Llyn Barfog, the Bearded Lake

Climb out of Aberdyfi onto the hills and, with a little more effort, you reach a small dark lake cupped in a hollow of the moor: Llyn Barfog, the Bearded Lake. It is one of those places that is worth the walk for the walk’s sake, and worth it twice over for the tangle of legend that clings to it. This is how to get there, and what you are looking at when you arrive.

Why the “Bearded Lake”?

The plain answer is botanical: the lake’s surface is fringed and whiskered with water lilies, which in the right season give it a shaggy, bearded look. The lake sits high above the coast in quiet upland country, dark and still in its bowl, the kind of water that holds the sky and gives nothing away. On a clear day the views back over the Dyfi estuary on the climb are half the reward.

The monster and the king

The plain answer is never the only one in this part of Wales. Legend has it that Llyn Barfog was home to an afanc — a water monster, a lake-dwelling beast of Welsh folklore — which terrorised the area until it was dragged from the water. The hero of the haul, depending on who is telling it, was King Arthur, whose horse strained so hard pulling the creature out that it left a hoofprint pressed into the rock nearby. The stone is still pointed out today as Carn March Arthur, “the stone of Arthur’s horse.” Believe as much of it as the weather allows.

Getting there

The lake lies up on the moor inland of Aberdyfi, reached on foot from the lanes that climb behind the village — the same high ground as the Panorama Walk. It is a proper little hill walk rather than a stroll: expect a stiff climb, a few boggy patches, and ground that is often wet underfoot whatever the forecast promised. Boots, not trainers. Take a map, since the moor-top paths are less obvious than the views suggest, and give yourself the morning rather than squeezing it into an hour.

What to bring, and when to go

• Footwear — walking boots; the approach holds water year-round.
• Navigation — a map and the sense to use it; hill cloud can come down fast.
• Timing — a clear morning, both for the estuary views on the way up and for finding the lake without faff.
• Layers — it is cooler and breezier up top than down on the front.

Make a day of the hills

Llyn Barfog pairs naturally with the rest of the high walking above the village. Combine it with the Panorama for the long view over the bay, or save your legs for another day and tackle the bigger summits; the full set is in our walks guide. If you have a taste for the old stories by now, the village’s other great legend — the drowned kingdom beneath the bay — is told in our piece on Cantre’r Gwaelod and the bells of Aberdovey. And for everything back at sea level, start with the things-to-do guide.