Harlech’s biggest
King George's Field
Playing field
2.3 ha (6 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Harlech
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Harlech · parks, paths & countryside
Harlech is inside Snowdonia National Park
The sea makes up 38% of the area within 5 km. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 36% of residents. Harlech grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
36%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
39 km
3.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
67%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Snowdonia National Park
The sea
38%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Harlech?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside Snowdonia National ParkHarlech sits inside it: 2,140 km² of protected landscape.On the coast38% of the area within 5 km is sea; 20 beaches mapped.Parks can be a walk away64% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Harlech’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round, followed by the sea. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Harlech grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Harlech, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 81% of UK towns11th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space1.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
43out of
100
100
A park within a walk36%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
8out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape67%of the land within 5 km
96out of
100
100
Footpaths3.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
72out of
100
100
The sea38%of the area within 5 km
95out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Villages its size
Harlech is 11th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,200 to 1,300 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Harlech3.5
Villages its size2.0
Gwynedd towns1.8
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Harlech1.9
Villages its size2.3
Gwynedd towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Harlech36%
Villages its size76%
Gwynedd towns83%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Harlech stands out most for path per km²: only 8 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 46 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huncoat Lancashire | A+ | 10.1 | 100% | 4.9 | 1% |
| 2 | Clanfield Hampshire | A+ | 6.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 78% |
| 3 | Kirton Suffolk | A+ | 2.5 | 100% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 4 | Aldington Kent | A+ | 4.6 | 100% | 3.8 | 11% |
| 5 | Otterbourne Hampshire | A | 2.9 | 100% | 3.2 | 25% |
| 6 | Thurgoland South Yorkshire | A | 2.5 | 100% | 4.1 | 1% |
| 7 | Box Hill Surrey | A | 35.9 | 12% | 6 | 39% |
| 8 | Cliffs End Kent | A | 6.9 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Chew Magna Somerset | A | 2.4 | 100% | 3 | 15% |
| 10 | Millhouse Green South Yorkshire | A | 1.9 | 100% | 3.6 | 18% |
| 11 | Harlech Gwynedd | A− | 1.9 | 36% | 3.5 | 67% |
| 12 | Bradpole Dorset | A− | 0.9 | 100% | 3.3 | 95% |
| 13 | South Heath Buckinghamshire | A− | 20.4 | 0% | 3 | 85% |
| 14 | Westfield East Sussex | B+ | 1.9 | 100% | 1.9 | 83% |
| 15 | Tregarth Gwynedd | B+ | 1.5 | 100% | 2.9 | 23% |
| 16 | New Brancepeth County Durham | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 17 | Bierton Buckinghamshire | B+ | 5.8 | 70% | 7.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Farningham Kent | B+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2 | 33% |
| 19 | Billy Row County Durham | B | 2.3 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 20 | Horton Kirby Kent | B | 5.9 | 78% | 1.7 | 21% |
| 21 | Bunbury Cheshire | B | 2.6 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 22 | Talgarth Powys | B | 5.7 | 71% | 1.5 | 52% |
| 23 | Kilgetty Dyfed | B | 1 | 100% | 0.9 | 18% |
| 24 | Minster Lovell Oxfordshire | B | 3.6 | 79% | 1.5 | 37% |
| 25 | Sutton Benger Wiltshire | B | 2.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Beer Devon | B | 1.6 | 50% | 2.2 | 43% |
| 27 | Eckington Worcestershire | B | 4.1 | 72% | 1.9 | 23% |
| 28 | Potten End Hertfordshire | B− | 2.4 | 73% | 2.2 | 44% |
| 29 | Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Oxfordshire | B− | 2.5 | 72% | 2.2 | 40% |
| 30 | Wyton Cambridgeshire | B− | 4.9 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Gilmorton Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Marlpit Hill Kent | B− | 2.5 | 0% | 2.9 | 35% |
| 33 | Sutton Common Suffolk | C+ | 0.8 | 51% | 3.9 | 85% |
| 34 | Gaerwen Gwynedd | C+ | 1.5 | 100% | 0.4 | 7% |
| 35 | Weobley Herefordshire | C+ | 1.6 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Ashill Norfolk | C+ | 3.7 | 82% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Westhampnett West Sussex | C | 0.2 | 79% | 2.6 | 33% |
| 38 | Ampleforth North Yorkshire | C | 2.3 | 27% | 1.7 | 95% |
| 39 | Bradfield Essex | C | 1.4 | 27% | 1.5 | 35% |
| 40 | Stoke Hampshire | C | 0.3 | 0% | 2 | 32% |
