If you’re looking at Henrhyd Falls and thinking it seems vaguely familiar, it’s probably because it’s one of the iconic filming locations from Batman The Dark Knight Rises. That’s right, you can actually visit the Bat Cave…. well, sort of. It’s not quite like the movie, but it is a fantastic waterfall, and has the added novelty of being able to walk all the way behind it.
If you’re feeling adventurous you can even take a dip in the large swimming hole at the base.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Henrhyd Falls.
The walk to Henrhyd Falls
The stats
Distance: 0.7 miles return (1.2km)
Elevation gain: 75m
Difficulty: Easy, but not flat
Getting to the main lookout
The walk to Henrhyd Falls begins on a well maintained path. It’s a gravel track that heads downhill almost immediately.
Although the path is in good condition, it is quite steep and the gravel can be a little slippery even when dry.
It’s not too bad, but there was one short section that I went pretty carefully on. After 320m, you’ll come to a junction where the falls are signposted (before this you’ll pass an unofficial shortcut down on the left, but it’s a less stable route and best avoided).
From the junction you’ll head left over the bridge and up some wooden steps.
The trail then takes you briefly downhill before you’ll come to the main viewing area for Henrhyd Falls, 200m from the junction.
You’re basically at the level where you can walk behind the waterfall, rather than at the base, so it offers a good view of the falls from relatively high up.
Walking behind Henrhyd Falls
The official trail stops at the sign which warns of falling rocks. The path that leads behind the waterfall does take you under the cliffs, so there is a chance of falling rocks. Continuing along the path from here is at your own risk.
The trail looks really narrow and precarious from a distance, but as you get closer it’s not actually too bad.
The constant spray from the falls does mean it gets muddy, but if you hug the cliff wall, you don’t feel too close to the edge (although it’s not one for vertigo sufferers!).
It’s less than 50m from the rockfall sign to get all the way behind the falls. Once you’ve got to the overhang behind the waterfall, it’s really spacious, so it’s only that initial short section of track which is very narrow.
The overhang is damp and rocky, but if you take it slowly, it’s not too slippery.
It offers a fantastic view behind the huge curtain of water and is definitely a fun feature of the walk.
Swimming at Henrhyd Falls
There used to be a proper trail down to the bottom of the falls, complete with nice wooden stairs. However, a lot of debris has washed up around the bottom of the steps which has basically cut this off as an access point.
You now need to use the little path to the left of the rock fall sign. It only takes a minute to get down, but it’s a little muddy and has a bit of loose soil, so does require care.
Once you’re at the bottom you can make your way over the rocks and into the pool. The water was really shallow for a lot longer than I was expecting, so it’s one of those ones where you have to negotiate quite a few slippery rocks when in the water.
It is worth it though, it’s pretty incredible to stare up at the huge falls towering above you - which are actually the tallest in South Wales! It’s definitely an amazing spot to take a dip.
The water is also a lot warmer than I was expecting, having swum in some of the waterfalls on the Four Waterfalls and Elidir Trails.
The temperature is evened out by the spray coming off the falls though, which does create quite a bit of wind!
Continuing the trail
If you want a longer walk you can head back to the signposted junction and then continue straight on, instead of back the way you came. This will take you on the Nant Llech Walk which is said to have more cascades and places to stop for a dip - although we hear it’s not brilliantly well maintained and can be slippery.
It’s still on our list of walks to do because we visited Henrhyd Falls quite late to avoid the crowds and didn’t have time to add on the Nant Llech trail too.
The best time to visit Henrhyd Falls
We visited Henrhyd Falls after a long dry spell and as you can see from the pictures, there wasn’t a huge amount of water in the falls. We visited many other waterfalls on the same trip that had quite a bit more water, so I assume that the flow at Henrhyd is not so powerful as at many others. For this reason the best time to visit is after a period of rain, or at least not during a long dry spell.
Although the waterfall will be at its most impressive, visiting after rain does mean the trail conditions will be more slippery though, so it’s definitely a trade off!
In terms of time of day, Henrhyd Falls is a popular spot and it can get really busy, particularly on weekends and in the school holidays. If you want to have the quietest experience possible, you’ll want to come on a weekday and if it’s in summer, then early or late in the day.
We began the walk at 6pm (in July) and seven cars worth of people were coming up the trail as we were heading down. We ended up getting the falls to ourselves, which was a real treat. Heading there very early should have the same affect.
Photography-wise it’s always easier to get good shots on a cloudy day as you’ll have even light without shadows. We were visiting the Brecons during a period of incredible weather, so we actually didn’t have any fully cloudy days!
We did experience some relatively harsh shadows in the late afternoon, but managed to get a few shots that were relatively even when the sun went behind a wisp of cloud a few times!
Parking at Henrhyd Falls
The official National Trust car park for the falls (SA10 9PH) is free of charge, but it isn’t huge considering how popular the waterfall is. If it is full you can park in the overflow car park, but it’s a £5 flat fee.
There aren’t any facilities (including toilets) at the falls or at the car park, but for a food truck, Mystic Falls Food.
Getting to Henrhyd Falls
Henrhyd Falls is located near the village of Pontneddfechan in the Brecon Beacons (just under a 15 minute drive away), it’s 30 minutes from Merthyr Tydfil, 40 minutes from Brecon and just under an hour from Abergavenny.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support!
