The A4212 is a 17 mile road between Bala

Bala, Gwynedd

Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...

 (Y Bala) and Trawsfynydd

Trawsfynydd

Trawsfynydd is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, adjacent to the A470 north of Dolgellau near Blaenau Ffestiniog....

 in North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

, by way of a 401m (1316 ft.) summit at Llyn Tryweryn. There are many straight sections on this road and only one short 40mph speed limit at Frongoch

Frongoch

The village of Frongoch is located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road in north Wales.It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German prisoners-of-war during First World War, and then Irish Republican prisoners from the 1916...

. North Wales Police

North Wales Police

North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham....

 'Arrive Alive' campaign mobile speed cameras are often to be found in Bala and Cwm Prysor.

History

The road was created in the early 1960s or, by improving existing B roads and new construction in Cwm Prysor and around the Llyn Celyn

Llyn Celyn

Llyn Celyn is a large reservoir constructed between 1960 and 1965 in the valley of the River Tryweryn in Gwynedd, North Wales. It measures roughly 2½ miles long by a mile wide, and has a maximum depth of...

, replacing the Bala and Festiniog Railway that was closed to passengers in 1960 (1961 for freight). The route improved access for the construction of both Llyn Celyn and the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station

Trawsfynydd nuclear power station

Trawsfyndd nuclear power station is a disused Magnox power station situated at Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, Wales.-History:Construction of the power station, which was undertaken by a consortium involving Crompton Parkinson, International Combustion, Fairey Engineering and Richardsons Westgarth, and...

. It also provided a new and useful east-west link south of the A5 and, with routes east of Bala, via Llangynog

Llangynog

Llangynog lies at the confluence of the Afon Eirth and the Afon Tanat at the foot of the Berwyn range in Powys, Wales. Pop c.300It lies at the foot of the Milltir Cerrig mountain pass on the B4391 road, which runs between Llan Ffestiniog and Llanfyllin .It is surrounded by mountains and is a...

, to Nesscliffe

Nesscliffe

Nesscliffe is a village in Shropshire, England.The A5 road runs around the village on a new dual-carriageway by-pass and nearby is a small British Army base. It is also the site of a cave used by the highwayman, Humphrey Kynaston. This now forms part of the Nesscliffe Hill Country Park. The village...

 (Wolf's Head roundabout) on the A5, an important holiday route from the Midlands to the North Wales Coast at Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

 and Harlech

Harlech

Harlech is a town and seaside resort in Gwynedd, within the historical boundaries of Merionethshire in northwest Wales. Lying on Tremadog Bay and within the Snowdonia National Park, it has a population of 1,952, of whom 59% speak Welsh...

. The route uses two high mountain passes: the Milltir Cerrig

Milltir Cerrig

The Milltir Cerrig is a mountain pass in Wales, on the B4391 between Bala and Llangynog , briefly passing through Denbighshire....

between Llangynog and Bala, and this pass between Bala and Trawsfynydd.