| 41 | Silkstone Common South Yorkshire | C | 1.5 | 63% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Ponthir Gwent | C | 2.9 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Coedhirwaun West Glamorgan | C | 2 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Foxton Cambridgeshire | C | 2.3 | 84% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Hanwood Shropshire | C− | 1.9 | 19% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 46 | Aldbrough East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 26% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Trewoon Cornwall | D | 0.9 | 71% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 48 | Blyth Nottinghamshire | D | 2.5 | 76% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Burton on the Wolds Leicestershire | D | 2.5 | 31% | 2 | 0% |
| 50 | Yardley Gobion Northamptonshire | D | 1.2 | 47% | 3 | 0% |
| 51 | East Markham Nottinghamshire | D | 2.2 | 46% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Southery Norfolk | D | 2 | 61% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Dishforth North Yorkshire | D | 2.3 | 68% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Fleet Hargate Lincolnshire | D | 1.7 | 76% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Hadham Cross Hertfordshire | D | 0 | 0% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Elvington North Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 0% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Felton Northumberland | D− | 1.7 | 50% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Sutton on Trent Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.5 | 39% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 59 | Walsham le Willows Suffolk | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 2 | 0% |
| 60 | Helpston Cambridgeshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Harlech’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Harlech
The biggest is King George's Field, 2.3 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
4 in 10 Harlech residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (36%)Further (64%)
Harlech36%
Villages its size76%
Gwynedd towns83%
All UK towns83%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 4 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 315 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Harlech
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Park
Snowdonia
Harlech is inside it2,140 km²since 195167% of the land within 5 km
National Landscape
Llyn
12 mi north-west160 km²since 1957
67% of the land within 5 km of Harlech is National Park or National Landscape, more than 95% of UK towns. Snowdonia National Park covers 2,140 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Harlech
39 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Harlech and the kilometre around it, 3.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Regional
Wales Coast Path (Meirionnydd)9.8 km
The regional route here is the Wales Coast Path (Meirionnydd).
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Harlech: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 111 | 97 | 88 | 76 | 86 | 97 | 117 | 113 | 118 | 155 | 146 | 160 |
April is the driest month (76 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 160 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 24 nights a year. The climate in Harlech →
The coast
Harlech is a coastal town
38% of the area within 5 km of Harlech is sea. 20 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 5 with a name.
Traeth Harlech0.3 mi from town
DirectionsLlandanwg Beach0.9 mi from town
DirectionsTraeth Llandanwg Beach0.9 mi from town
DirectionsMorfa Harlech1.6 mi from town
DirectionsSea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
2 viewpoints and 4 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
2Viewpoints1Hills and peaks1Waterfalls1Nature reserves4Playgroundsabout the same as villages its size5Campsites5Slipways
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Moel Senigl311 m (1,020 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Twyni Llandanwg Sand Dunes2.3 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 5
Plus 5 slipways without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
PorthmadogPenrhyndeudraethCricciethBarmouthBlaenau FfestiniogHarlech
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlech | A− | 1.9 | 36% | 67% |
| Porthmadog 4.5 mi | B+ | 0.9 | 94% | 41% |
| Penrhyndeudraeth 5.0 mi | A | 2.5 | 100% | 68% |
| Criccieth 6.5 mi | B | 2.9 | 75% | 4% |
| Barmouth 9.9 mi | B− | 0.5 | 60% | 53% |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog 11.5 mi | B+ | 3.6 | 70% | 78% |
Penrhyndeudraeth, 5 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Harlech
What is the biggest park in Harlech?
King George's Field, 2.3 ha (6 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Harlech?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the village, including the Wales Coast Path (Meirionnydd).
How many people in Harlech live near a park?
36% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Harlech?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Harlech good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 72% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 43% (1.9 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Harlech’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Harlech’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.