All walks › Brecon & the Usk Valley
Brecon & the Usk ValleyPen-y-crug Hillfort
An Iron Age hillfort on the hill directly above Brecon, with the best free view of the Bannau you will get for forty minutes of effort.
- Distance
- 2.5 mi / 4 km
- Time
- 1 hr 25
- Ascent
- 170 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- 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
Walk out of town to the north and climb the waymarked path onto the hill, circling the ramparts at the top before returning by a slightly different line. Steady rather than steep.
Worth knowing
- The full sweep of Pen y Fan, Corn Du and Cribyn lays out in front of you. Take binoculars.
- The ramparts are best read in low winter light when the shadows pick out the banks.
- This is the walk to do if you have half a morning in Brecon and no car.
What you’ll see
Four concentric ramparts, and an uninterrupted view of the central Bannau skyline.
Background
The fort dates from the Iron Age and commanded the Usk valley long before the Romans built at Y Gaer a couple of miles west. The multiple ramparts suggest it mattered a great deal to somebody.