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About Corn Du | About Pen Y Fan | About Craig Gwaun
Parking Location | OS Map | Current Weather
Our first time staying in the Brecon Beacons was great, and when here there is one mountain above all you just have to do. We really wanted to add this one to our list, and although it’s often very busy on a Sunday day like we had, we couldn’t miss the chance so set out early for a big walk.
We parked at the rather large and free (but therefore very busy) Pont Ar Daf car park which sits directly at the bottom of Pen Y Fan. Even early on, it was quite full and I would definitely recommend getting there early.
Upon leaving the car park there is a very obvious path that heads straight up to Corn Du, which itself then easily leads to Pen Y Fan. You can view the route pretty much all the way from the car park as it’s so open and once over the small bridge at the edge of the car park, it’s very straight forward. There is a district lack of any kind of coverage, so on a sunny day like we had the sun really does beat down so we took it steady and made sure we drank plenty. The route up to Corn Du is a very well-trodden path and not too steep which is why it's so popular.
As we were heading up, we saw a number of wild horses to the left-hand side all standing around watching the walkers which was a beautiful sight to see. As there are no trees once you are on the mountain, the views out are great as you can imagine and even back down into the valley below is very beautiful. Upon reaching the first plateau, there is a great view point out towards a number of mountains as well as the valley the opposite side to what we walked up. At this point, there are two routes to Pen Y Fan, one takes you up to Corn Du, down the other side and then to Pen Y Fan. This other takes you around the edge of Corn Du. We obviously decided we wanted to get in any many mountains as we could, so up Corn Du we went.
This route had a very small, very easy scramble which once you had passed over took you to a very flat top. It did become quite windy here, so we had to be careful but we soon got to the top. There was quite a number of people here, again showing just how busy this was and pretty much all moved onto Pen Y Fan when they were done here. The route between the two is very easy and due to the lack of a climb, you will make your way over very quickly. Once at Pen Y Fan there was a section where people were stood taking photos of the sign and the large open area allowed for lots of people to sit and eat, as well as taking some more scenic photos.
We headed back past Corn Du via the lower path way, and as we got back to the viewing point decided to also take in Craig Gwaun, no other reason that the great views and a bi of “hill bagging”. The route up again, was pretty easy and very simple to follow, this area has a few more grassy areas that birds seemed to love and again the views from the top are fantastic.
We headed down the same way we came up, as it was an easy route and a quick way back to the car. Passing a number of people who had obviously come out a bit later showed just how busy this route can get but the amazing views and ease of getting to that height mean it’s more than worth it.
