Black Mountains tower and nave The Beacons Way as originally conceived started in
Abergavenny,
Monmouthshire, at the eastern end of the National Park and headed northeast to
Ysgyryd Fawr. It was later changed so that it started on the
B4521 road immediately south of the hill at coordinates though the connection with Abergavenny has since been reinstated, albeit on a slightly different route: it now starts at
Abergavenny railway station. Beyond Ysgyryd Fawr the route drops down to
Llanfihangel Crucorney, passing
The Skirrid Mountain Inn before joining the
Offa's Dyke Path to climb
Hatterrall Hill. It then runs along the
Welsh–
English border for a few miles before descending into the
Vale of Ewyas at
Llanthony beside
Llanthony Priory. From Llanthony the route climbs to the ridge below
Bal Mawr, follows this south and then makes for the village of
Partrishow and over the slopes of
Crug Mawr before dropping into the valley of the
Grwyne Fechan to the north of
Llanbedr. It climbs again to the spectacular
Iron Age hillfort of
Crug Hywel and then descends to the small town of
Crickhowell. just north of
Crickhowell]
Pen y Fan From Crickhowell the Beacons Way skirts the mass of
Pen Cerrig-calch to reach
Cwmdu in the
Rhiangoll valley then heads up onto the southern ridge of
Mynydd Llangorse which it then follows southwards to the village of
Bwlch. The Way crosses the
River Usk to enter
Llangynidr and heads up around
Tor y Foel making for the head of Glyn Collwn above
Talybont Reservoir. The route then crosses the highest peaks in the central Beacons:
Pen y Fan and
Corn Du. In good weather, the peaks are usually crowded with visitors. After dropping down to the
Storey Arms on the
A470 road, it heads northwest to the summit of
Craig Cerrig-gleisiad in
Fforest Fawr, and then continues southwest over
Fan Dringarth and
Fan Llia to cross the
Afon Llia at Blaen Llia.
The Black Mountain Range lake below
Picws Du] The route then follows a section of the
Roman road known as
Sarn Helen before cutting off west through the
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu national nature reserve to
Penwyllt. The Beacons Way passes by
Craig-y-Nos Castle, once home to
Adelina Patti, and up along
Fan Hir and
Fan Brycheiniog, significant eastern peaks of the
Black Mountain rising above
Llyn y Fan Fawr, before entering
Carmarthenshire. It traverses the three main summits of the Carmarthen Fans, these being
Fan Foel,
Picws Du and
Waun Lefrith, passing above
Llyn y Fan Fach before dropping down to
Llanddeusant. A low-level alternative runs beneath the Black Mountain escarpment, east of Llyn y Fan Fawr and north of Llyn y Fan Fach. In the west, the route climbs to
Carreg Cennen Castle and
Garn Goch. The route originally finished at the railway station at
Llangadog but was later modified to stop at the village of
Bethlehem . The original finish has since been reinstated. ==Completing the walk==