Dare Valley Country Park

From £28 For 1 night, 2 adults 9.3 622 reviews
Beautiful (added by manager 08 Aug 2022)
Rainbow days (added by manager 08 aug 2022)
View of the lake (added by manager 08 aug 2022)
On the site (added by manager 08 aug 2022)

  • A scenic 500-acre site on an old colliery at the Brecon Beacons’ edge
  • A five-minute drive to Aberdare and 15 minutes to Penderyn Distillery
  • Playgrounds and cafeteria on site; walk to a family bike park
If you’re wanting a countryside Welsh holiday close to southern Wales’ mightiest mountain range, settle in for a few days or more at Dare Valley Country Park: this site in Mid Glamorgan sits on top of an old colliery a five-minute drive from the old mining town of Aberdare on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons. The whopping 500 acres of space at the park means wanders (among lush valley views) are par for the course, with trails leading off into the countryside straight from the site too. Within the country park, make your way to the Dare Valley Gravity Family Bike Park, which has uplift services. You might also be hard-pressed luring kids away from the two playgrounds (the biggest has a sandpit, slides and swings) or partners from a cafeteria that opens daily for freshly prepped breakfast, lunch and snacks... If they’re really not keen to come away from this scenic place, bribe them with the mountain biking trails at BikePark Wales, about 20 minutes away. For grownups, golf at a parkland course with manicured meadow lawns and mature oaks is less than a 10-minute drive from the site. And if you really need to bring out the big guns (for the big folk, that is)? There’s always the lure of a tour and tasting session at Penderyn Distillery Visitor Centre (within 15 minutes)… This whisky making centre’s in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons; travelling a touch further (half an hour in all from the site) leads right into the middle of the national park for ambles around green hills.

Site type

Touring caravan pitches 16
Motorhome pitches 16
Open all year

Tourist board rating

Please note
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • Bookings must not be for more than 14 consecutive nights.
  • Commercial vehicles (vehicles used for work-related purposes, carrying goods or fare-paying passengers) and sign-written vehicles are not permitted on site.
  • Reception is unmanned after 5 p.m.. Please inform the site while on your way there should you expect to arrive after this time, so that the team can provide information about your unit/pitch.
  • At least one of the party members must be aged 18 or over.
  • Swimming in the lake is not allowed.
  • If reception is closed on arrival: please contact the number provided on your booking confirmation.

Languages spoken

English

Pitch types & availability

Reviews

95%

would recommend this site to a friend

94%

would stay here again

  • 72%
    10
  • 0%
    9
  • 21%
    8
  • 0%
    7
  • 4%
    6
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    5
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    1

Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Enjoyable

Overall 8/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 6
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: Nice clean quiet campsite, clean & warm shower & toilet block. Lovely cafe with very reasonable prices super dog friendly with dog meals & treats

Disliked: Lack of information on check in. Don’t allow fire pits

Recommend to friends Visit again

Look forward to my next visit

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Chris H. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: Stunning location, really nice and secure camp site. Amazing facilities and a really friendly welcome on arrival. Will Definitely return.

Disliked: Nothing to dislike

Recommend to friends Visit again

Excellent

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 8
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
John G R T. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: No hassle, excellent facilities well maintained secure site.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Very good site with great facilities in wildlife setting

Overall 10/10
Location 8
Value for money 8
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 8
Child friendliness 8
Cleanliness 8
Wifi 8
Simon E. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: Lovely site an adventure playground

Recommend to friends Visit again

good location for exploring. Lacking attention to basic details

Overall 6/10
Location 10
Value for money 6
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities No rating
Customer service 2
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 4
Wifi 2
Angela T. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: location is good for exploring Brecon Beacons. The 500 acre park is good for walking, cycling and exploring the countryside. was allowed to pick which pitch I wanted.

Disliked: on arrival just given a scrap of paper with codes for toilet block and gate. They had no map of the parks trails etc. . some of the pitched where flooded due to heavy rain, luckily I chose a dry one. Out of order was the washing machine, the tumble dryer and the hand dryer. The floors in the toilet block could do with a good scrub clean especially the corners, behind the loos, and shower floors I stayed for a week and no one came around the site to check if things where ok, not even a security drive by of an evening. 2 nights no one else was on site if I fallen by my van or fainted I'm not sure how many days it would be before any one found me .The site is good but lack of attention to details on what customers expect let it down badly

Recommend to friends Visit again

Lovely site/location,Clean facilities. H/s pitches need maintenance.

Overall 8/10
Location 10
Value for money 6
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass touring caravan pitch

Liked: Choice of pitches Easy check-in Lovely location Free and hot showers Very Clean facilities

Disliked: Not a full length hard standing if you have a longer van, our van is 7.5m, we couldn’t use the awning as the ground was too boggy. Yes, it was raining 😂. The actual hardstanding was over1m short, and that 1m would have made our stay so much better. We did have a choice, but the few longer ones were occupied. Access for a caravan on Monk Street and onto Highland Place can be a bit hairy.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Brilliant place to stay with the bike hire and balance bike track.…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
David S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass touring caravan pitch

Liked: Brilliant place to stay with the bike hire and balance bike track. We'll definitely be back.

