Bannau Brycheiniog doesn't look like any other mountain range in Britain. The central Beacons rise steeply above the South Wales landscape — like a wave on the point of breaking — before falling dramatically towards the town of Brecon. Somewhere in the midst of this sprawling, knuckled topography, you'll find YHA Brecon Beacons, the starting point for any number of tantalising self-guided walks, including the one detailed here.
The mountains here hold serious pulling power for all levels of hill walkers, endurance runners and adventure seekers, being at once accessible yet humbling. The route we'll be following takes in Pen y Fan, the park's highest summit, reaching 886 metres above sea level. The first thing to note: don't dismiss these peaks as a pretty backdrop.
The Anglophonic name Brecon Beacons, incidentally, denotes the ancient warning system used by local dwellers to indicate the arrival of approaching invaders. A Welsh version of the S.O.S signal, lit beacons atop the mountain peaks would give a clear warning. Essentially, "trouble's a-comin'".
Geologists, meanwhile, have as much to admire as any weekend hill walker. Cliff sides of exposed rock, brownstone plateau beds and glacial valleys help make sense of the local geology, even to the amateur eye. It's easy to imagine great chunks of rock being heaved about by glacial movement. The landscape can sometimes feel so fresh and exposed that it's as if it is still being formed.
Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park was declared in 1957, covering an area that cuts across South Wales for 519 square miles and encompasses the eastern Black Mountains, the grassy hills of Fforest Fawr, and the western summits of Mynydd Du. The scenery can change as quickly as the Welsh weather, so if you are after a craggy one-day summit climb or a dense forest hike, this park can accommodate. As the park is such a vast one, it makes sense to choose a stretch of land and get up close and personal.
Which is where this self-guided walking route, taking in the iconic tops of Pen y Fan and Corn Du, comes in. If you're staying at YHA Brecon Beacons, there's a magnetic pull to it, largely because you can contemplate the two peaks from the hostel grounds. It's often cloudy (and windy) on top, so you'll need to be experienced with a map and a compass.
This eight-mile (13km) walk leaves the hostel to join a route up to a cairn, present since the Bronze Age, at Pen y Fan. The thrill of the vertiginous drops and vast views across the Welsh landscape more than make up for the steep climb up. As well as mountain panoramas, this part of the National Park is also home to birds of prey, including peregrine falcons, buzzards and red kites, the latter easily identifiable by their forked tail. From the summit of Pen y Fan, on a clear day, you can see the Bristol Channel, Swansea Bay, the Gower Peninsula, the Cambrian Mountains and, looking into England, Shropshire's Clee Hills.
There is also a cist on the summit, a box made of straight stone slabs that once served as a Bronze Age interment site. The route then sweeps around to the anvil-shaped Corn Du, the second peak of the day. It requires a steep descent and brisk ascent to reach the 873-metre summit, which also has its own Bronze Age cairn and burial cist. From here it's all downhill, along part of the Cambrian Way, to the foot of the mountain. It's then a short walk into the welcoming warmth of the cosy 19th-century farmhouse that is YHA Brecon Beacons.
Walk details
Distance: 8.2 miles (13.2km)
Ascent: 737m (2,418ft)
Time: Allow 4h 30m to 7h
Rating: 56 (challenging)
Start/finish: YHA Brecon Beacons
Take a look at our self-guided maps and more information for walks from other hostels.
View more details and download the map: 187 YHA Brecon Beacons Pen y Fan and Corn Du walk
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Photo credit: whitcomberd / Adobe Stock
