Picnic area

The picnic area sits right in the heart of Powys's rolling moorland, giving you a proper base for stretching your legs and actually eating without balancing a sandwich on your knee in the car. It's basic stuff - benches, tables, a bit of grass - but the location makes it worthwhile. You're in real Mid Wales countryside here, the kind of landscape that makes you remember why you drove all this way instead of staying in Birmingham.

What you actually do is eat, obviously. But more importantly, you use it as a launching pad for walks into the nature reserve itself. The surrounding terrain shifts from open heath to patches of woodland, and if you time it right you might spot red kites or buzzards overhead. Families with younger kids will find it manageable enough - it's not a full day out, but an hour or so breaking up a longer walk works perfectly. Serious hikers use it as a waypoint between longer trails.

Rhayader is barely ten minutes down the road, so you can stock up on supplies before heading out. If you're based at Wyeside Caravan & Camping Park or Elan Oaks - both excellent sites within a few miles - this makes an easy afternoon stop. The Pines and Ty Llewelyn are slightly further but still reasonable drives. There's no charge that I'm aware of, and you can turn up whenever suits you. Summer weekends get busier, so go early if you want peace.