Had a great skinny-dip a few weeks ago in a waterfall-pool of a mountain stream, while walking in the Coed y Brenin Forest Park just north of Dolgellau in Wales. There were also quite a few opportunities for a bit of naturist walking, so I have a very specific spot to recommend to you.

I was staying in my caravan in the naturist section of the Benar Beach campsite, just northwest of Barmouth. It was a blazing hot week, so much so that even some hardened naturists abandoned the beach in the early afternoon, saying it was ‘just too hot’.  Being fair-skinned, I was looking for a bit of shade, so took to walking in the Coed y Brenan forest. There are several way-marked trails from the National Trust car park on the A470 at Ganllwyd (Grid Ref SH 72674 24343), but I was following one of the walks from a local guidebook ‘Walks around Coed y Brennin’ by Michael Burnett [Kittiwake Books. ISBN 978 1 902302 89 8]. Walk No 2 in this book is a circular walk through the woodlands and hillsides around the Afon (River) Gamlan, which is more of a stream than a river.  The lower section of the stream is noted for a series of waterfalls, known as ‘Rhaeadr-Ddu’ (black waterfall), with impressive falls, large pools and several picnic spots frequented by many tourists. However, a little further upstream and sufficiently away from the main ‘tourist route’, there are a series of gentler falls and pools nestled in a wooded glade, and here is my skinny-dipping spot.

It’s just 100 yards downstream from the forestry track which bridges the river/stream at Grid Ref: SH 71211 24862 (Lat/Long: 52.805889, -3.911972. Map Code: GBR 5Z.WB73). Access is from the track on the north side of the river. There’s a little bit of scrambling down a steepish bank, but I’m 61 and I managed it fine. The Lat/Long on the photos I took places my pool at 52.805379, -3.909806. There are good entry and exit points into and out of the water, as the pool is fringed by a series of boulders that form adequate rock steps. Underwater, the rocks are a bit slippery due to the natural film of brown algae, but that’s the habitat here. You just need to lower yourself in gently, never jump or dive.

I spent about half an hour swimming and floating in this pool. It was fairly warm, but the key attraction for me was the peace and quiet. Floating on your back, with the sun streaming though the canopy of broadleaf trees, with only the babbling of the brook and the songs of the birds to fill your ears. Absolute bliss. ‘Tranquility Base’ indeed.

Now, there is another attraction here. If you type the Lat/Long co-ordinates of the bridge into Google Maps and flip to the Satellite image rather than the map, you will see that there is a blind-ended track going about half a mile into the forest on a bearing of about 290 degrees (WNW). This is a perfect place for some naturist walking. There is even a gate across the start of the track to stop vehicles accessing it. The area has been clear-felled and replanted some years ago (hence the access track), so the tree cover is now good, providing excellent screening from the surrounding hillsides, but not so much that you don’t get a view. I recommend that you walk-in as far as the turning circle, leave your rucksack and clothes there, and then walk back out until you can see the gate, then turn around and walk back to where you left your gear. Again, there is peace and quiet here, disturbed only by the sound of the breeze in the trees and the occasional finch singing from its lofty perch.

The only disappointment I had was in trying to find / create a path to the riverside, as I really fancied a dip in the pools that are apparent on the satellite image around the dog-leg in the river, but all attempts were aborted due to the roughness of the ground. You need a machine to get over that terrain. However, on my OS map, there was a tempting footpath that continued west from the blind end of the track. It was a little overgrown and I got down it about 100 yards before deciding I should maybe leave it for another day.  So, plenty of reasons to go back and explore a little more.