Walk this route yourself in 3D!
The Video is a 3D walk through of this route, it will give you a unique sense of having walked through the route before you start.
I have created 3D Videos of my adventures and have shared them with the OutdoorActive community as well as my walking community.
This is the very first mountain I hiked up, and for a long time it was the only one I did every Sunday morning. This mountain is a classic, it has fantastic views, it also has easier & harder routes and you can add the ‘Sugar Loaf’ into other routes around the area.
This particular route starts in Abergavenny as I always do, it takes the harder route up through St Mary’s Vale Wood, and then it’s a walk back through the valley cutting through farmland to eventually follow the lane down.
Abergavenny has 3 mountains which are all great walks, this mountain which is The Sugar Loaf, The Blorenge & The Skirrid, you can do all 3 which is the Abergavenny 3 Peaks, but today we’ll just do the one.
Getting There: Directions, GPX and App Link
The Hiking app I use to plan the walks and to aslo guide me around is the ‘Outdooractive App‘, which has a free a Pro and a Pro+ version, the Pro version will allow you to download the routes to your phone, and use them without using up your data.
The reason I mention it is that if you were to download a route, they are FREE and you can find this link to this route in my hike listings. You can then follow the arrows and voice on your mobile, as most of these walks are a bit tricky to explain.
- The street I usually park on is called ‘Avenue Road’, a really nice street running parallel with the Cricket Club. This link will take you there using the Google Maps app.
- It’s a long street and there are houses there, so I always park further down the road by the Cricket Club to not get in the way of the residents.
- From the car you walk up to the gate via ‘Chapel Lane’ and then turn right at the metal swing gate, heading up ‘Pentre Road’.
Navigation Aids:
- Follow this route on the Outdooractive App, it is FREE, and it will guide you around safely.
- Download my hand crafted *GPX file, and use it on your own guidance devices.
- If you’re not sure what a GPX file is, I have put an explanation post together here that will hopefully explain it in plain words. It’s worth considering as well as mobile app navigation, as they will make your hikes better & safer.
Hike Map
Hike Profile
- Distance: 7m / 11km
- Duration: 2.5-3 hours
- Highest point: 1936ft / 596m
- Difficulty: Moderate (steep short climbs), sometimes loose terrain through the woods.
- Route conditions: Well-worn pathways most of the way around, good walking shoes are a must.
Hike Description & Pics
I always start in the same place, it’s a nice place to park, and you’re only a short walk away from the lane that starts your climb up to the Sugar Loaf, and this start point covers all the routes I do for this mountain. The name of the road is ‘Avenue Road’, and this link will take you there using the Google Maps app. But as it is a residential area, I park further down the road out of the way, there is plenty of free space alongside the cricket club.
Leaving the car, you walk up the street into ‘Chapel Lane’ and there you will find the gate that leads you onto ‘Pentre Road’, turn right and you will follow the lane up. Just as you start walking up the lane covered over by tree’s you will see a dirt track appear on your left, right by the first big tree on your left, you will be walking parallel to the lane on your right, whilst at the same time heading further left, and then into an open field.
You will make your way through along a narrow dirt path, through a couple of turn gates and stiles, and then through a farmer’s field, where horses are kept in the field on your right. Continue to the top of the field, over the gate and then follow the lane up to the start of St Mary’s Vale Wood.
You pretty much start your climb up to the sugar loaf here, it’s a steady incline through the beautiful St Mary’s Vale Wood, and the story is that it’s said to be inhabited by Jack O’Kent, a giant who played games with the devil. We didn’t seem him thankfully, but it is a very different, enchanting woodland, and this path will take you up through the St Mary’s Vale Wood onto the open areas surrounding the sugar loaf peak.
Keep walking forward through the St Mary’s Vale Wood, and in no time, you will leave the tree’s behind and walk onto the open space, and right in front of you the Sugar Loaf peak will come into view. You will have no problem in finding your way up, the path is very clear ahead of you, it’s just getting to the top as the last bit up is pretty steep, and it is harder than it looks.
If the weather is wet, this climb gets very muddy, and you will need to use 3 or 4 limbs in some places, but just follow it all the way to the peak and you will have deserved a well-earned rest.
Time then for a few pics, a nice coffee break and some Welsh cakes, and to take in the stunning 360 views before you head down the opposite side you came up on.
This is one my favourite mountains, on a beautiful sunny day the views are incredible, and if the wind is strong there are some little coves on the sides of the top, you can hide in.
The way down is on the opposite side of the mountain you came up from, but to start heading down you head towards the left of the trig point, and you will see a path that runs around the side of the mountain, bringing you out at the back, the opposite you side you came up on.
The path from here is a steady decline, and at almost centre back of the mountain the path splits, you need to take the left split which takes you down a slope running away from the mountain.
Then further along the path walking away from the mountain, a left turn will appear and you carry along this path until you see a gate in a fence where the tree’s start in the wood, go through the gate and walk through the beautiful woods.
There is a clear path through the woods, which you will walk along for a little while, up and down a few little dips, over a little stream or two, and then there will come a point where you will see a farmer’s gate in front of you on the right, and to its left a continuation of the dirt path.
I prefer to take the farmer’s gate, and get into the open a little bit.
Again, continue on into the farmer’s field, but be careful as there are usually sheep and cows here, but there is plenty of room, you’ll just need to be careful if you have dogs with you.
Follow the fence line on your right and once through the next gate, head towards the trees in front of you, then once through those 2, start to head left back into the woods, again you will see a path in front of you and then a gate and stile.
You are then pretty much heading straight on following a path through the fields, and making your way down to three homes which pretty much tells you, you are out of the fields and starting to join the lane down back to the car.
You will know you are going the right way, as a car park will appear after those homes down the lane a little, and at that point you turn right and follow the main lane all the way down.
From here hopefully you will recognise this walk down as it is the same lane you started out on, and it will take you all the way back, then you turn left off the road, through the gate at the end of Chapel Lane back to the car.
That’s it, you’re all done, back at the car and hopefully the weather has been good, and you have had a great experience.
It is worth downloading this route onto your outdooractive app, it’ll re-assure you time wise and that you’re not heading in the wrong directions. There is so much space up there and lots of alternative paths you could accidently join.
Hope you enjoy this walk, and I’d love it if you could share this post either with the social media buttons that follow you down the screen on your left, or below in the footer. Also, comments are very welcome, I love meeting new people and talking and you never know we could meet up on one of our walks.
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