Brecon Beacons National Park – Wales

January 11, 2015 By Tom Wilson Walking Wales

 

Brecon Beacons National Park,  the third National Park in Wales, was established in 1957, after Snowdonia in 1951 and Pembrokeshire Coast in 1952.  The Park is 519 Square Miles. Named after ancient practice of lighting signal fires on mountains, 6 Peaks – a) Pen Y Fan – highest Peak – 886m or 2907 feet, b) Corn Di – 873m or 2864 feet, c) Cribyn – 795m or 2608 feet, d) Fan y Big – 719m or 2359 feet, e) Bwich y Ddwyallt – 754m or 2474 feet, andF) Waun Rydd – 769m or 2523 feet.

The park is broken into four main regions – the Black Mountain in west, Fforest  Fawr ( Great Forest) and Brecon Beacons in the Central and Black Mountain in the east.  The national park is a geopark in the western half and also an International Dark Sky Reserve in 2013. The park features a long distance cycling route – Taff Trail and a long distance walk – Beacons Way (100 mile(160 km) . Park is also known for its waterfalls, caves and canals.

There are several guides to help you plan your visit to the park …visit amazon.com, .ca, .co.uk.  The ordinance Survey Maps for Brecon Beacons National Park  are  OL 12 – Western area and OL13 for Eastern area.