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Bwlch Circular via Mynydd Troed and Llangors Lake Walk

Via an easily accessible glacial ridge to the largest natural lake in South Wales and an ancient hillfort

Brecon Beacons Circular

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 07-Aug-22 [Extra Walk] Bwlch Circular (via Mynydd Troed and Lllangorse Lake) [Crickhowell Trip] 13 warm and sunny
Sat, 18-Jul-20 Bwlch Circular (via Mynydd Troed and Lllangorse Lake) [Brecon Trip] 12 overcast but dry
Sat, 05-May-18 [Brecon Trip] Bwlch Circular (via Mynydd Troed and Lllangorse Lake) [New Walk] 30 sunny and hot

Sunday 07-Aug-22

Thomas G
Length: 21.6 km (13.4 mi), with options to shorten or lengthen
Ascent/Descent: 837/840m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10
Take the 10.04 bus (line X43 to Brecon, leaves Abergavenny 09.45), arrives Bwlch , opposite All Saints at 10.13 .
[From the direction of Brecon: take the 08.53, arrives Bwlch, All Saints 09.16, and start early.]
Return buses : to Crickhowell and Abergavenny: 17.46; to Brecon: 16.43 and 18.43.
This is a varied walk from the small settlement of Bwlch (‘pass’ in Welsh), starting from a low col high above the Usk Valley onto the rolling moorlands of Cefn Moel and Mynydd Llangorse. The following long ridge walk along this outlying peak’s plateau – and the subsequent optional ascent to Mynydd Troed – command panoramic views across to many of the much higher giants of the Brecon Beacons National Park: across the Rhiangoll valley to the south-western flanks of the Black Mountains massif, west to the Central Beacons and south to Mynydd Llangynidr and Mynydd Llangattock. A road descent leads to Llangorse village for lunch and around its iconic lake, of glacial origin and the largest natural lake in South Wales, with its watersports centre – and the only crannog outside of Scotland and Ireland. This is a busy touristic site in season.
Leave the crowds behind to further circumvent the large lake to a remote bird hide and an even more remote church-with-views in Llangasty-Talyllyn and then up the Allt yr Esgair ('wooded slope of the ridge' in Welsh). It is crowned by an Iron Age hillfort and a Roman road and overlooks the valley of the River Usk to the west and south and Llangorse Lake and the Black Mountains to the northeast.
You then follow the Roman Road back down to Bwlch.
Variations:
· Cutting out the steep out-and-back up to Mynydd Troed makes this a 5/10 walk.
· Cut out the ascent to the Allt yr Esgair Iron Age Hill Fort site near the end by contouring around the hill’s flank.
· A more easterly loop back to Bwlch from Mynydd Troed via its long plateau ridge and down into the Cwm Sorgwm and back up across Pen Tir makes it a more serious outing: 22.4 km/13.9 mi with 1090m ascent, 9/10 .
Lunch: The Castle Inn (opening hours uncertain) and The Red Lion (opening hours uncertain), both in Llangors (12.0 km/7.4 mi if walking the full walk) and The Lake Café at Llangors Lake. Picnic lunch if walking the extended walk via Pen Tir!
Tea : several options en route (see the pdf for details), and The New Inn (a multiple CAMRA award winner) right by the bus stop in Bwlch.
Tea on the Pen Tir option : Mynydd Ddu Tea Rooms and The Farmers Arms in Cwmdu, located 5.8 km/3.6 mi from the end of the walk , and The New Inn (a multiple CAMRA award winner) right by the bus stop in Bwlch.

For walk directions, map, photos, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.308

  • Sun, 07-Aug-22

    Talybont man was back walking, but Mr Google Maps was spending the day with the relatives he was staying with, so - with 2 new arrivals - we were 13 today in warm and sunny weather.

    This is always a low effort/high reward walk along a long and low ridge surrounded by higher ranges and with a scenic long loop around a large lake latched on. Now we also had plenty of heather in bloom, the verdant greens of the bracken and grasses and all the activities at the Lake. The up and down up Mynydd Troed is only for the (fool-)hardy in the midday sun, but 4 of us qualified for that. On the top we met Talybont man and the 2 new arrivals, who are staying in Brecon. They had started an hour earlier off the Brecon bus.

