IMAGE: AWL IMAGESMORE INFO
Skirrid Mountain Inn.
skirridmountaininn.co.uk
Penderyn Distillery.
penderyn.wales
Beacons National Park.
breconbeacons.org
Visit Wales website.
visitwales.comHOW TO DO IT
A car is a must for exploring
the remote reaches of the
Brecon Beacons, but if
you’re coming by train,
Abergavenny is a good
gateway, with trains to
London (via Cardiff) and
Manchester. The A40 is the
main road through the
Brecons. In Crickhowell,
simple doubles at The Bear
start at £117, while Gliffaes
has double rooms from £149
in low season.
bearhotel.co.uk
gliffaeshotel.comBRECON BEACONS HORSESHOE
No Brecons trip is complete
without puffing up the highest
peak: 9,537ft Pen y Fan. Ticking
off a quartet of summits — Corn
Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y
Big — the Horseshoe Ridge walk is
a longer, more dramatic alternative
to the popular straight-up stomp
to the top. Beginning at the Lower
Neuadd Reservoir, the trail ascends
steeply along a ridge, where
views crack open to reveal bald,
sheer-sided mountains and valleys
blasted with glacial moraine. From
Pen y Fan, you can see all the way
to the Cambrians, Black Mountains
and Bristol Channel on clear days.
And if the descent can be boggy
and tough-going at times, spare a
thought for the SAS; they run these
tracks in full gear. nationaltrust.org.
uk/brecon-beacons/trails
LLYN Y FAN FACH
If you’re convinced you’ve taken
a wrong turn as you negotiate
a single-track lane patrolled
by unruly sheep, seemingly on
the road to nowhere, keep on
driving. Out on its lonesome near
Llanddeusant, in the lesser-
explored western Brecons, the
four-mile circular trail to Llyn y Fan
Fach is immediately spectacular.
The path shadows a burbling
stream to a steel-blue glacial
cirque lake, encircled by sheer
slopes buckled and contorted by
elemental forces over millennia.
Ascend the ridge for views that
take on a near-mystical quality
when curtained in cloud and mist.
Llyn y Fan Fach is the backdrop for
the Lady of the Lake legend, a tale
of hopeless love that appears in the
Welsh folk epic, the Mabinogion.YSTRADFELLTE
A warm day is best for striking
out on the five-mile Four Falls
loop walk at Ystradfellte, which
can easily be tied in with a visit to
the nearby Penderyn Distillery.
Heading through pine forest
and deep into an ivy-draped,
fern-cloaked wooded gorge, the
trail leads up and down steps
and over footbridges to four
cascades. The two-tier spectacle
of Sgwd Clun-Gwyn (‘white
meadow fall’), a canyoning and
whitewater rafting hotspot, is
pure drama, but arguably the
highlight here is the wispy Sgwd-
yr-Eira (‘waterfall of the snow’),
where you can actually walk
behind the falls and feel the spray.
Arrive early in the day to snag a
parking space and experience the
falls at their most peaceful.THREE MORE WALKS ON THE WILD SIDE
TRUNK CALL
Blink and
you’ll miss the
tiny hamlet of
Defynnog, near
Sennybridge,
which would
be a shame for
all lovers of
ancient trees.
Here a mighty
yew, which was
a sapling during
the Bronze
Age, spreads its
5,000-year-old
branches across
the churchyard.Ideal for a post-lockdown ramble, these half-day hikes let you sidestep the crowds and immerse
yourself in the Welsh wilderness. The national park was closed at the time of writing, so be sure to check
restrictions before hitting the trailABOVE: Scwd Ddwli falls,
near Ystradfellte, a stop
on the Four Falls loop42 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
WEEKENDER