Brecon Beacons National Park

The Brecon Beacons are one of the most beautiful parts of Wales. Founded in 1957, the national park borders to the west the Black Mountains, with the source of the River Usk, and to the east another mountain range, also called the Black Mountain and famous for its wild ponies. Here the 519sq.mi/1,345sq.km national park borders the English county of Hereford and Worcester for 10mi/16km-15mi/24km. Most of the mountains are more than 1,000ft/305m high, many reach in excess of 2,000ft/610m. Formed from red sandstone, they look like beacons, hence their name, which may also have been derived from the fires lit on the peaks as signals during the Middle Ages. The landscape features native deciduous trees, North American conifers and broad swaths of moorland.