No: wild camping in the Brecon Beacons is illegal unless the landowner has said yes, and that includes the open hills. Sleeping in a campervan or motorhome is no different: the car park at the foot of Pen y Fan says in writing that overnight stays are not possible. For almost every trip, the plan is a campsite.

The Brecon Beacons is the English name. The park and its authority now use the Welsh one, Bannau Brycheiniog, and that is the name on the signs and official pages.

What the park authority says

The Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority’s camping page puts it in one line: “Wild camping, though appealing, is illegal without the landowners permission.”

It adds why permission is hard to get. Most land in the park is privately owned and used for farming or conservation, and some of it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a protected designation. Instead, the Authority points you to designated campsites, and says some of them are remote, back-to-basics farm sites for people who want the wilder version.

The open hills do not change that. The Authority’s page on access land, the mountain, moorland and common land mapped under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, says you can walk, run, picnic, climb and watch wildlife there, and that camping is not allowed. Natural Resources Wales, the government body for the Welsh countryside, lists camping in its Countryside Code among the activities that may need the landowner’s permission.

There is no height rule. Nothing on these pages says camping becomes legal above a certain altitude or distance from the road. Verified 14 October 2026.

Campervans and motorhomes

This is the part that matters if you are driving.

  • Pen y Fan (Pont ar Daf). The National Trust runs this car park below Pen y Fan. Its page says motorhomes and campervans are welcome, “however overnight stays will not be possible.” Most of it is open dawn to dusk, and part is open 24 hours for mountain access, but a 24-hour section is not a place to sleep. Non-members pay a flat £7.50 per vehicle. Verified 14 October 2026.
  • Off the road is off limits. On access land, the Authority says motor vehicles must keep to existing rights of way. You cannot drive onto the hill to find a pitch.
  • Parking a van overnight without permission counts. In a joint letter still published on the Authority’s site, the park, Natural Resources Wales and others defined “fly-camping” as pitching tents or parking campervans or motorhomes on land without permission, and called it an offense.
  • Other car parks: read the board. Each car park in the park sets its own hours and charges, posted at the entrance. If the board does not say overnight stays are allowed, do not plan on one.
  • Forest land has its own check. Natural Resources Wales runs an online check for camping or overnight parking on the land it manages. Use it before you count on a forest car park.

In practice: park at the trailhead for the walk, then drive to a booked pitch. The Authority’s visitor site lists campsites and caravan parks across the park, from adults-only touring pitches to small farm fields.

If a landowner says yes

Permission is the only legal route, so ask at the farm before you pitch. Then keep it simple: one night, arrive late, leave early, take everything away. The Countryside Code says not to light fires and to use a barbecue only where signs say you can.

Wales is not Scotland

Scotland’s access code covers lightweight tent camping on most unenclosed land, and what the Scottish code allows stops at the border. The Brecon Beacons follow the same rule as the rest of Wales, covered in wild camping in Wales. Heading north next? Snowdonia (Eryri) has its own rules for vans.

The sign wins

If a sign at a car park, a ranger or the landowner tells you something different from this page, they are right. The board at the entrance is the current version. For other countries and how they compare, see the rules pages.

Sources

  1. Camping, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
  2. Camping, Glamping and Caravanning, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
  3. What is Access Land?, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority
  4. Open letter urges campers to respect the Welsh environment, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority
  5. New car park for Pen y Fan, National Trust
  6. The Countryside Code: advice for countryside visitors, Natural Resources Wales
  7. Check if you are allowed to use land we manage, Natural Resources Wales

When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.