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Brecon & the Usk ValleyTalybont Reservoir
Long, easy circuit of the reservoir on tracks and quiet road, with a good bird hide and two decent pubs at the end of it.
- Distance
- 5.6 mi / 9 km
- Time
- 2 hr 50
- Ascent
- 180 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
Take the old railway track along the eastern shore, round the head of the reservoir, and return on the western side by forest track and lane. Gentle gradients throughout.
Worth knowing
- The hide on the eastern shore is worth twenty minutes; wildfowl numbers are high in winter.
- Talybont has two pubs and a canal, which makes it a good place to finish.
- The disused railway section is firm and level, though the western return is rougher.
What you’ll see
Open water, conifer and broadleaf woodland, wildfowl in winter and the Bannau ridge beyond.
Background
Built in the 1930s to supply Newport. The track along the eastern shore is the bed of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway, closed in the 1960s.