Climbs 45
Rocktype Rhyolite
Altitude 194m a.s.l
Faces S
Nurgling through the overlaps, pitch 2 © Tim Sparrow
Crag features
Originally described as 'a tiny crag', the South Cliff at Craig Dinas is in fact over 45m (160') high.The rock is compact rhyolite, similar in character to Carreg Alltrem just down the valley. It gives very enjoyable climbing in low to mid grades with numerous recent routes in addition to those in the Meirionydd guide.
The main buttress, the South Cliff, is flanked by two smaller ones: the North Cliff and Top Buttress. In the centre of the South Cliff a massive pillar, 'The Boulder', leans against the crag. It is bounded on its left by 'Gull's Nest Crack' and on its right by a large chimney/cave. Right of the cave are overhung slabs then an arete where the crag base drops down to the foot of 'Black Wall'. Top Buttress lies above and right of Black Wall up a vegetated gully with a sketchy descent path.
Approach notes
The crag lies above the Silver Fountain hotel on the A5 about 1.5 miles from Betws y Coed. Park in the large 'National Trust' layby in the quarried area (SH808537) alongside the A5 just south of the Silver Fountain and north of Conwy Falls.Walk via the Silver Fountain carpark to the public footpath heading North. When below the gap between the North and South Cliffs a faint path branches off right up overgrown scree and boulders to a cairn. The North Buttress requires bushwhacking from here. The track continues rightwards to the foot of the South Cliff. Following the cliff base leads to Black Wall from where a gully can be acended to Top Buttress. BEWARE - in summer the vegetation takes over and a machete, native guide and sense of adventure may be needed. Approach is upwards of 15 minutes depending on vegetation.
Descent can also be interesting - the top of the climbs is a gorse and heather plateau, with descent either down through the broad steep gully separating the two cliffs or the gully between Black Wall and Top Buttress.
A crag clean-up day in September 2017 helped with these issues by providing some in-situ abseil points e.g. at the top of The Nurgler. Another was added when Black Wall was developed. Hopefully these will encourage a deserved increase in traffic.
Restricted Access
Seasonal Restrictions
Dates: 1 March to 6 June
Reason: Nesting Birds
Peregrines nest on the main crag and the restriction covers the whole crag. If the birds fail to nest or fledge early then the restriction wil be lifted early and noted here.
| The start of the faint path up to the LH side of the S crag is marked by a cairn atop a large boulder. Don't strike up the bracken & scree directly before this, as it's a nightmare. Rob Davies - 22/Apr/18 |
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| The house sized block 300 m west of main crag?? Well, the A5 is 200 m west of the main crag and 100m west of that is nothing just steep fields and woods down to the Afon Conwy. The mention of pockets suggests the post may refer to a different crag entirely? Mike Hammill - 03/Jul/15 |
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| This Crag is also in the Meirionnydd guide..... amazingdave - 01/Jun/09 |
Climbs at this crag
| Name | Grade | Stars | Type | Logs | Partner Ascents |
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These climbs you have climbed by seconding or top-roping.
These climbs you have Dogged.
These climbs you Did not Finish.
Climbs are waiting to be checked by a crag moderator, and may not be accurate. Climbs can't be verified by a crag moderator, and they need more information to confirm it. Climbs are no longer climbable.
Moderators Updates to this page are checked by UKC volunteers Ron Rees Davies and harold walmsley