Spectacular & Dramatic
While its principal viewpoints are situated on the south bank of the Llugwy with the convenience of ample parking along the A5 it is observed far more dramatically if approached on foot along the northern bank.
Although it does mean you follow a narrow, tortuous path - partly hewed out of the rock face up through the vertigous gorge to the viewpoint.
The cascade's name was recorded in 1773 as Rhaiadr y wenol or the Waterfall of the Swallow. This is thought to refer to the way the water resembles the tail of a swallow where a large rock divides the flow into two streams.
The accepted Welsh name today is Rhaeadr Ewynnol. Ewynnol is a relatively recent Welsh word (first recorded in 1795), meaning “foaming”. It was applied to the falls in Victorian times, apparently by Welsh speakers who reinterpreted y wennol (“the swallow”) as what they considered to be a more “correct” Ewynnol (“foaming”).
