The Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel stands at the corner of the junction of the A498 and A4086. It is a lonely spot high in the hills, indeed one of the highest A road junctions in Wales, with the A4086 heading west over the summit at Pen-y-Pass and down the Pass of Llanberis and also north east to Capel Curig, while the A498 heads south to Beddgelert and the distant coast. The junction is set at the heart of the earthworks of a Roman Camp, perhaps meaning that roads have met here for nearly 2000 years. The junction has another unusual feature, in that the road numbering here has not changed since first assigned in 1922. This means that the A498 has always terminated on the A4086, and furthermore the layout of the junction suggests that it has always been a TOTSO for the latter route, which turns around two sides of the hotel. The junction itself is a simple T junction, with a central turning lane for traffic turning right on the A4086. On the opposite side is a wide bus layby, set back behind an island, presumably to allow buses from either direction to use it.
Due to the popularity of climbing Snowdon, and other summits, from the Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd areas, the junction has yellow lines and a clearway signed through it. A short distance south along the A498, the wide verges have been levelled and consolidated for parking, with parking metres installed too!