Tucked in-between the incredible Rhinog mountains in North Wales, you’ll discover the picture perfect Rhinog Shepherds Hut. This remote and cosy wooden cabin is nestled away in the scenic surroundings of the Snowdonia National Park. Providing the perfect bolthole for a romantic get away, amongst the picturesque Welsh countryside

Kitted out with your own mini private garden and luxurious wood fired hot tub. You’ll be able to bathe beneath the starry night sky whilst being surrounded by one of Wales’ most beautiful mountain ranges.

This little slice of heaven has countless walks to explore nearby. Or why not head a little further afield and challenge yourself with a hike to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, AKA mount Snowdon. That’s exactly what we did… Although it was a little hard to tear ourselves away from this idillic retreat.

Where is the Rhinog Shepherds hut in Llanbedr?

Once you’ve reached Llanbedr, you’ll turn off onto a single lane track towards the Welsh Rhinog mountains into a village called Dyffryn Ardudwy. This incredibly narrow road continues for roughly 5 miles. Winding it’s way past farms and dry stone walls until you reach your destination. You’ll drive over a total of 7 cattle grids along the way.

Google maps will get you so far, but you’ll need to follow detailed directions from the host to make it all the way to the Shepherds huts. Expect to see cows and sheep stood in the middle of the road too. You really are out in nature at this retreat!

How many shepherds huts are there on this site?

A total of three shepherds hut’s can be found at this intimate site, they are named Rhinog, Moelfre and Llethr.

They have been staggered and set up in a way that keeps them feeling private. However, the path takes you between the first two to reach Rhinog at the top. Therefore, I would say the Rhinog Shepherds Hut is the most private out of the three, as nobody will walk past it.

They are all nicely spaced out too, so we never heard a peep from anyone else whilst we were there.

Where to park for this Welsh shepherds hut

Just up from the owners farm (and to the left of the track) there are three parking spaces on some slate chippings. There is one parking space per shepherds hut and parking here is free.

To reach your hut from the carpark, you’ll need to walk through a wooden gate and then follow the uphill path to your Shepherds hut. Each hut has a little plaque by the door with its name on so you know where to go. We stayed in Rhinog which is the one at the top of the hill, furthest away from the car park.

We had already unloaded the car and carried our bags to the shepherds hut. But shortly after, Eleri (the host), arrived on a quad bike with her daughter to offer help. They were both so friendly and gave us some recommendations on things to see and do whilst we were here. It was also so good to hear them speaking their native tongue to one another, as we rarely hear people speaking Welsh when we visit.

Are shepherds huts small?

From the outside the Rhinog shepherds hut does’t look all that big. But don’t be fooled by it’s quaint appearance!

The moment you step through the double glass patio doors, you’ll soon be impressed with how much they have managed to fit into this small open plan living space. It’s pretty neat how you can fit an entire tiny home, along with all the mod-cons into such a small footprint. All you need is a good floor-plan design, a clever layout to work with and some nifty storage solutions.

This pretty wooden shepherds hut was plenty big enough for the two of us to be comfortable, without getting in one another’s way.

Sleeping in a Shepherds hut

Spanning the width of the shepherds hut, you’ll find a comfortable raised double bed at the far end. This shepherds hut also has a wooden frame/wall around the bed, which helps separate the bedroom away from the rest of the main living space. Inside the cosy bedroom nook, you have a light switch for the accent reading light. Along with two windows, complete with wooden shutters for curtains. Not that you ever want to close off the incredible mountain views! At the foot of the bed there is a wooden ledge, which makes an ideal spot to put your cup of tea on a coaster.

Beneath the bed you’ll find a vast storage space which is accessed on the side via two little wooden doors. You’d be able to fit so much under there as it was huge!

We slid our weekend bags under the bed which kept the living space tidy and clutter free. It was really easy to pull out our bags from under the bed as and when we needed something.

We had stormy weather during one of the nights we stayed here, which did make the shepherds hut rock a little! As the shepherds hut is on wheels, the swaying felt a little like aeroplane turbulence which was an interesting experience!

In general though, we slept incredibly well here. All we could hear was some sheep baa’ing away in the field next to us and we never heard a peep from our neighbours in the other two shepherds huts.

