After we found our love for wild swimming/Cold plunges in Scotland we got searching the internet for some spots in England and Wales and found the Watkin pools. There are lots of options, from lakes, to streams, to beaches & waterfalls. They are always nice and we try and find ones which are also suitable for the kids to be able to play alongside safely but the Watkin pools located on the Watkins path in Snowdon really felt magical.
Parking
There is a car park located between Llyn Dinas and Llyn Gwynant. It gets busy so I recommend getting there early but it is right next to the start of the trail.
We visited on a weekday and had no trouble getting parked in our 5.9m Sprinter van. It is a pay and display with bins and a public toilet. We stayed overnight in the Copper mine car park for £10 so we were close in the morning.
The trail
The Watkin path is one of the more difficult paths to summit Snowdon but the good news is you only need to walk roughly 1/4 of the way to reach the Watkin pools. It is quite steep in some sections and it was difficult as we had to carry the kids most of the way and our son is getting bigger by the day, but it is manageable. We took a few breaks to explore some ruins and look at the sheep and it took us roughly 50 minutes on the way up.
The start of the trail takes you through a beautiful woodland with many streams. When you exit the woodland and turn the corner you will see the waterfalls in the distance. From there, just follow it up until you see the stone slab bridge or people having a dip as there will likely be others and follow the little path down to the crystal clear pools. You can also continue up the side of the pools to find more areas if it is busy.
The Pools!
We found a quiet area for our son to throw rocks into the pools and spent a few hours relaxing, taking a dip and having a snack before heading back down. We were only joined by one other couple so mostly had the place to ourselves.
I would definitely recommend tackling the walk in order to see these pools, even if you do not swim. If travelling with young children (like we were) keep them close as there are areas of deep pools and drops if they are of the adventurous type.
Overall it was a magical morning and somewhere which we will make an effort to come back to each time we visit north Wales.
