Walking Tall

There are some beautiful walks across the UK, but one can easily compare to a fairy tale scene, with four magnificent waterfalls to admire and winding pathways through woodland

One of the most popular UK walks passes by towering waterfalls and through enchanting woodland, but there’s one thing that nobody warns you about.

The UK is a haven for hikes, from climbing the highest mountain in the Scottish Highlands, to rambling alongside glacial ribbon lakes in the Lake District, to walking the Cotswold Way through charming villages. Not to mention the abundance of coastal trails, woodland, mountains, rivers, moorland and rolling hills that make up the UK’s varied terrain.

Some of the most striking landscapes, with varied rambling routes, can be found in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in South Wales, formerly known as the Brecon Beacons. The 520-square-mile protected area is famed for its dramatic mountains, including Pen y Fan, its highest peak, deep valleys and waterfalls that make up its atmospheric backdrop.

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During a weekend escape to the National Park, I took on one of the most popular walking routes, The Four Waterfalls Walk, which has often been cited as one of the best hiking experiences in Wales. The circular trail is in the Bannau Brycheiniog area, known as Waterfall Country, and passes by four magnificent waterfalls: Sgwd Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd y Pannwr, and Sgwd yr Eira.

I parked at Gwaun Hepste car park (CF44 9JB) with portable loos and picnic benches, for £5 a day, which meant the route would take me around 5.5 miles (9 km) and roughly four hours. However, for those who would prefer a little more luxury, the Cwm Porth car park (CF44 9JE) has fully equipped toilets, a small shop and a visitor information centre, for £5 a day, and offers a slightly shorter route.

I set out on the walk on a welcoming, clear morning in Wales and followed the easy-to-navigate signs through woodland paths with grounds covered in bluebells. There were steady slopes passing towering trees before the terrain evened out for a gentle stroll to the first towering waterfall, Sgwd Clun-Gwyn.

This was perhaps the easiest waterfall to approach, with a short, pebbled woodland path to the cliff edge, where I could look down on the River Mellte gushing from the rugged, moss-covered rocks, which felt like a Jurassic Park backdrop. Some visitors were even brave enough to walk along the cliff edge to the tumbling water, but that wasn’t for me.

Instead, I continued on my trail and listened to the hum of the woodland, birds swooping from the tree tops, and the gentle chatter from fellow ramblers. Before the hike took an adventurous turn.

I found myself walking down steep wooden steps, along muddy terrain, across big stones, and over a wooden plank, which caught me off guard after my former amble along woodland paths. Yet it was well worth the descent.

I was met with a river flowing through carved out rocks, where people sat for a pit stop, and two waterfalls, the Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn and Sgwd y Pannwr. Thankfully, it was a short walk from these waterfalls, and relatively flat, with giant stepping stones and some slippery rocks to climb to witness the plunging waters of Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, which really felt as though I had stepped into a fairy tale storybook.

Just when I thought my legs had taken enough steps for one day, I encountered the precipitous route to the last waterfall, Sgwd yr Eira. The steep steps, of around 170, zig-zagged down through the enchanting forest before eventually emerging at the bottom of the majestic waterfall, which was certainly the most impressive and popular amongst them all.

I spent time admiring the curtain of cascading water as it poured into the river, and thought it was one of the most incredible waterfalls I had ever seen. But what truly sets this apart is the ability to walk underneath the waterfall, which I certainly wasn’t going to miss out on, even if I had to carefully watch my foot placement on the wet surface.

It was surreal to find myself just inches away from the gushing water and its mist in an experience I won’t forget in a hurry. Needless to say, it was well worth the climb down more than 200 steps during my hike on the iconic trail, including the ones on the way back up, albeit a challenge.

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