Bannau Brycheiniog: avoiding the crowds

Being featured in the New York Times’ 2024 Travel Destinations: 52 places to go this year is no small feat for a smallish Welsh national park.

Unfortunately, being flagged up as a must-visit destination to the world’s travellers isn’t necessarily a good thing. A BBC website article, Instagram tourists urged to respect beauty spot, highlights the concerns that have arisen since Bannau Brycheiniog, formerly known as Brecon Beacons, became a magnet for Instagrammers.

Anyone familiar with this stunning landscape in South Wales doesn’t need to read a BBC article to know the majority of visitors have always headed to Pen y Fan – the highest peak at 2,906 feet/886 metres – and the waterfalls near Ystradfellte, Powys. Both ‘tourist attractions’ are certainly worth visiting as long as the weather conditions are right and you are wearing adequate clothing and footwear.

Emma Gregg writes on the Visit Wales website that regulars refer to the most popular route up Pen y Fan as The Motorway, simply because the walk from the Storey Arms Outdoor Centre is so popular – and easy. We last walked it on a sunny Saturday in June ten years ago, when there was essentially a convoy of walkers heading up the wide and well-maintained path.

No prizes for guessing which waterfall is the most popular either. Kamoot describes Sgwd yr Eira as ‘the star attraction’ of the waterfall country. What makes this waterfall so special is that you can walk behind the curtain of water hurtling down from overhead cliffs. Years ago, when I was in my ‘film-making’ stage, I actually made a little film about our experience of doing so. You can watch it here, but be warned – it was experimental and isn’t great quality.

The BBC article quotes Brecon shop owner Helen Howarth, who points out, ‘We have to share with visitors other places to expore. There’s 250 miles of national park to explore, we need to celebrate all we have on offer, it isn’t just about Pen y Fan.”

Helen is absolutely right. Many hikers might not want to trudge up the well-worn and busy trail to the summit of Pen y Fan, or watch irresponsible tourists in heeled sandals trying to kill themselves at Sgwd yr Eira and other waterfalls (as we have ourselves have witnessed). So, if you’re interested in escaping the Instagrammers and enjoying a quieter and more natural hiking experience in the Bannau Brycheiniog, then you could do worse than to buy a copy of Harri’s book, Day Walks in the Brecon Beacons.

The pocket-sized guide features 20 circular routes between 6.8 and 16.5 miles (11 and 16.6 kilometres) in length, suitable for hill walkers of all abilities.

SECTION 1 – BLORENGE & THE BLACK MOUNTAINS

1 A Circuit of the Blorenge – 11.5km/7.1miles
2 Ysgyryd Fawr & Bryn Arw – 17.4km/10.8miles
3 The Sugar Loaf & Crug Mawr – 19.8km/12.3miles
4 Llanthony, Cwmyoy & Hatterrall Hill – 13.8km/8.5miles
5 The Black Hill, Hay Bluff & Capel-y-ffin – 18.4km/11.4miles
6 Castell Dinas & Rhos Dirion – 16.5km/10.3miles
7 The Llanbedr Horseshoe – 26.6km/16.5miles
8 The Llangors Loop – 17.8km/11.1miles

SECTION 2 – THE BRECON BEACONS, MYNYDD LLANGATWG & MYNYDD LLANGYNIDR

9 Llangattock & Craig y Cilau – 15.6km/9.7miles
10 Cwm Cleisfer & Tor y Foel* – 21.1km/13.1miles
11 The Llanfrynach Horseshoe – 16.5km/10.2miles
12 The Taf Fechan Skyline* – 13.1km/8.1miles
13 Pen y Fan & the Cwm Llwch Horseshoe – 11km/6.8miles

SECTION 3 – FFOREST FAWR

14 Craig Cerrig-gleisiad & Fan Fawr – 12.1km/7.5miles
15 Fan Nedd & Fan Gyhirych – 19.6km/12.2miles
16 The Waterfall Roundabout – 15km/9.3miles 103

SECTION 4 – THE BLACK MOUNTAIN

17 Cribarth & Henrhyd Falls – 13.2km/8.2miles 113
18 Glyntawe & the ‘Fans’ – 18.7km/11.6miles 119
19 The Llanddeusant Circuit – 15.6km/9.7miles 125
20 Carn Goch & Carreg Cennen Castle – 18.3km/11.3miles 131

Note, there are no GPX file links in the book because we walked the routes using OS maps rather than online mapping.

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