Garwnant Visitor Centre
By Forest Holidays
Welcome to Garwnant Visitor Centre
Natural Resources Wales is working in partnership with Forest Holidays to bring a new-look visitor centre, cafe, shop and eco-sensitive cabin location to Garwnant.
Our brand new café is now open from 09:30 to 16:00, Tuesday to Sunday. If you’re planning a visit, why not grab a bite to eat in the café with our new menu celebrating the Best of British.
The car park, trails and toilets remain open to day visitors between 09:30 to 16:30 every day and our new activity centre and shop will open in February 2023.
Your new Visitor Centre
Upgraded visitor centre and new shop
Get the most from your visit. Our new look visitor centre and shop and shop has everything you need for a great day out.
Brand new bike hire facilities
Explore the Brecon Beacons National Park on two wheels, hit the forest trails and cover more ground with handy new bike hire facilities.
More outdoor activities and experiences
Uncover animal tracks, build dens, search for mini-beasts and learn about the forest. Discover new Forest Ranger experiences perfect for all the family.
First look at our new cabins
We’re committed to building sustainable locations and our cabins are designed to blend into the forest.
We use low impact methods and techniques when creating our cabins which helps to retain and enhance the woodland, its wildlife and their habitats.
Our pioneering cabin design fits around the forest. We use a lightweight micro pile system, which mimics a tree root and is installed using simple portable tools, making it extremely low impact and ecologically sensitive.
We took part in #NoMowMay
Throughout May we left the grass to grow at our newest location in Garwnant, Brecon Beacons.
No Mow May allows flowering plants to grow and bloom, providing vital nectar and pollen for many different species of bees as well as other important pollinators including butterflies, moths, hoverflies and beetles.
If you're visiting in the next few weeks, take a moment to look around and you’ll notice an increase in the number of insects in the longer grass. But it’s not just the insects that will benefit, more food and shelter is available for bats, birds, small mammals, amphibians and many more.
TREE-mendous tree planting!
Cyfarthfa Park Primary School joined our team for the day at Garwnant to help plant trees, learn about the forest and spend time in nature.
Richard Price, Teacher at Cyfarthfa Park Primary School commented:
‘It was a welcome opportunity to finally be able to take the children back to the great outdoors and let them experience some exploration and adventure - which they all thoroughly enjoyed! The children enjoyed naming the trees they planted, knowing that in years to come they'd be able to return and see the forest they had helped plant grow into something special, just like them.’
Creation of new Arboretum Trail
We’ve planted 840 trees including juniper, yew, Scots pine, birch and Oak to diversify and enhance the existing trees and habitats in the area. Take a look at just some of the trail. Those views!
Working together for a brighter future
Natural Resources Wales and Forest Holidays already work hand in hand to enhance natural landscapes, create wildlife habitats and inspire guests to love forests as much as they do.
The valuable income and support Forest Holidays provides helps Natural Resources Wales manage forests to the highest standards.
About the project
In response to greater demand for holiday accommodation in the area, Garwnant has been chosen as the location for a brand-new collection of bespoke, eco-sensitive timber cabins.
Forest Holidays will create cabins, upgrade the Visitor Centre and provide more outdoor activities for day visitors and those staying overnight.
These improvements will:
- Bring jobs, inward investment and economic benefits to South Wales.
- Enhance the natural environment though sensitive design and management.
- Give guests the unique experience of sleeping overnight in the forest for the first time.
Our new cabin location at Garwnant is now open to guests.
We're Forest Holidays. Great to meet you.
Cabins that work for the forest and the community
An ecologically sensitive development process
Our cabins gently blend into the forest thanks to a forest-centred approach to development, design and integration which uses extremely low impact and ecologically sensitive methods and techniques. This helps to retain and enhance the woodland, its wildlife and their habitats.
A commitment to mindful design
We‘re committed to building sustainable locations that protect and promote the UK’s forests and wildlife. Our team believes in sustainability by design and follows guidance set out by BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method).
An experience rooted in rural communities
We champion sustainable tourism, offering an unpackaged experience which encourages our guests to eat, drink and shop locally during their stay. We recommend local attractions and inspire our guests to explore the surrounding area during their holiday.