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked the dog walks and really helpful staff as they let us…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Lynda P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: Liked the dog walks and really helpful staff as they let us arrive early as we had to leave previous campsite for fears of getting snowed in.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Hardly anyone was there staff where friendly and helpful…

Overall 8/10
Location 10
Value for money 8
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 8
Wifi No rating
graeme b. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass touring caravan pitch

Liked: Hardly anyone was there staff where friendly and helpful

Disliked: Pitches are small and road drains flooded when it rained with water running into my awning Access from the town to the site is very tight and an accident on the hill delayed us leaving the site

Recommend to friends Visit again

A gem of a site

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 2
Meirion W. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric hardstanding and grass motorhome pitch

Liked: Everything. Support staff so friendly and helpful. Site is clean.

Disliked: Nothing to dislike. Ignore low wifi score, had to give it a star to move on.

Recommend to friends Visit again


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house

Cycle hire

Evening entertainment

Fishing

Fitness centre

Games room

Indoor swimming pool

Kids' club

On-site restaurant/cafe

Outdoor swimming pool

Play area

TV room

Take away

Tennis

Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available

Car parking by pitch/unit

Composting toilet

Disabled facilities

Dog park

Drying room

Food shop

Free wifi

Ice pack freezing

Internet access

Launderette

Parent & baby washroom

Pick-up from public transport

Portable toilet

Pub toilets

Public telephone

Shower available

Toilet block

Washing-up area

Wifi

Groups welcome

D. of E. welcome

Family friendly

Motorcycle friendly

Rallies welcome

Single-sex groups welcome

Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided

Barbecues allowed

Campfires allowed

Commercial vehicles allowed

Dogs allowed

Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Budget/backpacker

Forest

Lake and/or mountain

Spectacular scenery

Walkers' paradise

Utilities

Charging facilities

Chemical disposal

Electric car charging point(s)

Gas cylinders available

Recycling available

Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby

Dog walk nearby

Type

Medium (26-50 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Canoeing/kayaking nearby

Climbing nearby

Cycling nearby

Golf nearby

Horse riding nearby

Mountain biking nearby

Restaurant nearby

Touring and motorhomes

Water hook-up points for tourers

Location

Dare Valley Country Park

Aberdare

Glamorgan

Wales

CF44 7RG

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London GMT (GMT+00:00)

GPS

51.71267°N
-3.46943°W

Route directions

If you are using a satnav, please use the postcode CF44 7PS.

Nearest transport

Coach
1.2 mi Bus Station
4.5 mi Bus Station
10.5 mi Lidl
Rail
1.1 mi Aberdare Rail Station
2.5 mi Cwmbach Rail Station
3.6 mi Fernhill Rail Station
Ferry
20.1 mi Cardiff Castle Waterbus Stop
20.6 mi Taffs Mead Waterbus Stop
20.8 mi Swansea Queens Dock Ferry Terminal
Airport
22.4 mi Cardiff International Airport
26.8 mi Swansea Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

Head about half an hour west of the site into the Brecon Beacons and get to the national park’s waterfall country, home to falls with nicely tongue-tripping names like Sgwd Gwladys (30 minutes’ drive) and Sgwd Yr Eira (35 minutes). The former’s just the place for wild swimming in a deep plunge pool surrounded by woodland... Drier times are to be had at stately piles about 35 minutes south of the park, including Caerphilly Castle with its massive moat and towers or smaller Castell Coch reconstructed in a fairytale style in the Victorian era by well-known architect William Burgess. Cardiff (40 minutes away) also has its own castle with renovations by Burgess – head to this swish city for cool concerts and sports events at the Principality Stadium or just check out the boutiques in the Victorian shopping arcades. For another architecturally intriguing manor home from a different era, the Tudor-style Tredegar House is 45 minutes away from the park.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020 2019 2018 2017
Aberafan 17.1 mi Estuary N/A Good Good Good
Trecco Bay Porthcawl 18.7 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Sandy Bay Porthcawl 18.8 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Rest Bay Porthcawl 18.9 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Southerndown 19.3 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Penderyn Distillery Visitor Centre 4.2 mi

Brecon Mountain Railway 7.4 mi

National Showcaves of Wales 12.2 mi

Aberdulais Falls 13.4 mi

Caerphilly Castle 14.2 mi

National Trust

Aberdulais Falls 13.5 mi

Aberdeunant 25.5 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Treherbert to Aberdare 4 mi

Pontneddfechan - Hepste Waterfalls - Pontneddfechan 5.7 mi

Pontneddfechan - Scwd Einion Gam Waterfall 6.2 mi

Porth-yr-ogof, Nedd and Mellte Waterfalls 7.1 mi

Waterfall Circuit 7.1 mi

Local events

  • Green Man Festival (Thursday 15 August 2024 – Thursday 15 August 2024)

    Crickhowell, Powys 16.5 mi

  • The Hay Festival (Thursday 23 May 2024 – Thursday 23 May 2024)

    Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire 29 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Want to know more about camping in Glamorgan?

  • Does Dare Valley Country Park have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Dare Valley Country Park dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Dare Valley Country Park? Head about half an hour west of the site into the Brecon Beacons and get to the national park’s waterfall country, home to falls with nicely tongue-tripping names like Sgwd Gwladys (30 … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Dare Valley Country Park?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  1 p.m. –  6:30 p.m.
    Depart by:  12 p.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  3 p.m. –  6:30 p.m.
    Depart by:  12 p.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Dare Valley Country Park? From £28 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.