Walking on the Brecon Beacons

© Cicerone and authors Andrew Davies and David Whittaker

The National Park falls into four geographic areas. These are Mynydd Du, Forest Fawr, Brecon Beacons and the The Black Mountains. The Brecon Beacons are the highest summits in the park, with Pen y Fan not quite making Munro status, being just short of 3000ft. Although this area lacks the challenges of the narrow rocky ridges of the Lake District and Snowdonia, it does provide opportunities for a real mountain day out.

The following route is an extract from Cicerone's Walking on the Brecon Beacons guidebook. The walks described in the book avoid the less interesting, more popular routes that most people frequent, and take you to wooded gorges and upland valleys that even the locals may be unaware of. 


More information about the Cicerone Guide:
Walking on the Brecon Beacons

Walk - 
Cwm Llwch and Cefn Cwm Llwch

A fine route into the most westerly of the northern Beacons valleys. It progresses in a southerly direction into the valley head below the north face of Corn Du – the second highest peak in the range. The walk goes up the stream in the valley floor to a corrie lake. There are good waterfall views overshadowed by the looming bulk of Corn Du. It then works its way up the right ridge and so up to the summit of Corn Du.

The route

Start at the end of the car park where there is a 'NO MOTORS' sign. The ford and the hillside on the left of the car park is your descent. Follow the track leading into the valley, lined with beech, hawthorn, mountain ash and hazel.

The woodland on the right contains the poorly preserved earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort which is marked on the map as a dotted oval and labelled 'Settlement'. This is a small enclosure with widely spaced ramparts.

The track soon comes to another ford across the same stream, Nant Cwm Llwch, with a wooden bridge on the left, through a second gate and then between wooded banks with fields on either side. From here there are good views into Cwm Llwch with waterfalls in the foreground and a backdrop dominated by Corn Du straight ahead and Pen y Fan on the left.


The track continues southwards between old stone walls and then detours around Cwm-llwch Cottage. Leave the cottage on your left and skirt around the right of the farmyard by crossing over two stiles. After about 100m there are good views into Cwm Llwch, with waterfalls in the foreground and a backdrop dominated by Corn Du straight ahead and Pen y Fan on the left.

The wide open track ahead takes a direct line up a spur of land with stream courses on either side. However, this line is of little interest and avoids the superb waterfalls glimpsed earlier. Descend instead to the left and walk along the fence, which soon reaches the stream. Here a small track crosses to the left bank, although either can be followed to the waterfalls.

View from Corn Du  © Cicerone and authors Andrew Davies and David Whittaker
View from Corn Du
© Cicerone and authors Andrew Davies and David Whittaker


This is a most interesting habitat as, after the birch woodland is left behind, the banks of the stream are lined with closely grazed grassy areas where there are many different species of wild flowers. Notice that the valley slopes have a high density of hawthorn trees – a notable feature of Beacons valleys. For this reason, the number of bird species is more typically associated with woodland than an open valley, even the great-spotted woodpecker has been recorded. The falls and stream bed are good places to spot grey wagtail, heron and dipper.

The hill fence crosses the stream ahead but there is a low-level stride over it just before the stream divides. The left branch of the stream is the more interesting and just ahead is an impressive waterfall. This can be climbed on the right arriving first at a small pool above the lower fall.

Climb up the right side of the upper fall or more easily up the hill on the right of the lower fall reaching a series of smaller waterfalls from where there are magnificent views of Corn Du. Surprisingly, the flat-topped summit of Corn Du at the head of valley falsely appears higher, from this viewpoint, than its neighbour, Pen y Fan, which is on the left. When the stream starts to break up into many smaller tributaries, leave the stream to the right, striking westwards to the corrie lake of Llyn Cwm Llwch.

Take the path which leads to the right up the steep slope in a zigzag, climbing steeply to the lower end of the ridge of Craig Cwm Llwch, near to the Tommy Jones Obelisk, a useful landmark in poor visibility. Looking back down to the left from the obelisk is a fine view of the hummocky mounds of glacial moraine that dam the lake of Llyn Cwm Llwch.
The obelisk is a memorial to Tommy Jones, aged five, who died here in 1900 of exhaustion. He was attempting to walk alone from Cwm Llwch Farm to an army encampment at Login. It now serves as a useful landmark in poor visibility by marking a rapid descent route from Cefn Cwm Llwch to the safety of the valley below ensuring that walkers today do not suffer the same fate.

Tommy Jones obelisk  © Cicerone and authors Andrew Davies and David Whittaker
Tommy Jones obelisk
© Cicerone and authors Andrew Davies and David Whittaker

Follow the ridge of Craig Cwm Llwch up the steep slope to the summit of Corn Du.
The final 10m or so to the summit of Corn Du involves scrambling up the Plateau Beds but a stepped path leading diagonally right will avoid further damage to these loose crags. An interesting path-cum-sheep track avoids this and cuts east across the northern face of Corn Du below the crumbling cliffs of Plateau Beds to the col leading to Pen y Fan. From the top of the stepped path cross left to the summit of the crags overlooking Cwm Llwch.

From the cairn follow the crags and descend into the col. The path swings around and climbs along a broad track, well marked by cairns. Scramble carefully down the crags due north of the summit cairn and follow the ridge of Cefn Cwm Llwch for about 2km.
 Take a small path which leaves the main track and bears left towards the pile of stones at the disused quarry of Cwar Mawr. From here descend west-north-west to the spur of Twyn y Dyfnant and down the steep slope to the hill fence, keeping to the right of the coniferous forestry.
Cross the fence through a gate and follow the line of trees diagonally down the slope to the right. At the end of the tree line turn sharp left and drop down to the field below. An indistinct path leads directly down the field after 80m. Head for the junction of hedges to the left and continue down the slope to the ford across the stream and back to the start of the walk.



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