the way to Clywedog Sailing Club.

The waters feed the River Severn.

Activities

On The Map

Address

How to get in touch

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