Tucked between the vibrant green hills on the Island of Anglesey, North Wales, you’ll find the seemingly out of this world landscape of Parys Mountain Copper Mine.
Parys Mountain Copper Mine
With so many beautiful beaches and green countryside around, an old mine might at first seem like a rather odd choice to add on your Wales travel itinerary. But as soon as you clap eyes on Parys Mountain you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to a different planet.
In this blog post we’ll give you a quick run down of the essential information you need for planning your trip to Parys Mountain, plus a little bit of historical context about the place.
Parys Mountain History
Mining at the Parys Mountains site actually dates back to the Bronze Age. But it wasn’t until the late 1700’s that copper extraction here began on the scale that it did. Over a 150 year period, a whopping 3.5 million tonnes of copper ore was extracted from the ground here.
Naturally during this period the, once little known, port town of Amlwch experienced a boom in both wealth and population. The thriving mining town became known as the Copper Kingdom. Quickly growing to become the centre of the global copper trade.
Following a national shortage of small coinage, The Parys Mine Company even began producing its own coins to pay its workers. Between 1787 and 1793 as many as ten million pennies and half pennies were minted.
Copper Kingdom Exhibition Centre
You can find out more about the history of the Anglesey copper trade at the Copper Kingdom Exhibition Centre in Amlwch. There’s lots of fascinating information about the role of the Copper Ladies and the workings of the harbour amongst other things.
It’s worth visiting the exhibition centre first so that you have true context around Welsh copper mining to apply to your Parys Mountain walk.
Address: Amlwch Port, Anglesey, LL68 9DB
Opening Times: Mid March – October. 10:30 am – 5pm (Tue- Sun)
Entrance Fee: Adult £7, Child £5, Concessions £6, Family £20
Parking: Free at Amlwch Port Car Park
Time Required: 1-2 hours
Parys Mountain Walk
But of course the star of the show is the actual site of the Parys Mountain Copper Mine which is just a couple of miles inland. There’s a network of self guided Parys mountain walks around the weird and wonderful landscape.
As soon as you step out of the car park you’ll be immediately greeted by a palette of vibrant colours. Reds, oranges, pinks, greys, browns, purples, blacks, greens, yellows, and blues. It really is very beautiful.
The Parys mountain walking route is easy to follow. And whichever way you go the path will lead you through the colourful lunar like landscape to the Great Opencast. From this stunning panoramic viewpoint you’ll be able to see the true enormity of the open mine.
While you can venture down into the man-made crater to take a closer look, do be careful. Remember this was once a working mine with all the hazards that come with that and it is super important you stay on the surface.
Address: Amlwch LL68 9RE
Opening Times: All day, year round.
Entrance Fee: Free
Parking: Free
Time Required: 1-2 hours
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Parys Mountain Copper Mine and highly recommend it as one of the more unusual things to do in Anglesey.
If you have any questions do get in touch in the comments, and when you do visit come back and let us know how you enjoyed it.
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Yorkshire born & bred, Sarah is a professional blogger who loves to travel. Pushing her boundaries with new adventures is her jam, so you likely won’t find her in one place for too long. Also a serious Marmite addict.
