Wales, United Kingdom
Eryri National Park (Snowdonia)
August 2017
Eryri National Park, historically known in English as Snowdonia, covers 823 square miles (2,132 square kilometers) of northwestern Wales. Designated on 18 October 1951, it was Wales’s first national park and the third established in Britain. More than 26,000 people live within its boundaries, which contain farms, villages and other working communities as well as protected landscapes.
Most of the park remains privately owned. Eryri National Park Authority owns less than one percent of the land and is responsible for planning, conservation, visitor management and access rather than ownership of the entire landscape.
Eryri contains nine mountain ranges and fifteen summits above 3,000 feet (914 metres). Yr Wyddfa, also widely known in English as Snowdon, rises to 1,085 metres (3,560 feet) and is the highest mountain in Wales. Ancient volcanic activity, continental movement and repeated glaciation helped form the park’s ridges, cwms, valleys and lakes. Its habitats include upland heath, peatlands, rivers and woodlands.
Current Context
When these photographs were taken in 2017, Snowdonia and Snowdon were still the English names used by the National Park Authority. In 2022, the Authority began prioritizing the Welsh names Eryri and Yr Wyddfa in both Welsh- and English-language communications. It subsequently approved the exclusive use of Eryri in its official logo. The English names remain relevant as historical and search terms.
