Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Beacons range is made up of the mountains to the south of Brecon.

The highest is Pen y Fan at 886 m. Other summits include Corn Du at 873 m, Cribyn at 795 m, and Fan y Bîg at 719 m.

All of these summits form a long ridge that forms a horseshoe around the head of the Taf Fechan river (to the south-east) and with long parallel spurs extending to the north-east.

The round of the Taf Fechan skyline forms a popular ridge walk (Beacons Horseshoe). Many other walks exist as long as the hiker understands that the mountains are well known for swift changes in weather conditions.

The Brecon Beacons are actually named after the ancient practice of lighting signal fires (beacons) on the mountains to warn of attacks by the English.

I took a day trip out to the breath taking Brecon Beacons while recently visiting the United Kingdom. There is a nature trail that is open to the public for hikes through the Brecon Beacons and the views from the trail are magnificent.

The sheer face of the rocks and the gentle rolls of the hills beyond have to be seen to be believed.

This calendar features my favorite pictures of the views from the trail.

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The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957. This makes it the last of the three Welsh parks to be created. Most of the national park is moorland, with some forestry plantations, and pasture in the valleys.

The park actually covers 1344 km² (519 square miles) which is significantly more than the Brecon Beacons themselves. It also encompasses the ranges in the east of the park and the Black Mountain (in the west). The area west of the Brecon Beacons range is the Fforest Fawr (Welsh for Great Forest), and was established in 2005 as a geopark by UNESCO.
On 22 May 2005, it was announced that the first walk to span the entire length of the Brecon Beacons National Park has opened. The 100-mile route, called the "Beacons Way", runs from Abergavenny, through Crickhowell and ends in the village of Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire.

Popular activities in the park include walking, cycling, horse riding, sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, fishing, rock climbing, and caving. The Taff Trail passes through the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff.

Welsh mountain ponies may be seen grazing on the Brecon Beacons, and groups of guided tours can often be seen making their way along one of the many ridges in the park.

All Pictures featured on this lens were taken by Victoria Masters.

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