'It's absolute mayhem every weekend': How hordes of TikTokers and staycationers are descending on Snowdonia to find a 'secret quarry' - flooding the area with hundreds of cars, piles of rubbish and and anti-social behaviour

Hordes of TikTokers are descending on a 'secret quarry' in Wales and infuriating locals as they flood the beauty spot, ignore parking policies and engage in anti-social behaviour.

Since the pandemic, Snowdonia has become a magnet for 'staycationers' who were attracted to the area by YouTube videos and Instagram posts about the so-called 'secret quarry' in Dinorwig, Llanberis.

Over the Easter holidays locals claim there were nearly 300 parked vehicles, mainly cars, on nearby country roads. They allege visitors blocked driveways and abandoned their parked vehicles on both sides of the road. 

The 'selfish' and 'disrespectful' holidaymakers also discarded rubbish, such as shoes, coffee cups and plastic bottles, throughout the beauty spot, locals told MailOnline.

One visitor, who documented his holiday on TikTok, showed how he and his friends urinated in the park, trespassed on property that was clearly marked 'keep out', and climbed and played on old slates in the quarry. 

He also highlighted how previous visitors defaced the beauty spot with graffiti and vulgar messages, including a note promoting 'free b***jobs'. 

Snowdonia residents are now calling on police and local authorities to take 'tougher' action against 'those who spoil our national parks'.

Social media influencers are invading England and Wales's highest and most visited peak, Snowdon, residents have claimed, alleging TikTokers' popular videos are attracting a mass influx of 'staycationers'.

The granting of UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the slate landscape of north west Wales, including at Dinorwig – overlooked by Snowdon - has also added to the increase in visitors.

Many TikTokers have made videos promoting the so-called 'secret' Dinorwic Slate Quarry, encouraging fellow adventurers to go on hikes, explore nearby caves and even swim in the quarry's natural 'infinity pool'. 

Others have promoted a camping lifestyle, sharing wholesome videos of them selves cooking in nature. 

TikTok user @its.a.trek, who visited the park with friends earlier this year, showed how their group made rice and pot noodles in the park, using pieces of slate they found as a lid. 

Similarly, @yatri86 and their travel companions enjoyed snacks and a morning tea at the quarry.

But while visitors are welcome in the hillsides, many have brought anti-social behaviour to region, causing a headache for locals.

TikToker @maccabackpacca visited Dinorwic Slate Quarry last month, documenting his adventure to the 'hidden gem'.

In the video, he highlighted how residents had clearly marked their properties as 'private land, keep out', which he described as being 'bollocks' before seemingly trespassing.

He showed his followers how he urinated on on what appears to be a rock in the quarry and encouraged people looking to engage in sex acts to 'ring' a telephone number that had been scribbled on a rock.

@maccabackpacca said it took 'four goes to find' the quarry, before showing how he climbed on ladders in the area and treated old industrial equipment like his personal exercise room. 

He also played with cooking tools in what appeared to be an abandoned home littered with rubbish, including an 'old shoe'.

Many TikTokers have visited the area recently, with some even warning in their videos against visited Snowdonia because it is 'too crowded'.

John Horrigan, 60, who has a smallholding, said that during over the weekend, the roadways in north west Wales were absolutely chaotic, with nearly 300 vehicles in the region.

'It's an accident waiting to happen. It's absolute mayhem every weekend. It's been like that in winter this year,' he warned, recalling how cars were parked on both sides of the roads and some even blocked residents' driveways.

Mr Horrigan declared: 'People who have lived here all their lives have said they've never seen it so busy.'

Following Easter, six bin-bags of mess had been collected by locals, he claimed. One of his sheep allegedly went missing too.

He added: 'The nearest public toilets are in Llanberis six miles away. Visitors have cut fences looking for somewhere to go to the toilet.'

At Llanberis, the village at the foot of 3,560ft Snowdon, a peak which has more than half a million annual visitors, local Andrew Pitts, 51, said there was a lack of enforcement of parking restrictions. 

'Drivers park anywhere they want. They ignore the double yellow lines,' he said. 'It will be chaotic in the summer.'

Ayeisha Hughes, 34, said at her village home: 'Tourists will always look for a free place to park. I wish all the road parking was for residents only and force tourists to use the car parks.'

Another local Juliet Wells, 25, said she'd witnessed congestion caused by unauthorised parking and tickets had been issued to drivers. 

'I think the police are on it. It's more chilled in England. Here, you get towed away if you park badly,' she said.

On the roadside near the Pen-y-Pass route up Snowdon, it costs £8 for up to twelve hours parking. 

