Camping in the Brecon Beacons (2026 guide)
Open ridges, wooded valleys, and some of the darkest skies in Wales. Here's where to pitch across Bannau Brycheiniog and the Black Mountains.
The Brecon Beacons — officially Bannau Brycheiniog since the park's 2023 name change — cover a wider range of landscape than the name suggests: the bare, dramatic ridges of Pen y Fan and the central Beacons, the gentler Black Mountains to the east, and Fforest Fawr to the west, one of the least visited corners of the whole park.
Where to pitch
Brecon itself is the natural base for the central Beacons and Pen y Fan — campsites around the town put you within a short drive of the main ridge walks. Crickhowell and the Black Mountains to the east have a different, gentler character — wooded valleys, quieter walking, and campsites that see a fraction of the Pen y Fan crowds. Hay-on-Wye, on the park's northern edge, combines Black Mountains access with the town's famous bookshops and its May literary festival.
Beyond the tent
Bannau Brycheiniog is a designated International Dark Sky Reserve, one of only a handful in the world — on a clear, moonless night away from Brecon and Crickhowell's modest light pollution, the Milky Way is genuinely visible to the naked eye. Waterfall Country around Ystradfellte, in the western part of the park, has several accessible waterfall walks that work well as a half-day out. Hay-on-Wye's bookshops are worth the detour even if you don't read much on holiday.
When to go
May and June for the ridge walking, before the peak summer crowds hit Pen y Fan specifically. Late autumn and winter, if you're equipped for it, are when the Dark Sky Reserve status pays off most — longer nights and clearer, colder air make for the best stargazing conditions of the year.
Booking ahead
Campsites near Brecon and the main Pen y Fan approaches book out for summer weekends, driven by the mountain's popularity as a day-walk destination from Cardiff and Bristol. The Black Mountains around Crickhowell and Hay-on-Wye, and the quieter Fforest Fawr in the west, have noticeably better availability for the same national park.