Surrounded by coniferous trees, Llyn Elsi is a picturesque lake with an intricate shoreline and a couple of small islets where black-headed gulls breed. On the north side of the lake is a hill with a monument commemorating the opening of a water supply from Llyn Elsi to Betws-y-Coed in June 1914. Before becoming a reservoir, the site of the lake was a marshy hollow containing two small lakes. Footpaths from the village climb to the lake, and it can be reached on foot from the Lledr Valley.