Hiking Highlight
Recommended by 56 hikers
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
Sometimes the Brecon Beacon queen, Pen y Fan, is best viewed from afar and hikes up Fan Frynych certainly provide excellent views. A much quieter mountain and subsidiary of Fan Fawr, you can roam freely around this uppermost region of Fforest Fawr and enjoy wonderful views of the sweeping valleys.
Starting from the Storey Arms or Pont ar Daf car parks is popular and you’ll find toilets at the latter. If it’s a warm, bright school holiday though, these might both be full. You’ll find a large layby further up the A470 to the east of Fan Frynych which may be quieter, lacking Pen y Fan traffic.
This mountain is grassy and trails lead to the northern ridgeline approach or steeply up to Craig Cerrig gleisiad. Reaching the summit, you’ll find a trig pillar and excellent views of Craig Cerrig gleisiad’s sheer north face. East rise the Brecon Beacons while south, a daisy chain of reservoirs glint in the valley.
Hike year round but bear in mind that conditions can be changeable and winter brings bitter, windy weather and sometimes snow.
The steep rocky slopes, sharp escarpments and crags are home to rare arctic-alpine plants. These are at their southernmost location in the UK and are not found again until the Alps.
Arctic-alpine wildflowers grow on the north-facing rocky cliffs. They include purple saxifrage, mossy saxifrage, serrated wintergreen and green spleenwort.
The cliffs are, in effect, a vertical woodland with trees and shrubs of hawthorn, rowan, ash and rare whitebeams.
There is a also rich variety of wildflowers and many different mosses and liverworts.
July 25, 2020
Beautiful views of the central fans can be had from here, and it is one of the most recognisable trig-points in the Brecon Beacons. There are so many ways to get here, and because it is so accessible, it is normally quite a busy trig-point. Midweek visits are better for you here if you want a bit of solitude.
October 26, 2020
Fan Frynych is a peak in the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. Making up half of the Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve. With 629m elevation and amazing views from the top
July 4, 2021
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