Sugar Loaf & Usk Valley

Sugar Loaf and Usk Valley gathers several National Trust holdings around Abergavenny: the Sugar Loaf, at 596 metres one of the highest peaks in the Black Mountains; the Skirrid, the range's last outcrop at 486 metres, known as the Holy Mountain for its ruined summit chapel; and the 18th-century Clytha Estate on the River Usk, where Clytha Castle is a folly William Jones built in 1790 in memory of his wife. Coed y Bwnydd, an Iron Age hillfort, carries bluebells in spring, and a 25-year project has returned the Skirrid's conifer plantation to native woodland. Routes include the Skirrid trail and a 7.5-mile Clytha and Coed y Bwnydd walk; dogs are welcome on short leads around livestock. Reviewers rate the summit views and find the Sugar Loaf climb manageable for families. Tips from visitors: the lane to the Llanwenarth car park is steep and narrow with few passing places, there are no toilets on the hill, and the final stretch is rocky.