South Wales
1 SO288166 Head back down the steep road, then turn left onto a tarmac track with a radio transmitter on the corner. This crosses a footbridge over a small stream, then goes into a country lane. Turn left onto this, pass two red houses, then bend right and start uphill.
SO292160 Fork right 2 on the footpath (deteriorated tarmac to begin with), which becomes a ledge path paralleling the road below. A gate leads
SO295159 There’s a 3 choice of routes to the summit of Twyn-yrallt, so keep an eye on the map, but roughly follow the base of the woodland, then an 'oak avenue' heading diagonally left and uphill. Take the faint path ahead at a junction within the avenue. This fades at an indistinct junction. Fork right from the avenue, then right again onto a clearer path. At a five-way junction
(SO296161) take the second left to keep heading diagonally uphill. This leads past an indistinct crag, out of woodland onto grassy bracken-covered moorland, with your first view of Sugar Loaf from a slight summit.
SO296163 Head 4 briefly left, then turn right on a wide grassy path through bracken towards the broad ridgeline of Deri, now clearly visible to the right of Sugar Loaf. Follow this gently-rising, brackencovered ridgeline for about 3.5km. After around 2.5km, cross a wider, obliquely-angled crossing path (which appears to lead direct to Sugar Loaf), and keep the height of the ridgeline on a narrower continuing path to avoid making an unnecessary descent.
SO282193 Follow 5 the main path leftwards near the ridge junction of Deri with the shoulders of Sugar Loaf itself. After about 200m you'll reach a T-junction of paths; head left, following the broad summit ridge to a trig point at the summit. SO272187 The main 6 descent route leads down the westernmost of three prominent parallel ridges to the south-east; if you plan to explore the rocks at the western end of the summit ridgeline, avoid being pulled onto the rockier fourth ridge further west. Follow the ridgeline in a gentle arc leftwards. As the gradient steepens, a multitude of paths begin to criss-cross in front of you; keep heading roughly downhill and to the right of woodland until you reach a wire-fenced field.
SO277163 Bear left 7 and into ancient woodland, following a faint track running beside the fence and bending right around a corner. The woodland now descends steeply; you may need to do some zigzagging, especially if it's snowy or icy, to gain a shorter, clearer path to a junction of tarmac tracks by a telephone post. Cross the first tarmac track, down to a country lane.
SO279162 Head left 8 and steeply downhill on this lane. Bend left, passing the Sugar Loaf vineyard. Turn left onto a narrow footpath between the vineyard and pasture fields (this is further along the road than shown on OS 1:50k maps), before rising uphill under a large electricity pylon. Cross a couple of stiles into horse pasture, then follow the left field edge, then diagonally right across a second field to a stile. The upper edge of the field now leads to an elongated corner (stile). Rise up onto a grassy strip between fields and past a white house onto a tarmac lane.
SO286159 Turn right 9 onto this lane and bend left with the road. At the end of the lane turn left and back up the road to the car park.