Be Inspired by “The Great Outdoors” of Bala, Snowdonia, Wales

These pages offer some suggestions of things to do with a "Great Outdoors" Theme

The Bala & Penllyn area offers not just the mountains, rivers and lakes but also outstanding facilities to use “The Great Outdoors”, for example:

• Whitewater rafting and canoeing is available on the River Tryweryn which has hosted the World White-water Canoe Championships twice and numerous other international and national events. You will tackle rapids such as the graveyard and the ski-slope.
• Bala Lake is a scenic location for canoeing and sailing. The largest natural lake in Wales is also the venue for sailing events, triathlons and national swimming events.
• The Aran ridge provides an excellent mountain walk, with outstanding views - more walks around Bala.
• There are four mountain biking centres all within easy reach and Coed y Brenin is internationally famous - more cycle routes around Bala.
• The Bala Challenge is a charity walk around the lake, with stunning views, you can follow the route or part of it and return by steam railway.
• The area is also used for cycling events over the mountain passes, such as the Wild Wales Challenge and the Grand Fondo.

If you are really adventurous there is yet more to try, for example:

• Try an Orca a two-man raft, where you really have to paddle your own “canoe”, on the international standard white-water of the River Tryweryn.
• The High Ropes course is one of the highest and longest in the country.
• Canyoning will certainly raise the pulse, with slides down waterfalls and leaps into pools.
• Explore a mine with a guide.
• Zip World Velocity: with the longest and fastest zip line in Europe or
• Zip World Titan: with 8km of zip lines
• If you have some energy left there’s always: scrambling, rock climbing, abseiling and more……………

For petrol-heads there are off-road driving on dedicated sites, go-karting and off-road quads.

Browse the Gallery of photos to be inspired further and then Visit Bala - with such a range of activities available, Bala is certainly the outdoor centre of Snowdonia.