    Drinks for some at The Castle Inn in Llangorse, some food and drinks for most at The Lake Café. Everyone went over the top of the Allt, even one walker who tried to follow the skirting route...

    Back in Bwlch with time enough for a quick one at The New Inn before the 17.43.

    One more hour time for the Talybont/Brecon contingent.

Saturday 18-Jul-20

Thomas G
Length: 21.6 km (13.4 mi) or 19.4 km/12.1 mi if walking the short walk
Ascent/Descent: 816/820m or 556/560m on the short walk
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours or 5 hours
Toughness: 9 out of 10 or 7 out of 10
Take the 09.56 bus (line X43 to Abergavenny) from Bus Stand 3 at Brecon Bus Interchange.
Arrives Bwlch, opposite All Saints at 10.11.
Return buses are on: 16.34, 17.47 and 18.13 (journey time 14 or 23 minutes). Buy a Bwlch return.
The last time around this walk was made harder by the footpaths around the lake being impassable due to flooding, necessitating long diversions. But Britain had a very dry spring, so here's hoping…
From the pdf: “This is a varied walk from the small settlement of Bwlch (‘pass’ in Welsh), starting from a low col high above the Usk Valley onto the rolling moorlands of Cefn Moel and Mynydd Llangorse. The following long ridge walk along this outlying peak’s plateau – and the subsequent optional ascent to Mynydd Troed –command panoramic views across to many of the much higher giants of the Brecon Beacons National Park: across the Rhiangoll valley to the south-western flanks of the Black Mountains massif, west to the Central Beacons and south to Mynydd Llangynidr and Mynydd Llangattock. A road descent leads to Llangorse village for lunch and around its iconic lake, of glacial origin and the largest natural lake in South Wales, with its watersports centre – and the only crannog outside of Scotland and Ireland. This is a busy touristic site in season.
Leave the crowds behind to further circumvent the large lake to a remote bird hide and an even more remote church-with-views in Llangasty-Talyllyn and then up the Allt yr Esgair ('wooded slope of the ridge' in Welsh). It is crowned by an Iron Age hillfort and a Roman road and overlooks the valley of the River Usk to the west and south and Llangorse Lake and the Black Mountains to the northeast.
You then follow the Roman Road back down to Bwlch.
Variations:
· Cutting out the steep out-and-back up to Mynydd Troed makes this a 7/10 walk.
· Cut out the ascent to the Allt yr Esgair Iron Age Hill Fort site near the end by contouring around the hill’s flank (yet to be walked).
· A more easterly loop back to Bwlch from Mynydd Troed via its long plateau ridge and down into the Cwm Sorgwm and back up across Pen Tir makes it a more serious outing.” For a visual assessment of how much tougher the alternative route via Pen Tir is, have a look at the two height profiles at the bottom of the walk’s webpage linked below.
Lunch: The Castle Inn (not sure this will be open) and The Red Lion (this has changed hands recently and been fully refurbished, but will it be open?), both in Llangors (12.0 km/7.4 mi if walking the full walk). Picnic lunch is the safe option and indeed the only option if walking the extended walk via Pen Tir!
Tea : several options en route (see the pdf for details), and The New Inn (CAMRA South Wales' 2017 Pub of the Year and its 2019 Brecknockshire POTY) right by the bus stop in Bwlch.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here.
T=3.308
  • Sat, 18-Jul-20

    With two new arrivals last night, today we were 12 on the walk, conveniently splitting into 4 cars of 3 and 2 groups of. It took a while to park all the cars w/o blocking driveways or pavements, but eventually we succeeded. Up onto the ridge where it became clear that ours was the only mountain not in the clouds, and so it stayed all day: overcast but dry .

    8 went up Mynydd Troed, most of whom took their lunch there. I walked on into Llangors village to find The Castle Inn opening this weekend, but only for the evenings and with pre-bookings, while The Red Lion was still Covid-shut. On to the lake and that was busy with loads of car tourists. That meant the Cafe was open and was serving hot and cold meals, hot and cold drinks, with or w/o alcohol. The short cutters and I then had a look at the Crannog and then continued the walk, just as the rest of the walkers were arriving.

