After travelling to the other side of the world for my first solo travelling trip. I decided to explore a little closer to home and landed on the Brecon Beacons in Wales. I had heard that this place was really beautiful and wanted to go for my first camping trip. To fit around other plans, I was only here for two days but I wanted to share with you three amazing walks that I did and highly recommend.
Where Are the Beacons and How To Get There?
The Beacons are in the South of Wales, stretching above Newport and Swansea. The easiest way to get here is by car. It is situated close to the M4, for people travelling up from England or can be reached by the many dual carriageways that feed into the area from the north.
Where To Camp in the Brecon Beacons?
I decided to camp within the park itself and stayed at Cwmdu Campsite in the East. This was perfect for my short trip and for the walks I had planned. The campsite also hosted food trucks in the evening and had a permanent coffee shop, selling pastries and sausages (vegan available) in the morning and beer on tap in the evenings. The facilities here were super clean and even gave you free hot water in the showers which is a plus. There was even a small shop at Reception full of the essentials, if like me, you forgot to stop at a shop on the way there. If you are planning walks further in the West, you may want to camp a bit closer, but most places here aren’t too far away by car.
Best Walks in the Beacons
After researching the walks available to do, I found two I really wanted to do: Pen y Fan Horseshoe Trail and the Four Waterfalls Trail. I found another one close to my campsite before I headed home called Sugar Loaf.
Pen y Fan Horseshoe Trail
Start Point and Car Park: The Neuadd Car Park – 51°50’36.2″N 3°23’57.4″W
Type of hike: moderate to challenging with some sharp uphill and downhill sections, circular loop
Duration: 5 – 6 hours
I loved this hike so much and was the best way to start my Beacons adventure!
Once you leave the car park and the view open up in front of you, you are rewarded with amazing views of the glacially carved valleys for the duration of the hike. I chose to walk anti-clockwise and so the beginning of the walk was really quiet, before I got to the peak of Pen y Fan.
Firstly, walk to the top of the car park and there’s a small path that takes you back towards the road. Walk along the road for a few metres and the road branches off in two, one way is a public footpath, and the other is a paved road that has a green gate across the road preventing cars from driving down. You can walk up either road, you will be returning via the one you didn’t chose. I followed the footpath that takes you steadily up the hill. After a short while, you will be able to see the ‘horseshoe’ made up of Cribyn, Pen y Fan, Corn Du and Craig-Gwaun-Taf. From this direction, the first challenge on this walk is hiking up Cribyn, although this was a tough section, there are plenty of places to stop, catch your breath and take in the views. Not only do you have the horseshoe in front of you but the views of the surrounding farm land and Fan y Bîg are amazing, you’ll want to stop anyway!
Once you get to the top of Cribyn, you have an amazing view of Pen y Fan. You will also see a path that has a steep descent and equally steep ascent up to the peak, follow this path.
Unfortunately, this next ascent is the most gruelling but once you get to the top its all fairly flat for the rest of the way. Upon reaching the peak of Pen y Fan, take your picture next to its name with the height of the peak (886m) and if you picked a clear day, the views are incredible. It was on and off raining when I walked it and unfortunately, the peak was in a cloud, luckily the views from the other surrounding peaks are equally as nice.
After soaking in the sights, follow the footpath that takes you down the other side of Pen y Fan, this section is a small sharp descent. Carry on following the footpath until you get to a fork in the path, one takes you below the Corn Du peak. The other takes you to the top, it’s up to you which path to take, they link back up again after.
Once you have descended the peak, the path again splits off. The right path takes you to the national trust car park, which you can use if you just wanted to walk up Pen y Fan and Corn Du and not the whole horseshoe walk. The left one, takes you along the ridge of Craig-Gwaun-Taf before you get to another sharp descent that takes you back down to ground level.
After crossing over the river and going past a derelict looking building, you will come to a road, this is the same road that I mentioned at the start of this walk. Keep following the road until you get back to the car park.
