Discover Pen-Y-Cae: Country Park, Geotrail and Cave

Pen-Y-Cae is a destination for anyone who wants to combine nature, landscapes and special discoveries. At its heart is Craig-y-nos Country Park, with its Victorian garden, woodland, water and historical traces. There is also the Geopark Discovery Point, the Cribarth Geotrail, a cave tour in the surrounding area and skies with a limiting magnitude of 6.30 for stargazing. When looking for holiday accommodation, you can therefore consider whether you want to focus your stay primarily on walks in nature, geology, culture or unusual natural experiences.

Craig-y-nos Country Park between garden and landscape

Craig-y-nos Country Park in Pen-y-Cae is a 40-acre Victorian garden. Its character includes shaded woodland, meadows, ponds, lawns and rivers. The park is also a registered historic park and garden and is managed by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. This combination of a designed garden and varied landscape makes the park a place where you can gather different impressions during a visit: quiet areas beneath the trees, open lawns and bodies of water all lie within the same parkland.

For planning your day, the main circular route through Craig-y-nos Country Park is described particularly clearly. It passes the two ornamental ponds and is fully paved. A large part of the Country Park is accessible to wheelchairs and scooters. If you are travelling with different mobility needs, you can take this information into account when choosing your routes and planning a visit to the park, without equating the entire park with the circular route.

Fforest Fawr, Cribarth and the history of the park

At Craig-y-nos Country Park, the Geopark Discovery Point provides an introduction to Fforest Fawr. The Cribarth Geotrail explores the rocky ridge southwest of the park. This provides two different ways to approach the landscape: the Discovery Point introduces the wider landscape area, while the Geotrail focuses on the rocky ridge as a specific destination.

The park’s history is also part of the visitor experience. The Garden Pavilion was built for summer concerts and also served as a changing area for Patti’s guests, who played tennis or croquet.

Caves, stargazing and a break at the café

In the vicinity of Pen-y-Cae, the National Showcaves Centre for Wales offers a circular tour through Dan-yr-Ogof Cave that is just under 1 kilometre long. Anyone who wants to include an underground attraction alongside park paths and landscapes will find another clearly distinct travel idea here. For the evening, the sky above Craig-y-nos Country Park has a limiting magnitude of 6.30 for stargazing.

Craig y nos Country Park also has a café serving locally roasted coffee, homemade pasties, sausage rolls and cakes, as well as Llanfaes milk ice cream from Brecon. When choosing a holiday apartment or holiday cottage in Pen-Y-Cae, you can therefore first decide on the kind of trip you want: are you interested in gardens and parkland, geology and history, the cave, or a trip in which observing the evening sky also plays a role?

More destinations for your research

If you would like to compare other places in addition to Pen-Y-Cae, you can also include Ystradfellte, Erwood, Presteigne, Talgarth, Crickhowell, Bronllys, Llanwern and Builth Wells in your destination research.

For the broader travel overview: Powys.