Newcourt Farm Campsite

Newcourt Farm Campsite allows you the chance to pitch your tent in the foothills of The Black Mountains at the top end of Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. This view-tastic location has been used as a campsite for upwards of 70 years and is beloved of Duke of Edinburgh groups. This all hints at what you can expect here: old-school camping in a location great for adventures in the surrounding hills and mountains. And, if non-stop hiking isn’t on the agenda, that’s okay too as it’s only three miles to Glasbury, where you can take a canoe out on the River Wye, and five to lovely Hay-on-Wye, where you can simply mooch about.

The campsite consists of four connected fields in which campers are welcome to spread out. As you might expect from a campsite at the bottom of the mountains, the ground here is not flat, but sloping. It’s a small price to pay for the seemingly endless views and a location within a mountainous national park. In fact, the price you pay here is small overall, as this place is great value with a per-head price that means solo hikers feel as welcome as families. You pay for what you use and not for what you don’t. That follows through to showers, which are on 50p meters, and dogs who are welcome, for a very reasonable extra charge. Facilities are basic but kept clean and supplemented by portable toilets at particularly busy times.

Intrepid types can walk straight from site up to 700-metre peaks like Twmpa and perhaps on to Hay Bluff. Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail passes by up there too. For guided adventures, head three miles to Black Mountain Adventure where you can join groups for white water rafting, gorge walking and more. Or for something a little more sedate, perhaps go for a gentle kayak on the Wye from Glasbury down to Hay. The town, five miles from site, is a good place to spend a few hours with plenty of good cafes among its famous book shops.