Walking weekend: Crickhowell

Snuggling between rolling ridges and dramatic crags, the Usk Valley’s friendliest town makes a great base for exploring the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Two brilliant walks from the Usk Valley’s friendliest town.

THE BUSTLING LITTLE town of Crickhowell is a springboard to some of the best walks in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It makes a great base for a weekend in the hills, with fine scenery, historic buildings, cosy pubs and a host of independent shops. The long open ridges of the Black Mountains rise to the north whilst to the south, across the River Usk, the limestone crags of the high escarpment above Llangattock are always a pleasant surprise. And, just like a famous city in South Africa, Crickhowell is overlooked by its own Table Mountain. This prominent plateau on the slopes of Pen Cerrig-calch was once home to a substantial Iron Age fort. Our weekend opens with a climb to the very top of the Black Mountains, up sweeping slopes where you can easily wander for mile upon mile. A bumpy ridge known as the Dragon’s Back is a fine way to end the walk (you know you’re in Wales with a name like that). On the far side of the Usk Valley, a circular route around the high bastion of limestone passes impressive swallow holes and a lonely moorland lake where legends from the Dark Ages recall a fierce 8th-century battle.

SOUTH WALES SUNRISE Embers in the eastern sky herald morning in the Black Mountains. From behind a shadowy Sugar Loaf, a spear of sunlight lands on a snow-draped Table Mountain.