But the popularity of the area often means all spaces fill up on fine days and drivers park illegally instead, causing fears about access for buses and emergency vehicles.

At Pen-y-Pass car park, a reserved space costs up to £40 a day.

Sharon Thomas, 50, said at Llanberis: 'Parking is very expensive and it discourages people from using car parks. For locals there are not many places for us to park.

'People leave their cars on the side of the road, it's disrespectful.'

Discarded rubbish is also a concern. In Snowdonia, the detritus left by Easter visitors included a shoe, coffee cups and plastic bottles.

A local man said: 'Snowdonia is such a special and beautiful place. But unfortunately, as in other national parks, there are some ignorant and selfish visitors who couldn't care less where they park and leave rubbish behind.

'It's got far worse since Covid. The police and local authorities need to get much tougher with those who spoil our national parks.'

The internet is awash with videos of TikTokers descending on some Britain's most picturesque locations.

They have been seen enjoying themselves at attractions also including Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and seaside hang-outs in Cornwall.

However, locals near some of these sites are complaining about the impact of these tourists with photos and video showing piles of rubbish left behind and fights breaking out over issues like parking and queueing.

Unsavoury scenes see influencers seemingly disrespecting monuments - including a woman who ran away from security and touched the stones at Stonehenge.

Other influencers filmed themselves signing their social media handles on beaches and climbing on top of an abandoned tank. 

One video showed a woman at the Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire touching the 13m-tall standing stones before being ushered away.

The TikTok user who uploaded the footage described her as a 'bad tourist', with comments in response including 'The no touching is to protect the bioculture on the stones' and 'Shouldn't she get a ticket or something?'

Another clip was posted by a TikToker writing her online profile name Barbiana in the sand at a beach in Cornwall.

She told viewers: 'I'm a city girl, don't get me wrong, but look at this - you can't beat this, it kind of looks like Greece.

'Of course I had to sign my name out, always, before leaving the beach.' 

A third revealed how cars have been clogging up the area around Snowdonia in Wales, while there has also been footage of people clambering on an abandoned tank in Derbyshire's Peak District countryside.

The Snowdonia video was posted by someone who told viewers: 'I thought there was some stupid people in the world and then there's this - three rows of cars, middle row completely locked in.' 

And the footage of the Ramshaw tank in the Peak District was shared by the group Derbyshire Young Walkers, who accompanied it with the caption: 'Has anyone been to all three of these amazing hidden gems?! The Peak District is full of them!' 

The two other attractions they recommended were a waterfall beside an aqueduct in Chatsworth, Derbyshire, and the nearby Hidden Druids Caves in Birchover.

Complaints from UK locals come as fed-up residents in the Canary Islands in Spain have also launched protests demanding a crackdown on British holidaymakers - with graffiti appearing on walls saying: 'Tourists go home.'

MailOnline revealed yesterday how UK visitors were responding by daubing their own messages, including one reading: 'F*** off, we pay your wages.'

There was also a 10 per cent surge in Tenerife bookings despite the local backlash.

But staycationers sticking in Britain for holiday breaks are increasingly under fire. 

Fuming locals living near Snowdon hit out as Easter tourists saw their cars being towed by police after parking illegally and clogging up the Welsh attraction, while there were also scuffles as queues snaked up the mountain.

Photos shared online showed a lengthy line of hikers heading towards the summit of England and Wales' highest peak last weekend.

Others revealed illegally-parked cars blocking pavements before police towed many of them away, with trucks pulling unwanted vehicles from the snaking country roads.

North Wales Police said 29 vehicles parked near Llyn Ogwen and another nine in Pen y Pass at the bottom of Snowdon were removed on Good Friday.

Snowdonia is the largest National Park in Wales, attracting 4million visitors each year - and the crowds were especially intense this past Bank Holiday weekend.

Traffic Wales said the A5 was closed near Ogwen Cottage outdoor pursuits centre on due to the vast number of cars needing to be towed.

The force posted on X, formerly Twitter, a picture of vehicles parked on both sides of a narrow mountain road - urging: 'Please park responsibly on the roads and avoid obstructing emergency vehicles. Blocking their way could lead to serious consequences.

'Let's be considerate of our fellow road users in need and make way for emergency services. Your cooperation can save lives!'

An angry local has shared a TikTok video with the words: 'Idiot tourists showing up in Snowdonia again! How some people get through life is beyond me.'

There were also disputes among people queuing on the mountain, with one TikToker sharing footage and saying: 'There is no allocated queue for Snowdon. 

'People choose to queue of their own accord. There is no one telling you that you have to queue.

'People think it's really against the rules to join an imaginary queue. It's not Thorpe Park, it's a mountain.'

