A sight not to be missed is the spectacular Great Opencast – shaped by miners using nothing more than picks, shovels and gunpowder! There is a level walk around the top of the Great Opencast and a viewing area with a stunning panorama that shows off the excavation’s amazing colours - an artist’s palette of reds, oranges, pinks, browns, purples, blacks, greens, yellows, and greys.

People have mined the metals harboured within Parys Mountain since the Bronze Age. A mass of copper ore that was discovered there in the late 1760’s prompted large scale mining, with yields so great that Amlwch came to dominate the world copper market for a decade. It became known as the ‘Copper Kingdom’. The mine owner, Thomas Williams became known as the ‘Copper King’.

Even today, there is thought to be a reserve of about 6 million tonnes beneath the old mine workings. The dramatic, stony landscape appears barren, but it supports a variety of wildlife, including birds such as skylark, meadow pipit and chough. Plants that are able to tolerate high concentrations of copper and zinc are able to survive there.

The area has distant views of Snowdonia, with the peak of Mount Snowdon visible on clear days. There is nowhere quite like Parys Mountain! More information is contained within the Copper Kingdom booklet, published by the Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust.