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Wild camping, spending a night on the hill with nothing but your pack, is a different order of experience to a day walk. The mountains at dusk have a quality that walkers who always return to the car before dark never see. Waking at dawn above a sea of cloud in the valleys below, with the peaks emerging as islands in the mist, is one of the reasons people keep coming back to the hills.
The Brecon Beacons National Park (now officially Bannau Brycheiniog) contains some of the finest hillwalking in Wales: dramatic north-facing scarp ridges, glacial lakes, ancient drovers’ roads, and the highest peaks in southern Britain. Pen y Fan at 886m is the headline, but the surrounding landscape has dozens of routes that reward walkers at every level. If you’re new to the Beacons, the routes below give you the best of the park without committing to technical terrain before you’re ready.
Navigation is the foundation skill of hillwalking. Everything else, choice of route, decision-making in bad weather, getting home safely, depends on knowing where you are and being able to work out how to get where you’re going. The good news is that map and compass navigation is not complicated. The principles are simple and can be learned by anyone. What takes time is practice, the ability to read terrain quickly and navigate fluently comes from time spent on the hill with a map in your hand.
Snowdonia, or Eryri as it’s now officially named, packs an extraordinary amount into a relatively compact national park. From the jagged ridges above the Ogwen Valley to the wooded valleys of southern Snowdonia, the variety is remarkable. Every walk here feels distinctly Welsh: the light is different, the rock is different, and the names are unlike anywhere else in Britain. If you’re new to the area, it’s easy to feel drawn straight to Snowdon.
Scotland is spectacular. It’s also frequently wet, windy, cold, and unpredictable in ways that catch underprepared walkers off guard. Every year, mountain rescue teams in Scotland respond to callouts involving walkers who underestimated how fast conditions deteriorate above 600 metres. This isn’t a reason to avoid the Scottish hills, it’s a reason to go prepared. The right kit makes the difference between a memorable day and a dangerous one, and the system isn’t complicated once you understand it.
The Lake District needs no introduction. England’s largest national park draws millions of visitors a year, and it’s not hard to see why, every ridge reveals another valley, every valley leads to another lake, and on a clear day the views stretch further than you’d believe a country this small could offer. But if you’re new to hill walking, the Lakes can feel intimidating. The peaks are serious mountains, Scafell Pike, Helvellyn, and Blencathra all demand proper experience and equipment.