Another shared photos of a woman accused of disrespecting the Stonehenge monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

The witness wrote: 'You're not supposed to approach or touch Stonehenge, but this woman walked over the fence and proceeded to touch it while blatantly ignoring workers and security demanding she stop.' 

One of Britain's most popular beauty spots was described as 'almost impassable' after coastal erosion buried the only access to the beach at Durdle Door in Dorset.

There was also criticism about cars clogging the Peak District, with one TikToker posting: 'Crazy Peak District traffic today! Cars everywhere.'

The clip received more than 44,700 likes on TikTok and photos of the traffic backlog caused outrage on local Facebook groups.  

One person wrote: 'I am afraid that it has all gone too far. The main aim of the National Park was conservation of countryside and wildlife and encouraging people to respect and enjoy nature. 

'I don't think that remit covered leaving dirty nappies and litter and just generally slobbing about with their chips and beer.

'If this is helping local business they can stick it. A cafe or shop can only cope with so many people not hoards who will be just as happy in Blackpool.' 

Elsewhere, there have been complaints about rubbish dumped at the abandoned 19th-century Gaewern slate mine near Corris Uchaf in Gwynedd, south Wales.

Volunteer Anthony Taylor blamed wannabe social media stars for 'killing' the historic mine - which closed in the 1970s - by littering it with plastic bags, inflatable dinghies and even human excrement.

He says it has increasingly attracted the attention of influencers snapping selfies after the cave's fame spread thanks to a popular YouTube video in 2018.

And Mr Taylor, 42, worries the site could end up closed to public access for good unless visitors start behaving better.

He told the BBC: 'Instagram seems to be the killer of a lot of things. People turn up, take a picture and then leave - it's just disgusting, really sad and disheartening.'

TikTok and Instagram videos show visitors to historic sites across the UK which have prompted complaints from onlookers.

Locals' anger about second homeowners hitting Cornwall resorts such as Newquay and St Ives have also prompted volunteer wardens to go on patrol with CCTV.

Visitors have been shamed online for driving their cars on to Cornish beaches and leaving them there - with one even spotted submerged in the sea.

Locals set-up a Facebook group called 'Utterly Preposterous Parking in Cornwall'.

People in the Cornish seaside town of St Ives say it has been turned into a 'theme park' after being swamped by tourists and Airbnb rentals.

And three people were seen holding up a crude banner on a bridge over the A30 at Bodmin in Cornwall, telling drivers: 'Turn around and f*** off.'

At the same time, tourists arriving in Dawlish in neighbouring Devon were greeted by a man dressed as the Grim Reaper with a sign saying: 'Welcome holidaymakers.'

Complaints about 'self-entitled' and 'rude' day trippers parking for free on beaches have also been made in other coastal resorts, including in Wales and West Sussex.

One Anglesey resident said: 'I'm not a fan of selfish, inconsiderate and self-entitled behaviour.

'I wouldn't dream of driving on to a beach, but it seems that some people think they can park wherever they want.'

Another said: 'It is totally selfish to drive cars onto that beach - clearly not appropriate, but some people don't care about others.'

And makeshift signs taking aim at visitors and second home-owners have also appeared across the UK.

Holiday properties in Anglesey in south Wales have been covered in posters declaring 'Nid yw Cymru ar Werth' - Welsh for 'Wales is not for sale' - by activists demanding council tax on second homes be increased.

A spoof English Heritage blue plaque was also placed on a wall in Burnham in Norfolk, calling it 'a dying village poisoned by wealth'.

Residents of the picturesque seaside community on the east coast of England bemoaned rich celebrities buying up properties for second homes and holiday rentals there, pricing out locals.

And villagers near a beauty spot in the Lake District barricaded themselves in with makeshift roadblocks, plastic fences and fake signs in a bid to keep tourists away.

Campaign group Nation Cymru has said four times as many houses have been sold second homes across Wales compared to the rest of Britain, ITV reported.

Yet social media's influence on getaways shows little sign of abating, as new figures suggest video sharing site TikTok is the 'go-to platform for travel inspiration'.

Almost half of adults, or 47 per cent, are now turning to the website to plan their holidays - with 39 per cent spending an extra four to seven hours each week doing so compared to two years ago, according to research by Tourism Australia. 

Their survey of 2,000 Britons found 46 per cent say they trust TikTok recommendations more than other holiday review websites.

The UK's top five favourite long-haul destinations were said to be Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand.

And 57 per cent told of being more likely to visit a place after seeing it on TikTok. 

Sally Cope, Tourism Australia's regional general manager for UK and Northern Europe, said: 'It's a natural fit for people to seek out their next destination inspiration whilst scrolling.'