Four Waterfalls Trail
Start Point and Car Park: Comin Y Rhos – Four Waterfalls Car Park
Type of hike: easy to moderate, only tough sections are the 170 steps and the uphill section on the way to the final two waterfalls, non-circular until the path construction has been completed
Duration: 3 – 4 hours
There is a small car park here, enough for a handful of cars but there is additional parking across the road. Unfortunately, all additional car parks near this trail charge money for parking. I only found out when I got there, and luckily the card machine was working because they prefer taking cash (£5). Having said that, the location of the car park I went to was great, right next to the start of the walk and near a cafe too. Start off by walking past the proper car park and turning left down the path. Carry on following a paved path, you will see a gate that takes you more into the forest, take this path. The other track, leads to the cafe, which you might want to go to after the walk.
Follow the path until you get to a set of stairs that takes you down to the first waterfall, Sgwd Clun-Gwyn Waterfall. This is a beautiful waterfall but to get even closer, you can scramble down the rocks on the right hand side of the waterfall to get down to the river. From here, you get an even better view of the falls.
When it’s time for you to move onto the next waterfall, go back up the stairs and keep following the path until you get to a bridge. Cross the bridge and turn right. This path then loops back around to the waterfall you just saw, but from the other side of the bank. You can choose whether to go down to the viewing platform for another look at the waterfall or carry on following the path and signs for Sgwd Yr Eira Waterfall. Follow this track for about 20-40minutes, ignore the path that branches off this track that features the other two waterfalls, we will come back this way! Eventually the path opens out to some benches and there is a set of stairs that take you down 170 steps before you get a glimpse of the next waterfall. Sgwd Yr Eira Waterfall is another amazing waterfall, but the best thing about this one, is you can walk behind it! This is a really cool experience but you are likely to get wet and the path may become slippery/ dangerous after heavy rainfall. Proceed with caution if the waterfall is really flowing.
Unfortunately, if you go downhill you need to come back up again. The 170 steps going back up are pretty tough, however, the benches at the top are perfect for catching your breath.
Once back on the main path, go back the way you came until you get to the path I told you to ignore that branches downhill. Follow this path until you get to a flat section. From here walk over to your left and you will get a view of Sgwd y Pannwr from above. There is a path that takes you down to a stoney area for a view at eye level, this track is just before you get to the flat section and is slippery when wet.
After taking in the waterfall, carry on following the path upstream of the river. You will see a couple of waterfall cascades which lead to big pools that are perfect for swimming in, if you can brave the cold! You will get to a section that looks like the path ends, do not be fooled, the best waterfall is over the hill after a little scramble. This is Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn and was my personal favourite waterfall. It is a beautiful semi-circle waterfall nestled in a secluded part of the woods. When I went, not many people knew the path carried on, so I got the falls to myself!
There is currently construction on the circular path that links up with the lookout at Sgwd Clun-Gwyn. Therefore, retrace your steps and follow the path back the way you came to get back to the car park. Don’t forget to call into the cafe for a delicious Welsh Cake.
Sugar Loaf
Start Point and Car Park: National Trust – Sugarloaf and Usk Valley
Type of hike: easy with a short ascent for the final trek to the top, non-circular
Duration: 1 – 2 hours
I found this walk the day before I left as I wanted to get one more walk in before I had to leave. the trail starts at the car park at the Sugar Loaf National Trust Car Park. This is free and has no facilities but even the view from the car park is spectacular. The road is also really narrow so not suitable for caravans. There are so many paths here for you to take but the easiest to remember is to follow the one that skirts around the hill. The paths are well maintained and easy to follow. Keep following the paths until you get to the top of the hill (Sugar Loaf) and take in the 360 views from the top overlooking the Black Mountains and surrounding farmland/ mountains. To get back to the car, retrace your steps following the same paths. If you want to mix up the route, take a different path, as long as you check beforehand that it goes back to the car park.
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