Foel Penolau

About Foel Penolau

Foel Penolau is the northernmost summit of the Rhinogydd, close to Moel Ysgyfarnogod and looking out over Llyn Trawsfynydd. Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog are both visible from the top.

It has a reputation as one of the rockiest summits in Eryri, with hands needed to reach the highest point. That point is a large smooth slab, the surface of the outcrop the top is formed from. A revised prominence survey in December 2018 put its drop above 30 m, which gained it Hewitt and Simm status.

Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Foel Penolau (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.

Access rights here

General position for Wales — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in Wales · check another location.

Daylight at this summit today

Sunrise

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Sunset

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Daylight

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Civil twilight ends

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Computed astronomically for 52.894, -3.991. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Finding the summit

The recorded summit point is rock. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.

Survey method

Abney level/Trimble GeoXH 6000

Record revised

08-Dec-18

Drop measured from

SH 6609 3473 · 582.5 m

Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.

Long-distance paths past this hill

One waymarked long-distance route runs within 2.5 km of the summit — useful if you are linking this hill into a longer walk, or want a made path for the approach.

Route lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); distance from the summit computed by OpenFell.

Which hill this one belongs to

Foel Penolau is not counted as an independent hill in its own right. In prominence terms it belongs to Moel Ysgyfarnogod (623 m) — the nearest Marilyn you can reach from this summit without first dropping below its key col, 583 m.

Grouping is by prominence alone: a summit belongs to the nearest higher Marilyn it connects to without a deeper intervening col. Over a large massif that can gather hills no one would walk in a single day, and which few would describe as parts of the same mountain — it is a measure of independence, not a suggested route.

Nearest listed peaks