Wales is a nation of great hills and mountains, each peak with its own unique character and story. These summits have long been a source of inspiration for poets and adventurers alike, with ancient myths and legends only adding to their mystique.
Yet despite the many lyrical approaches used to describe these mountains, there's one metric that fascinates landscape-lovers like no other – and that's height.
So, what are the highest mountains in Wales? Here, we reveal the top 15.
All these mountains are located in Eryri (Snowdonia). The tallest Welsh mountain outside the region is Pen y Fan (886m) in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons), which comes in 20th place.
Highest mountains in Wales
1. Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)
Height: 1085m (3560ft)
Mountain range: Mynyddoedd Yr (Snowdon Massif)
Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon, is the best known Welsh mountain and famously the easiest to ‘climb’ since a railway runs right to the summit from Llanberis.
2. Garnedd Ugain
Height: 1065m (3494ft)
Mountain range: Mynyddoedd Yr
Though its name may be unfamiliar to all but keen mountain folk, the Welsh K2 is almost as tall as its much more renowned sibling (and much less crowded).
3. Carnedd Llewelyn
Height: 1064m (3491ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
Far from the nearest road, the highest peak in the Carneddau range has long been eulogised in verse, the earliest known written by Rhys Goch Eryri around 1400.
4. Carnedd Dafydd
Height: 1044m (3425ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
Linked to Carnedd Llewelyn by a breathtaking ridge on the Cambrian Way, ’David’s Cairn’ is named after a prince of Wales executed by Edward I.
5. Glyder Fawr
Height: 1001m (3281ft)
Mountain range: Glyderau
The highest of the Glyderau peaks is famed for its summit views and can be climbed via a variety of walking and scrambling routes.
6. Glyder Fach
Height: 994m
Mountain range: Glyderau
Joined to Glyder Fawr by a rocky ridge above Cwm Cneifion (The Nameless Cwm), Glyder Fach can also be reached from Tryfan via the testing Bristly Ridge.
7. Pen yr Ole Wen
Height: 978m (3209ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
A giant pyramid above Llyn Ogwen, and the most southerly Carneddau peak, Pen yr Ole Wen is exactly the same height as Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain.
8. Foel Grach
Height: 976m (3202ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
Part of a spectacular broad ridge that has become a classic Eryri day-walk. When the weather permits, you can see the Isle of Man from the summit.
9. Yr Elen
Height: 962m (3156ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
The end of a short spur poking out of the Carneddau ridge, Yr Elen makes for a breezy jaunt from the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn.
10. Y Garn
Height: 947m (3107ft)
Mountain range: Glyderau
The site of a fatal avalanche in 2011, Y Garn (‘the cairn’) rises alone above Llyn Idwal and can be climbed from Ogwen Cottage.
11. Foel-fras
Height: 942m (3091ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
Often the final peak reached by fit and plucky individuals attempting the Welsh 3000s Challenge: walking over every Welsh mountain summit above 3000ft within 24 hours.
12. Carnedd Gwenllian
Height: 926m (3038ft)
Mountain range: Carneddau
Offering views of Ireland and the Berwyn mountains (on clear days), Carnedd Gwenllian was renamed in 2009 after a princess held prisoner virtually her entire life.
13. Elidir Fawr
Height: 924m (3031ft)
mountain range: Glyderau
The northernmost outpost of the Glyderau hosts the Dinorwig pump-storage power station and bears the scars of the former Dinorwic slate quarries on its western flank.
14. Crib Goch
Height: 923m (3028ft)
Mountain range: Mynyddoedd Yr
Meaning ‘Red Ridge’, Crib Goch is a knife-edged arête – the summit can reached by scrambling in summer but only by mountaineering in winter.
15. Tryfan
Height: 917m (3010ft)
Mountain range: Glyderau
Rising out of the landscape like some spiny hump-backed dinosaur, Tryfan’s summit can only be reached by rock climbers or those prepared to scramble.
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