Craig Eigiau

About Craig Eigiau

Often overlooked in favour of the higher Carneddau giants, this Nuttall offers a dramatic vantage point over the breached dam of Llyn Eigiau. While the western slopes are unremarkable, the eastern edge drops steeply into the cwm, providing a rugged, high-altitude perspective on the quieter reaches of the range.

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Did You Know?

• •The name translates from Welsh as 'Crag of the Shoals', referring to Llyn Eigiau in the valley below; 'Eigiau' is the plural of 'aig', meaning a shoal of fish, likely a reference to the arctic char that once thrived in the local waters.
• •From the summit, the most striking feature is the scar in the valley floor where the Llyn Eigiau dam failed in 1925. The resulting flood remains one of the UK’s worst dam disasters, and the massive breach in the concrete wall is still clearly visible.
• •The hill is most commonly climbed as part of a high-level circuit from the Eigiau car park, usually paired with its loftier neighbours, Carnedd Llywelyn and Foel Grach, to complete a horseshoe around the vast eastern cwm.
• •The view south-east across the cwm is dominated by the pointed silhouettes of Pen yr Helgi Du and Pen Llithrig y Wrach, two hills that define the skyline of the eastern Carneddau.
• •Despite its respectable height of 735m, its proximity to the 1,000m peaks of the central range means it is often treated less as a summit and more as a convenient place to stop for a sandwich.