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Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge — Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons National Park

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge — Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons National Park

Hard

4.8

(314)

1,885

hikers

Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge — Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons National Park

05:55

18.5km

720m

Hiking

The Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge offers a challenging and rewarding hike through Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. This classic circular route covers 11.5 miles (18.5 km) with a significant elevation gain of 2370 feet (722 metres), typically taking around 5 hours and 55 minutes to complete. You will traverse well-worn…

Last updated: April 23, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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6.11 km

Fan y Bîg Summit and Diving Board

Highlight • Summit

The Diving Board on Fan y Big is one of the most photographed locations in the Brecon Beacons. The views over towards Cribyn and Pen Y Fan are super good, …

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7.92 km

Cribyn Summit

Highlight • Summit

At 2,608 feet (795 m), the summit of Cribyn boasts bold and dramatic views over Pen-y-Fan, looking towards the steep cliff that forms its eastern flank. When the weather is …

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9.17 km

Jacob's Ladder (Pen y Fan Ascent)

Highlight • Climb

Classic route to the top of Pen Y Fan and a great thigh burner. Made infamous by the SAS as part of their Fan Dance event. It's a great place …

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9.32 km

Pen y Fan

Highlight • Summit

Chief of the Brecon Beacons and the highest summit in south Wales, Pen y Fan is a hugely popular peak with routes to the top to suit everyone from first …

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9.90 km

Corn Du summit

Highlight • Summit

Corn Du is rarely climbed alone, but as a peak added to an expedition to Pen y Fan. The climb up is a great one though and the views from …

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11.7 km

Rhiw yr Ysgyfarnog Escarpment

Highlight • Natural Monument

Easier to walk it than it is to say, the Rhiw yr Ysgyfarnog escarpment is an arrow-straight ridge that takes hikers from the high points of the Central Beacons towards …

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18.5 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

8.33 km

7.77 km

1.77 km

601 m

Surfaces

14.9 km

1.99 km

597 m

584 m

370 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (850 m)

Lowest point (340 m)

Weather

Friday 31 July

19°C

7°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 12.0 km/h

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Comments

August 9, 2024,The classic four peaks in Brecon Beacons

Phenomenally beautiful walk in the heart of the Brecon Beacons: the classic 4-peaks walk. Over the Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Crybin and Fan y Big. The route runs over at least 4 more peaks, but they seem to be less important in this story and apparently count for less 😏. The walk is also called the horseshoe walk. The …

Showing Translation

February 25, 2024,BRECON BEACONS NP - Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge

Waterfall flowing upwards 1drv.ms/v/s!AumPFtH_olWEgpRbacTmXM5DQlXDhg

August 16, 2025,Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge — Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons National Park

First proper hike in a while... Got good weather on Pen y fan and magical views. :)

October 9, 2021,Pen y Fan – Walking above the clouds Loop from Torpantau

Battery ran out so recording finished! To finish the walk we went over the waterfall by the infinity pool,, and followed the road for Taff Trail,, this led up straight back to the car park

October 8, 2023,[ Wales | South Powys ] The ✪ Pen y Fan ✪ Horseshoe Ridge | ✪ Brecon Beacons ✪ National Park

The ✪ WalesTales continued.

Da waren wir also wieder. Im ✪ Land der Kelten, im kleinsten Landesteil der Insel ✪ Großbritannien. Dort wo weniger Menschen als in Berlin leben und dort wo weit über ✪ 10 Millionen Schafe dafür sorgen, dass die schier endlos erscheinende ✪ Bilderbuchlandschaft stets lockige, weiße Flecken hat.

September 24, 2022,Extended Brecon Beacons Horseshoe - Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn etc..

Please ignore time/speed - Komoot has incorrectly imported this data. Overall time for this hike was 8hrs 29mins

April 2, 2022,Brecon Beacons: Pen Y Fan Horseshoe from Parkwood Outdoors Campsite 🔼

An iconic walk to the highest point in South Wales. This was an extended version of the classic Brecon Beacons Horseshoe, as I started and finished at the Parkwood Outdoors Dolygaer campsite (which I can definitely recommend as a place to stay!) A lovely forest walk above a mountain railway line was followed by some off-path ascent through rough fields …

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Pen y Fan Horseshoe Ridge — Bannau Brycheiniog / Brecon Beacons National Park

Fan y Bîg Summit and Diving Board

Cribyn Summit

Jacob's Ladder (Pen y Fan Ascent)

Pen y Fan

Corn Du summit

Rhiw yr Ysgyfarnog Escarpment

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