Length: 19.0 km (11.8 mi) [shorter and longer walks possible]
Ascent/Descent: 622m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 6 out of 10
09.30 Start at the Train Station, group
passes the café at the Bus Station at 09.40.
From the pretty town centre of Abergavenny walk up the iconic Sugar Loaf
mountain, initially steeply up through lush pastures and ancient oak woods to
Twyn-yr-Allt, a former settlement on one the lower foothills of the Black
Mountains. From there continue along the mildly undulating treeless plateau to
Deri hill, covered in whimberries, bracken and gorse before turning steeply up
the barren easterly flank of Sugar Loaf through the upland heathland, to the
summit ridge of the southernmost peak of the Black Mountains, with superb
panoramic views (in good weather) across South Wales and South West England.
Descend gently down the heather and gorse-covered
flanks and continue along the gentle ridge of Mynydd Llanwenarth to descend
more steeply through the large ancient oak wood of Deri Fach into St. Mary’s
Vale and along the spring-fed Nant Iago (stream) to tea at the superb Sugar
Loaf Vineyard’s Café and Tasting Room, before re-tracing the outbound route
through the town centre.
Sugar Loaf is an immensely popular destination. The
chosen route avoids paths from and to popular car parks, preferring quieter
paths, while providing for a mixture of environments and views in all
directions. Due to being a conical top distant from any
neighbouring mountain chain, Sugar Loaf is very exposed to bad weather.
Especially the summit plateau can be unforgiving. Only the very highest bit can
be skirted.
A longer descent route and a scenic diversion to a nearby pub at the bottom of the mountain in Llangenny are described, as is an alternative descent through Deri Fach oak wood along more challenging paths.
Walk Options
A start/finish at the Bus Station cuts 730m
each way and 30m ascent at the end of the walk. Pick up the directions at the
end of the second paragraph.
A taxi ride can cut out the first steep ascent out of Abergavenny to the entrance of Sunny Vale farm at the top of the
straight bit of Pen-y-Pound road by a sharp right turn (3.2 km into the walk).
The taxi ranks with the best chance of a car being present are at the train
station and on Frogmore Street by the Tesco (1.5 km into the walk). Pick up the
directions at the end of the first paragraph on page 5.
A Longer Descent Route down the flank of Sugar Loaf adds 2.2 km/1.4 mi and 71m ascent.
A Scenic Diversion to the Dragons Head in Llangenny adds 4.0 km/2.5 mi and 237m ascent to the longer descent route. From the
pub it is straightforward to bail out to Crickhowell, along a signed
lane (buses back to Aber: 15.57, 17.57).
Lunch: Picnic.
Lunch Off-Route: The
Dragons Head in Llangenny (located 2.2 km downhill off the long
route, after 12.9 km/8.0 mi of walking).
Tea: The
Sugar Loaf Vineyard Coffee Shop and Tasting Room in Abergavenny
(open to 17.00, located 3.7 km from the end of the walk). Plus plenty of options
in the centre of Abergavenny.
For summary, walk directions, map, height
profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.334
4 comments:
I was at thebus station 0940 but no one else. Maybe I'll meet you guys en route
Indeed. Apologies to EBB (and 1 other) who joined us today: the remaining walkers had agreed last night to start from the Tesco at 9.45, as all our accommodations were in that part of town, and we didn't expect new walkers to turn up. BUT we didn't put a comment up to that effect! Slack...
4 departures from town today, 3 of whom had not been on yesterday's walk though.
Not a great example for effective communication, today's outing, but a great day out.
2 new arrivals started at train and bus station respectively, but passed each other unbeknownst as they had never met before. 5 of the resident walkers meanwhile had agreed to start further up the route, as that's where their hotels/guesthouses were, but without telling the rest of the world (via a blog comment).
We were met at our meeting point by 1 of the newbies, the club's no. 2 butterfly spotter. The other newbie only caught up with us on Sugar Loaf's top. Meanwhile, 2 other walkers had driven up to the outskirts to drop their car there, ready to drive home straight after the walk. Their last message had been that they'd walk the route in reverse though, so we put the phones away and stopped worrying about meeting them, but in fact they then changed their mind and waited at the road top for us for some considerable time, not realising that we had already long passed that point and were in fact ahead of them! They were so far behind in fact that they never caught up with us until the Vineyard Café, despite us walking the short extension! At least the sun was shining...
In fact it was sunny all day with a very cold wind though and we reached the top a few minutes after noon. Lunch was had there, with the fantastic views, despite the usual circus up on the top of stag groups and other day trippers up from the car park halfway up the hill.
We took the short extension and then also the longer route through the wonderful oakwood glen of the Nant Iago, reaching the café just after 3 pm, I think. Wines, teas, coffees and cakes were consumed at an outside table, bottles of wine bought to take home.
Back in AberG just after half four.
N=9 w=sunny-with-a-cold-wind
Wildlife: wild ponies, buzzards, ground nesters, tadpoles (thousands of them in a pool on the descent), a couple of types of butterflies, a ladies smock plant, male red tailed bumblebees, bloody-nose beetles, a Gwynne's mining bee, wildflower covered road verges and banks.
One walker reported having heard a cuckoo on yesterday's walk.
Very enjoyable walk despite missing the group. We clearly underestimated the groups speed up the hill from town centre, but got to practice our navigation! Overall an excellent trip with challenging but rewarding routes in good company
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