Distance
4.74km / 2.94miles
OS grid reference SN978263
Postcode LD3 8ER
Starting co-ordinates
° 0' 0" N ° 0' 0" W (DMS)
Approximate time
3 hours
Walk Grade
(5 = Hardest)
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A leisurely amble or a bracing walk, Mynydd Illtud common has a walk for everyone and all within a short distance of the National Park Visitor Centre with its facilities. Venture out to get panoramic views of all four mountain massifs which make up the Brecon Beacons. This route is a grade 3 walk: routes with occasional long gradients, poor surfaces and kissing gates or stiles. There are no seats.
Route details
Of interest
Highlights
Keep your eyes peeled for red kites soaring above the common in search of carrion to feed off. These masters of the air currents, twist and switch their forked tail and long wings to glide effortlessly. Other wildlife to listen out for and spot in spring and summer are larks, wheatears and stonechats as they busy themselves with finding mates, nest building and rearing young. As you stand on the magnificent vantage point of Twyn y Gaer Hill fort (find the route here), with its widescreen views of Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du, the Black Mountains and the river Usk snaking below, give a thought to those who lived in this hillfort during the Iron Age. The nearby 19th century church dedicated to St Illtud was demolished in the 1990s but this Celtic Christian missionary’s name lives on in the common.
Places to visit:
- Brecon Beacons National Park Visitor Centre – find out more here
- Caffi y Fan – the Visitor Centre Cafe – find out more here
- Brecon town – find out more about what to do and see in Brecon here
Find out more about about the other local walks here.
Remember to:
- take all your litter home,
- keep your dog on a lead – because sheep and ponies regularly graze Mynydd Illtud Common.
- not to light fires,
- not to camp.