Mountain Walks
Pen Allt-mawr
The peaks of Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Allt-mawr make an impressive site when viewed from the Usk Valley and although they are usually walked in conjunction with a circuit of the Grwyne Fechan valley, they make the focal point of an excellent walk of their own. This walk approaches the mountains from the west on paths that see few walkers. It then returns to Crickhowell via the lovely Cwm Cumbeth.
Tor y Foel
The distinctive mountain of Tor y Foel lies sandwiched between the Black Mountains and the central Brecon Beacons, offering great views of both ranges. This walk, one of the shortest in the booklet, starts in Bwlch, then crosses the mountain following good paths up from the canal at Llangynidr. It descends, via the Taff Trail, into the village of Talybont on Usk.
Mynydd Llangorse and Mynydd Troed
This is a reasonably easy mountain walk that crosses two outlying peaks that see far fewer footsteps than the Black Mountains massif on the other side of the Rhiangoll Valley. The action starts straight away at the Bwlch end but the walk out to Talgarth can seem quite lengthy. Fortunately it’s pretty much all downhill.
Pen y Fan from south to north
The southern ridge of Corn Du provides a wonderful airy walkway onto the National Park’s highest mountains, and whereas the majority of walkers approach this from the lower of the two Neuadd Reservoirs, the buses that run up and down the A470 permit a linear approach and also open up a seldom-trod descent route over Pen Milan to Libanus too.
Across the Central Beacons
This has to be the most enjoyable way to climb the highest mountains in the National Park. Instead of being tied to the shackles of getting back to the start point, the buses that radiate out from Brecon afford an excellent opportunity to cross the whole of the central massif.
A shorter walk on Pen y Fan
We make no excuses for including a few different routes across the highest mountains. They each offer something a bit different, and this particular walk can be done from Brecon with one bus ride and no car at all. It starts down on the main tourist path that comes up from the A470, but then it descends via a true connoisseur’s path down the north ridge to Cwm Gwdi and along easy lanes back into town.
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Fawr
The west side of the A470 tends to be a lot quieter than the east. Despite the close proximity of the highest peaks in the Park a lot of this walk follows almost trackless ground. The suggested route starts by climbing to the outlying summit of Fan Frynach. A shorter version could be had by following the Beacons Way straight up onto Craig Cerrig-gleisiad.
Across Fforest Fawr
Another day, another mountain range. This walk uses the Brecon buses to make a gargantuan crossing of the Fforest Fawr massif, taking in the wonderful Fan Gyhirych, arguably the National Park’s least climbed 700m peak. The hard work all comes at the beginning, just getting onto the range. Once up though, the descent and re-ascent is minimal, making it a much easier prospect than Walk 10.
Cribarth
The outlying peak of Cribarth is one of the more accessible summits in the Black Mountain, and the X63 bus that runs up and down the A4067 makes it possible to start at Craig-y-nos and finish in the village of Abercraf. This is quite a short walk, but the ground it crosses is far from easy and careful navigation is needed in places.
Across the Mynydd Du
Often referred to as the ‘last wilderness of the National Park’ the Mynydd Du is a very special place, with huge tracts of featureless and pathless ground and of course, the imposing escarpment of the Carmarthen Fans. This walk crosses the whole mountain range from east to west and as such is the longest and toughest walk in this booklet. Note that navigation can be awkward in poor visibility so save this one for a good day and even then, it’s well worth starting early. Grid References have been included to aid navigation.
