Brecon: Pen y Crug hillfort, the Cathedral and the Usk

The walk starts from the pay car park at the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal basin in Brecon. A towpath and footways lead north past Brecon Cathedral on Priory Hill, and the way goes on up through the streets of the town to Maen-du Well, a small stone well-house from the mid-1700s on the edge of the houses. From the well a path crosses fields and stiles and then the open, bracken-covered hillside to the top of Pen y Crug, 331 m. The summit is the trig point inside the ramparts of an Iron Age hillfort, now rounded banks and ditches, with the Central Beacons, Pen y Fan and Corn Du, across the valley to the south. The way down is the same path to Maen-du Well, then a different line through the town to the Promenade, the riverside walk beside the Usk, and the canal basin.

It is 6.4 km with 198 m of ascent; allow about 2 hours. The grade is Easy, with a steady climb of about 140 m to the top.

Pen y Crug is common land owned and managed by the National Park Authority. The paths on the hill are grass and can be slippery when wet, and the top is exposed. About 30% of the line is on town streets.

The Canal Basin car park charges; there are other pay car parks beside it.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.