Quick Facts
Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 40′ / 12 m
Length of Hike: 2 miles / 3.2 km round-trip
The Record
I just got back from a twelve-day trip to England and Wales. While there, I visited several waterfalls in Wales. While some of the waterfalls were relatively easy to visit, the waterfalls here were a bit more of an adventure, so I’m going to write about them before I forget anything!
Sgwd Clun Gwyn, Fall of the White Meadow, is the first of four waterfalls you’ll encounter along the Four Falls Trail in Brecon Beacons National Park. If this were the only waterfall in the area, it wouldn’t be nearly adventurous, besides the drive there. The road to and from the falls is barely even wide enough for one car, as are most of the rural roads in the UK, it seems. The other falls require more effort, though it is worth it if you’re prepared. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been, thinking it wasn’t nearly as long a hike to all four falls.
It’s just under a mile from the car park to Sgwd Clun Gwyn, and it’s mostly easy going on the way to this waterfall. There are two options for seeing the waterfall. The better option for viewing the falls is to veer right at the fork, cross the bridge over the small stream, and walk a short distance to view the falls (which will be to your left). There is a trail on the other side that leads to the base of the falls, but currently, there’s a large tree hanging right in front of the falls, making photography difficult.
To see the other falls, you’ll veer left at the fork I mentioned and continue on your way. It does get a bit more uphill/downhill along the way, though that’s not really the difficult part. It’s the “spur” trails that lead to these falls that are more strenuous, as they require a lot of uphill/downhill climbing. I’ll post more about those later. It’s about 5.5 miles round-trip to see all four falls, and it took us a bit over 3.5 hours.
Directions
- The main route A465 will likely be your starting point. Take the exit to Glynneath, which will put you on A4109.
- From A4109, you’ll very quickly turn right onto B4242, and then left onto Pontneathvaughan Road. You’ll continue on this road for about 5 miles.
- Google Maps tried to direct us down a very narrow country road (which didn’t have any signage for the falls). We continued until I saw the actual sign for the waterfalls trail, and turned right. It was still a very narrow road, but it led us directly to the Cwm Porth Car Park. You can also start at the Gwaun Hepste Car Park, though it does lead you down some different trails.
- There is a fee to park, and then you can start the hike to the falls.
Waterfall Record 
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