Lothlorien Cottage provides all the comforts of home in an ideal position from which to explore the Brecon Beacons National Park as well as other parts of South Wales.
The Brecon Beacons area is renowned for the variety of outdoor pursuits available as well as its dramatic and beautiful scenery. It also has a wealth of historical interest, such as medieval castles, iron age settlements and other ancient sites.
Behind the cottage are the slopes of the Black Mountain, with a road winding up through Brynamman and over the mountain. Brynamman is known as the "Western Gateway to the Brecon Beacons"
Lothlorien Cottage
For more about the cottage and some of the things to see and visit in the area look here ...
Your Cycling Holiday in Wales: Mountain Biking in the Area
Lothlorien Cottage is in the center of some of the best cycling routes in the UK.
The Brecon Beacons are criss-crossed by mountain biking trails, and the Afan Valley is rated as one of the top mountain biking destinations in the world.
Lothlorien Cottage has a lockable outhouse in which to store bicycles and there is an outside tap near the back entrance to wash off the worst of the day's mud.
The back door opens into the open plan kitchen - dining area which has an easy-to clean stone floor. Wet clothes can be removed here and hung to dry or put straight into the washing machine.
The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third National Park to be created in Wales, after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast in 1952
It stretches from Llandeilo in the West to Hay-on-Wye in the east, covering 519 square miles (1344 km², 332 100 acres) and encompassing four main regions - the Black Mountain (which rises behind Lothlorien Cottage) in the west, Fforest Fawr (Great Forest) and the Brecon Beacons in the centre, and the confusingly named Black Mountains in the east.
Above: Video of the Brecon Beacons National Park
Activities in the Brecon Beacons Park
Activities in the Park include walking, cycling, mountain biking, horse riding, as well as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and fishing, rock climbing, hang-gliding, caravanning, camping and caving and birdwatching.
The Taff Trail: A long-distance cycling route, the Taff Trail, passes over the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff,
The Beacons Way: In 2005 the first walk to span the entire length of the Brecon Beacons National Park was opened. The 100-mile (160 km) route, called the Beacons Way, runs from the foot of Ysgyryd Fawr east of Abergavenny and ends in the village of Bethlehem in Carmarthenshire.
Brecon Beacons National Park
(Welsh:Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog)
The Brecon Beacons are named after the practice of lighting signal fires (beacons) on mountains in the area to warn of attacks by the English, a practice used in modern times more for celebratory purposes and the commemoration of national events such as coronations or the Millennium.
" Brecon Beacons" refers to the mountains south of Brecon, the summits of which form a long horseshoe around the headwaters of the Taff Fechan river in the south-east, with long parallel spurs extending north-west.The highest of these is Pen y Fan (886 m); other notable summits include Corn Du (873 m), Cribyn (795 m), and Fan y Big (719 m).
The Third National Park in Wales
The Brecon Beacons National Park was established in 1957, the third National Park to be created in Wales, after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast in 1952.
It stretches from Llandeilo in the West to Hay-on-Wye in the east, covering 519 square miles (1344 km², 332 100 acres) and encompassing four main regions - the Black Mountain in the west (which rises behind Lothlorien Cottage), Fforest Fawr (Great Forest) and the Brecon Beacons in the centre, and the confusingly named Black Mountains in the east.
The western half gained European and Global status in 2005 as Fforest Fawr Geopark. This includes the Black Mountain, the historic extent of Fforest Fawr, and much of the Brecon Beacons and surrounding lowlands.
Most of the National Park is bare, grassy moorland grazed by Welsh mountain ponies and Welsh mountain sheep, with scattered forestry plantations, and pasture in the valleys. It is known for its remote reservoirs, waterfalls including the 27-metre Henrhyd Waterfall and the falls at Ystradfellte, and its caves, such as Ogof Ffynnon Ddu. The Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre was opened in 1966 to help visitors understand and enjoy the area.
