All walks › Bannau Brycheiniog: Black Mountain
Bannau Brycheiniog: Black MountainGarn Goch
One of the largest Iron Age hillforts in Wales, on a ridge above the Tywi, with ramparts you can walk for the best part of a mile.
- Distance
- 5.0 mi / 8 km
- Time
- 2 hr 55
- Ascent
- 330 m
- Difficulty
- Demanding
- Shape
- Circular
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
A circuit, and the steep part comes first. Paths climb from Bethlehem onto the ridge and through both forts, Y Gaer Fawr and Y Gaer Fach, returning by lanes and fields.
Worth knowing
- Y Gaer Fawr encloses around eleven hectares and the stone ramparts are still metres high in places.
- Bethlehem village post office is besieged every December for the postmark.
- The ridge is open and exposed with big views both ways.
What you’ll see
Massive stone ramparts, the Tywi valley below, and the Black Mountain escarpment south.
Background
Garn Goch was occupied in the Iron Age and its ramparts were built of stone rather than earth, which is why so much survives.