A passion for hiring local teams
We employ over 700 local people in year-round full and part time jobs. Our teams act as ambassadors for the region and our success is founded on their enthusiasm and dedication to providing our guests with an exceptional holiday experience.
Protecting the forest for generations to come
Wildlife in the Brecon Beacons
We’re committed to protecting and enhancing the habitat of species that live in the Brecon Beacons including bats, lizards, fungi, mosses and the many bird species that call the forest home.
That’s why before undertaking any planned works, a full ecological assessment was carried out.
Once the cabins have been created, we’ll undertake ongoing Ecological monitoring of species in line with our biodiversity enhancement strategy so we can understand the health of the forest.
Our reports also help inform future habitat enhancement projects as well as landscape and woodland management.
Dark Skies in the Brecon Beacons
To preserve Dark Skies and protect nocturnal wildlife, we use the minimum lighting required for the location to operate.
External lighting is of low wattage, located under the eaves of each cabin, facing away from the stream.
We’ll also introduce full length blackout blinds on a motorised timer (or a special film on the windows) to ensure light spill is at a minimum.
Our cabins and the forest
We build in a unique way with a pioneering design which fits around the forest, using a technique which allows cabins to be carefully assembled between the trees and raised on steel piles.
This process protects the forest floor, ensures that nearby trees are unaffected, soil movement is minimalised, and rainwater drains into the forest floor naturally.
We’ve further revolutionised the way we create the foundations for our cabins by using new piling technology.
A lightweight micro pile system has been used, which mimics a tree root system and is installed with simple portable tools, making it extremely low impact and ecologically sensitive.
Meet our Project Manager, Robin, and get all the details on this exciting new project
“Working at Forest Holidays is more than just a job that you forget about at the end of the day. We all genuinely care about the environment that we’re working in and have a highly disciplined approach to managing our projects. The team come from all walks of life, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be based in the Brecon Beacons and are keen to continue to meet and learn more from the local community about the forest and the area.”
How do you feel about Forest Holidays having a location in the Brecon Beacons?
It’s a privilege for us to bring Forest Holidays to South Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park is a hugely popular area which is much loved by the local community, and we’ve worked hard over the years to support NRW’s vision of improving the visitor facilities for all. We are committed to delivering this project in close collaboration with our partners and are proud that this investment enables facilities across the whole forest to be managed sustainably. We’re meeting with local businesses and our neighbours to ensure we play our part in creating new opportunities through the creation of jobs and long lasting partnerships. The plans for our location will see an enhancement of the woodland environment and a stay with us in the Brecon Beacons will inspire even more people to value Britain’s amazing forests.
Is there anything special about the way the cabins have been designed to fit the forest environment?
We have developed a unique and forest-centred approach both to the design and integration of our cabins. Our team continue to innovate and refine methods as and when new techniques and technologies become available. There are so many features to mention but to give a snapshot, we’ve designed the cabins to standards set out by the foremost sustainability rating scheme for the built environment (BREEAM). We’ve also taken most of the cabin manufacturing process away from the forest environment, reducing build time, waste, and any disturbance. Furthermore we don’t use concrete strip foundations but have developed low impact piles so that tree roots and the forest floor are protected. Effectively our cabins are designed to fit in harmony with the forest, offering those staying in them a rich connection with the natural world.
How important is it to the team to ensure that wildlife and flora are protected throughout the build?
It’s fundamental. Our in-house management team understand the broader purpose of the business and our commitment to enhancing the environments that we work in. We appreciate that the success of our business depends on the forest and it’s the amazing wildlife and beautiful woodlands that our guests come to experience so this is at the top of our priority list.
We don’t contract out our building work and we ensure that all of the tradesmen we use are properly inducted and well managed. Most of the team have worked with us previously and understand our unique product and approach. We also have internal and external ecological monitoring throughout the planning, build and operational stages, guiding our processes and also holding us all to account.
Is there anything you’d like people to know about the Forest Holidays build team?
Working on a Forest Holidays build is more than just a job that you forget about at the end of the day. We all genuinely care about the environment that we’re working in and have a highly disciplined approach to managing our projects. The team come from all walks of life and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be based in the Brecon Beacons and are keen to continue to meet and learn more from the local community about the forest and the area.