Kitchen area

Remarkably, inside the Rhinog shepherds hut theres a really well equipped yet compact kitchen. Under the worktop counter theres a good sized fridge, along with a small freezer drawer that came complete with ice cubes. We chose to do self catering during our stay, and the fridge was plenty big enough to keep all of our food nicely chilled.

When it comes to rustling up meals, there’s a duel ring induction hob along with a tiniest oven i’ve ever seen. It was dinky! As a result of its size, you wont be able to cook lots in one go! So perhaps don’t plan on cooking a hearty roast dinner whilst you’re here. For what we needed though, it worked perfectly fine.

You’re provided with pots and pans to cook with, along with cutlery, utensils, plates, cups and all the basics you’d need. They even provided things like salt and pepper, kitchen towel, tin foil and fairy washing up liquid to name a few.

We had a sweet welcome basket from the friendly host too, which consisted of tea, coffee, sugar and UHT milk sachets. Plus a bottle of red wine and some traditional Welsh cakes which was a lovely surprise.

Shepherds hut with a log burner

Our stay was during August so it was far too warm to light the fire up. But If you’re planning on a winter getaway instead, then it would be pure bliss to have the wood-burning stove roaring away inside your cosy shepherds hut. I’d imagine it would get super toasty inside, as we noticed the insulation on the Rhinog shepherds hut was exceptionally good.

They have two grey chairs in the living room area, that come styled with sheep cushions. A small fold away table can be found inside the wardrobe, which literally took seconds to unfold and set up when we wanted to eat.

The Rhinog shepherds hut also has underfloor heating, not that we needed it during our stay! I’m sure it comes in to play during the colder winter months, and makes a welcome addition on a chilly day.

Bathroom inside the Welsh Shepherds hut

At the opposite end of the shepherds hut there is a perfectly sized and practical bathroom. The wooden cladding continues into the bathroom, along with dark blue cabinetry and a fun patterned floor tile. There is a small rectangular basin, normal flushing toilet and decent sized walk in shower with sliding glass door. It’s not a rainfall shower head, but it’s powerful and always had plenty of super hot water.

You’re also provided with two soft fluffy towels each (one for the hot tub, and one for the shower). Plus a couple bars of individually wrapped face soaps are available to use too.

How to use the wood fired hot tub

Outside the shepherds hut in your own private garden area, you’re provided with a picnic table for casual alfresco dining. Another two wooden chairs sit beside the fire pit, creating the perfect spot to toast marshmallows. But the real pièce de résistance is the large and alluring wood fired hot tub.

Patience is key when it comes to using a wood fired hot tub. It takes around two hours to reach the toasty water temperature you’re seeking.

Logs, kindling, firelighters and matches are all provided by the host. Along with simple instructions on how to start up the wood fired boiler. Thanks to the firelighters, it was easy enough get the fire started. Then it was just a case of feeding it a constant supply of logs for a while. During this time, you’ll need to occasionally lift the hot tub cover and stir the water with what looks like a gigantic slotted spoon!

After eating dinner, the hot tub had reached the perfect temperature so we jumped in. With zero light pollution up in the Welsh mountains, and not a cloud in sight. We were blessed with the clearest night sky we’ve ever seen in our lives. From the warmth of the hot tub, we watched shooting stars zoom by, and looked up in awe at a sky completely full of twinkling stars.

It was so magical and made a night we will never forget. These Iphone photo’s don’t show half of what we could see!

Rhinog mountain walk

Right on your door step you can do the breathtaking walk through the Rhinog mountains in Snowdonia’s National Park. Sadly the weather wasn’t great on the day we hoped to do this walk, so we had to give it a miss. But if you enjoy a challenging mountain walk, then you should 100% give the Rhinog walk a go whilst you’re here. This walk offers incredible views and lakes, and is a complete hidden gem in Snowdonia.

Other places to visit

A short drive away and you’ll find yourself in the small historic town of Harlech. Here you can visit the Harlech castle or perhaps take a swim or stroll along the stunning sandy Harlech beach.

Of course one of the most popular things to do whilst in Snowdonia National Park, is to take one of the routes up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon. I’ll be writing about our Snowdon trip soon, but for now feel free to read about our walk up Pen y Fan in South Wales!

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to whisk your loved one away, for a relaxing and unforgettable time at the Rhinog shepherds hut in Snowdonia National Park.

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