    The footpaths around the lake were dry and passable this time (and the tendency for them to flood was explained to us as due the high ground water table). At the Allt-y-Esgair I split from the others to finally explore the lower route around the hill, which proved to be quite interesting. We had time for a drink and a half at The New Inn, before the other walkers arrived.

  • Sat, 18-Jul-20

    ... 2 groups of 6...

Saturday 05-May-18

Thomas G
Length: 21.6 km (13.4 mi) or 19.4 km/12.1 mi if walking the short walk
Ascent/Descent: 816/820m or 556/560m on the short walk
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours or 5 hours
Toughness: 10 out of 10 or 7 out of 10
Take the 10.06 bus (line X43) from Bus Stand 3 at Brecon Bus Interchange. Arrives Bwlch 10.21.
Return buses (X43 or 43) are on: 16.34, 17.29, 18.19 and 19.19 (journey time 15 or 21 minutes). Buy a Bwlch return.
From the pdf: “ This is a varied walk from the small settlement of Bwlch (‘pass’ in Welsh), starting from a low col high above the Usk Valley onto the rolling moorlands of Cefn Moel and Mynydd Llangorse. The following long ridge walk along this outlying peak’s plateau – and the subsequent optional ascent to Mynydd Troed –command panoramic views across to many of the much higher giants of the Brecon Beacons National Park: across the Rhiangoll valley to the south-western flanks of the Black Mountains massif, west to the Central Beacons and south to Mynydd Llangynidr and Mynydd Llangattock. A road descent leads to Llangorse village for lunch and around its iconic lake, of glacial origin and the largest natural lake in South Wales, with its watersports centre – and the only crannog outside of Scotland and Ireland. This is a busy touristic site in season. Leave the crowds behind to further circumvent the large lake to a remote bird hide and an even more remote church-with-views in Llangasty-Talyllyn and then up the Allt yr Esgair ('wooded slope of the ridge' in Welsh). It is crowned by an Iron Age hillfort and a Roman road and overlooks the valley of the River Usk to the west and south and Llangorse Lake and the Black Mountains to the northeast.
You then follow the Roman Road back down to Bwlch.
Cutting out the steep out-and-back up to Mynydd Troed makes this a 7/10 walk.
A more easterly loop back to Bwlch from Mynydd Troed via its long plateau ridge and down into the Cwm Sorgwm and back up across Pen Tir makes it a more serious outing.”
For a visual assessment of how much tougher the alternative route via Pen Tir is, have a look at the two height profiles at the bottom of the walk’s webpage linked below.
Lunch: The Castle Inn and The Red Lion, both in Llangors (12.0 km/7.4 mi if walking the full walk). Picnic lunch if walking the extended walk via Pen Tir!
Tea : several options en route (see the pdf for details), and The New Inn (CAMRA South Wales' 2017 Pub of the Year) right by the bus stop in Bwlch.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here .
T=3.308
  • Sat, 05-May-18

    3 car loads and half a bus made the journey to Bwlch, and the group stayed together to the split off point, where 8 turned left to Llangorse for the short walk. All others ascended Mynydd Troed (a bigger ascent than the total height of the highest hills in the SE). Only 2 then went back down the hill to walk the main walk route, the other 20 - after picnic on the top - turned right for the map led route with more ups and downs. Half of those bailed out after the next steep ascent to gain the outbound route and retrace to Bwlch. The others descended to Cwmdu, where the newly reopened - and now community-owned -The Farmers pub provided liquid refreshments. One last ascent and we just missed the 18.19 bus. Off to the New Inn. It was a sunny and hot day, with hang gliders, glider planes, cuckoos, bluebells, lots of gorgeous lambs, wild horses, fantastic views. A brilliant day.

    The main walk route was reported to still be flooded in the NW corner of the lake, although some waded through it, others apparently took the long flood diversion.

    30

  • Sandy
    Sat, 12-May-18

    To be clear, the man route after Llangorse village was impassable, it was deeply flooded. The two who descended after lunch actually followed "diversion 1" which edged along the side of the flooded fields and was still extremely squelchy. We then intercepted those who took the longer diversion.

    On the whole I wouldn't recommend any version of this walk section, but the Allt yr Esgair hill at the end was very nice. Most tried to follow the lower route but a sign pointing walkers to the left (and horses to the right) took them to the top anyway. Best to stick to the left hand (higher) route.