Fan Frynych - Brecon Beacons 5.2 miles

View of Fan Frynych from the National Park Mountain Centre - © Carl Ryan (Black planet photography)

Distance: 5.2 miles

Details: mostly walking on a well defined dirt track and clear path. At the top of the mountain and on the descent it can be boggy and quite muddy in parts but is doable in trainers [if you're that way inclined].
Difficulty: Fairly easy

Facilities: the national park visitor centre is 5 miles away with a café that serves tasty food and lots of tea and cake, closest pub is probably the Tanners Arms in Defynnog but I can't comment as never been.

Dog info: sometimes sheep and cattle graze on the path so keep your dog under control / on lead.

This is a lovely walk I've done twice recently and not an area I'd been to much before this year. Fan Frynch stands at 629m tall and is obviously a lot smaller than other mountains in the range but still very impressive nonetheless. This whole area is part of Fforest Fawr and makes up half of the national nature reserve along with Craig Cerrig-Gleisiad. This glacial valley means rare arctic-alpine plants grow here which aren't seen in other areas of the national park.

Parking: Park at Forest lodge which is just off the A4215 4 miles away from Defynnog. Just pull in at the end of the road on the left hand side before a long track (the farmhouse is on your right as the road curves around).

Set off straight ahead on a track and go through a gate. Keep heading straight on and you go through another gate then the track forks. Turn left and start to climb up towards the mountain. There is another gate at the top of this path and an information board on Fforest Fawr and the nature reserve.

We didn't quite expect all this snow when we did this walk back in February...but it was magical!

The climb gets a bit steeper here but is a gradual ascent up towards the summit of Fan Frynych. At the top you don't go through the gate but turn right and continue to climb.

Nice view looking back over towards Forest Lodge.

You go through another gate and head straight on up. Bear right and follow the path that leads you to the trig point. On a clear day, there are brilliant views all around of the surrounding peaks. I've not often seen many other walkers here and it's generally a much quieter area of the national park but still beautiful and well worth a visit.

As far as trig points go, this is a pretty good one.

Head straight on after the trig point and follow the path that winds down the mountain and joins the Roman road. You follow this road all the way back to where you started and arrive back at the car.

It's surprising how quickly you ascend and descend this mountain, it really feels like you've covered a huge distance as you're walking back along the Roman road, but actually it's only about 5.2 miles in total. There are some really interesting looking trees and bits of nature here.

Toasty warm despite the sub-zero temperatures courtesy of Rab

View back along the track up on a fine day

This is one of my favourite walks, if not because it's just the road less travelled. Corn Du and Pen y Fan seem to be heaving and full of walkers at all hours of the day and all seasons. I'm all for everyone getting outdoors but there is something so nice about only seeing a handful of people when hiking, or nobody at all, and escaping to this place where you feel like you're miles away from civilisation and soaking up the peace.

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea and the music in its roar,

I love not man the less, but nature more."

- Lord Byron.