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Sgwd yr Eira means the waterfall of snow, and the path goes behind it. A ledge of hard rock overhangs the drop, so you walk under it with the river coming down in front of your face. Wear boots — the rock is wet all year.

Henrhyd Falls, a few miles west of there above the village of Coelbren, drops ninety feet in one go and is the tallest waterfall in south Wales. Christopher Nolan filmed the entrance to the Batcave there for The Dark Knight Rises.

The classic walk is the Four Falls and it starts from the Cwm Porth car park, just outside the village of Ystradfellte on the southern edge of the park. It runs about four and a half miles, and with the stops it takes most of a day.

Three of the falls are on the River Mellte — Sgwd Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn and Sgwd y Pannwr — and the fourth is round the corner on the Hepste. The route is waymarked the whole way round from the car park.

Waterfall Country is half an hour from Brecon by car and nearer fifty minutes from Crickhowell. It is worth making a day of it rather than treating it as a walk from the door, so take a picnic.

Take footwear you do not mind ruining. There are steep steps down to the gorge and the rock stays slippery all year round. The drops beside the falls are dangerous, so keep children close and stay behind the fences.

Over the hill to the west, at Abercraf above the Tawe, the rivers run underground instead. In 1912 two local brothers, Edwin and Jeff Morgan, walked into a hole in the hillside at Dan yr Ogof carrying candles, and kept going.

What they found runs eleven miles under the hillside, and most of it is a nature reserve that only cavers ever see. Three of the caves are open to walk through, and they hold the same temperature whatever the sky is doing.

It trades now as the National Showcaves Centre for Wales, fifteen miles south-west of Brecon. In 2005 a national poll voted it the greatest natural wonder in Britain.

Above ground there is a park of more than two hundred and fifty life-sized dinosaurs, which is why families end up staying all day. It opens for the main season rather than all year and takes bookings online, so check the dates before you drive out.