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| Standing on the Summit of The Blorenge |
Wales is the perfect destination when it comes to hillwalking and mountain summits and while everyone looks to tick off Mount Snowdon and Pen Y Fan, there are plenty of family-friendly mountain summit trig point walks perfect for younger children. These are by no means just a walk in the park, some effort will be required, however, my youngest son has done all 7 of these walks and as long as your child is happy and willing then everyone will be rewarded with some fantastic views as well as picnic stops along the way. This list is just a small collection of some awesome walks in and around South Wales and should give you a good starting point for exploring the area.
1. The Blorenge, Brecon Beacons, 561m
The Blorenge has fantastic views across Abergavenny as well Sugar Loaf Mountain and The Skirrid (both of which are on this list). There is a variety of ways you can climb The Blorenge, some are a lot longer than others but the two most family-friendly versions, which is suitable for younger children is to do the 3 1/2 mile circular route from the free Fox hunter car park, which is around 2hrs or walk directly up to the trig point and back which is around 40mins (may be longer with toddlers) - both routes are fairly direct and well-marked from the car park. From the trig you. have fantastic views across the Brecon Beacons and if you are feeling a bit hot after your hike you can always walk or drive down to Keepers pond, a popular wild swimming spot.
2. Cefn Eglwysilan or otherwise known as Mynydd Eglwysilan, Rhondda Cynon Taff, 382m
We have done this trig point walk a few times and it's one of the longer and more strenuous hikes for younger children despite not being a particularly high summit so we usually make a day of it with regular stops on the way up. This trig point is also a part of a longer Pontypridd Circular walk. We have always started from Treforest train station and walked up through the cemetery which is fairly well signposted although you will come to a field where a right of way runs through it, just head straight up to the top of this field to the kissing gates and then follow the road past the farm onto the common. I would recommend using the free Ordnance Survey for this walk as some areas do become a little vague.
The views from the summit are fantastic and well worth the walk, you can see right across the welsh Valleys to Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons. I would also recommend taking breaks and packing lots of snacks.
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| Us at Mynydd Eglwysilan |
3. The Skirrid, Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons, 486m
I have a real soft spot for The Skirrid and it's probably my favourite walk in the Brecon Beacons and perfect for adventurous kids. It has a little bit of everything from climbing up through an ancient forest, to impressive views, fake summits, windy tops and a very cool trig point.
The Skirrid has a lot of interesting history and mythology attached to it and is also known locally at The Holy Mountain. On the summit, there are ruins of an Iron Age hill fort and St Michaels a Medieval Chapel
Parking is fairly straightforward and provided by The National Trust (charges apply) on the Abergavenny to Skenfrith road. From here the path is fairly straightforward, first passing some fields and then winds steeply up through Pant Skirrid woods and eventually up out onto the ridge, once you get to the ridge it's fairly gentle slopes to the summit. My youngest had not long turned 5 when he summited with me, the hardest part is through the woods but it's really beautiful and plenty of places to rest and have a snack and once you get to the ridge you are rewarded with some fantastic views. There is good information about the routes here.
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| On our way up The Garth Mountain |
4. The Garth, Cardiff and RCT, 307m
The Garth mountain is perfect for those looking for a little mountain adventure within easy reach of Cardiff as it's located just above Taffs Well around 15 minutes out of the city centre. This was one of the first proper trig point walks my youngest did, I think he was around 3 or 4yrs old when we first went up The Garth from our starting point of Gwaelod-y-Garth, there are other routes although if you go from the village you can pop in for some refreshment at the local pub on the way back.
The Garth is also famous for its connection to the novel "The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain" written by Christopher Monger who lived near The Garth and some say the Trig Point which stands on top of a Bronze Age Burial mound was the inspiration for the novel.
5. Garn Fawr, Rhondda Cynon Taff, 517m
Once again there are a few different routes to this Trig point that stands next to some large stone cairns on top of The Bwlch Mountain. Some come up from Clydach Vale but we always park at The Bwlch viewpoint which offers amazing views across The Rhondda Valley and more times than not there is an ice cream van there as well, which is always very popular with my kids.
While this walk isn't too taxing in regards to uphills as once you are on the ridge of the Bwlch it's pretty straightforward, it is in some regards quite a long walk although my boys loved seeing the wild ponies and also taking in the views not only across the Rhondda Valley but also The Gawr and Ogmore Valleys. You also get to come up close to some wind turbines on this walk, which personally I find fascinating, along with some Geocaches if you are into that (we are!).
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| Sitting on the trig at Moel Penderyn |
6. Moel Penderyn, Rhondda Cynon Taff, 371m
Moel Penderyn is a Hill near the village of Penderyn, the hill is open country with a public bridleway and public footpath and is also connected to a longer circular waterfall walk (12.9km so a bit more taxing for younger children, although the walk to the Trig point is much much shorter). Its location is more remote and quiet and when we visited we didn't see anyone else around, besides some sheep, which was lovely as well as the views right across to Pen Y Fan.
I would recommend parking near the Penderyn Distillery and using either All trails or OS route map, although once you see Moel Penderyn simply head for the small summit.
7. Sugarloaf Mountain, Brecon Beacons, 596m
The Sugarloaf Mountain is one of the more popular and well-known walks in the Brecon Beacons and as long as your children are willing it's also a great trig point to tick off and the views from the top are amazing! Located just above the market town of Abergavenny (which is worth a visit in it's own right), you follow a narrow mountain road up which eventually leads to a free National Trust Carpark - you can start further down for a longer walk up but this is my recommended starting point if you have younger kids with you.
You want to allocate around 2-3hrs to get to the top and back (if your heading up on your own however you can do this within half that time) and bring plenty of snacks for breaks along the way. The route is very straightforward and direct and I would like to mention that there are no toilets at the carpark so we tend to make a pit spot at the large Waitrose before heading up,w which is around a 10mins drive away. I have written a blog post all about our hike up here previously, with a bit more information on what to expect.
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| Near the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain in the Brecon Beacons |
8. Pen-Y-Crug, Brecon Beacons, 331m
Pen-Y-Crug is a lovely trig point across common farming land just above the town of Brecon and while it offers amazing views across to Pen-Y-Fan it only takes around 1hr to complete and isn't too taxing, plus you get to walk over some pretty cool Iron age hill forts along the way. Your best starting point for this walk is near the Maen-du-Well and heading up over the stiles and following the right of waymarked paths all the way up. You can see an excellent route map of this walk here.
