Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Aberbargoed · parks, paths & countryside

Aberbargoed has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns

Parks and playing fields in Aberbargoed add up to 22.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 66 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.6 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 95% of residents. Aberbargoed grades A for the outdoors: #4 of 38 in Gwent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.

1named park 7.1 mito Brecon Beacons

Green space

22.8 ha

per 1,000 residents

Typical UK town 2.1

Near a park

95%

of residents within 400 m

Typical UK town 83%

Footpaths

66 km

5.6 km per km², town + 1 km

Typical UK town 3.0 per km²

Protected landscape

of the land within 5 km

Nearest: Brecon Beacons National Park

Character

What kind of outdoors town is Aberbargoed?

Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.

Room to roam22.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 99% of UK towns.A town of footpaths5.6 km of path per km², more than 96% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.

Aberbargoed’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths.

Outdoors grade

Aberbargoed grades A for the outdoors

Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Aberbargoed, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.

Better than 92% of UK towns#4 of 38 in Gwent · 5th of 60 UK towns its size

Public green space22.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces

99out of
100

A park within a walk95%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)

75out of
100

National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km

31out of
100

Footpaths5.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it

96out of
100

The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland

42out of
100

Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.

Towns its size

Aberbargoed is 5th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors

The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,200 to 4,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.

Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats

Footpath, km per km²

Aberbargoed5.6

Towns its size2.7

Gwent towns2.7

All UK towns3.0

Green space, ha per 1,000 residents

Aberbargoed22.8

Towns its size1.7

Gwent towns2.5

All UK towns2.1

Residents within 400 m of a park

Aberbargoed95%

Towns its size87%

Gwent towns85%

All UK towns83%

Against towns its size, Aberbargoed stands out most for park space per resident: none of the other 59 has more.

Show as a table

	Town	Outdoors	Green space	Near a park	Path per km²	Protected
1	Keswick Cumbria	A⁺	9.1	100%	4.1	100%
2	Lawford Essex	A⁺	3.4	94%	2.8	40%
3	Chipstead and Woodmansterne Surrey	A⁺	10.3	92%	4.8	12%
4	Great Denham Bedfordshire	A	14.7	100%	5.3	0%
5	Aberbargoed Gwent	A	22.8	95%	5.6	0%
6	Denaby Main South Yorkshire	A	10.4	100%	3.8	0%
7	Overton Hampshire	A	3.7	92%	2.5	45%
8	Kimberley Nottinghamshire	A⁻	2.9	100%	4.8	0%
9	Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire	A⁻	7.7	91%	4	0%
10	Exminster Devon	A⁻	2.5	100%	2.7	0%
11	Arborfield Garrison Berkshire	A⁻	10.4	95%	3.3	0%
12	Stokenchurch Buckinghamshire	A⁻	2.3	90%	2.6	86%
13	Wheathampstead Hertfordshire	A⁻	3.1	93%	4.2	0%
14	Horsford Norfolk	B⁺	6.5	97%	2.8	0%
15	Girton Cambridgeshire	B⁺	2.8	92%	3.6	0%
16	Elmswell Suffolk	B	2.5	100%	2.9	0%
17	Clayton West and Scissett West Yorkshire	B	1.4	100%	4.2	0%
18	Winchcombe Gloucestershire	B	2.2	60%	3	81%
19	Sowerby Bridge West Yorkshire	B	4.5	72%	3.9	0%
20	Earby Lancashire	B⁻	1.4	93%	4.7	0%
21	Alderley Edge Cheshire	B⁻	2.2	86%	3.7	0%
22	Woodford Halse Northamptonshire	B⁻	3.6	100%	1.6	0%
23	Wilton Wiltshire	B⁻	1.4	94%	1.6	45%
24	Cwmavon West Glamorgan	B⁻	2.3	75%	2.5	0%
25	Tibshelf Derbyshire	B⁻	1.4	94%	3.8	0%
26	Toddington Bedfordshire	B⁻	0.9	86%	3.1	8%
27	Ferndale Mid Glamorgan	B⁻	3.6	88%	2.1	0%
28	Woburn Sands Buckinghamshire	C⁺	1.1	94%	4.1	0%
29	Milford on Sea Hampshire	C⁺	1.2	50%	2.1	21%
30	Stamford Bridge East Riding of Yorkshire	C⁺	2.5	100%	1.4	0%
31	Brinsley and Underwood Nottinghamshire	C⁺	3.3	71%	2.8	0%
32	Iwade Kent	C⁺	0.8	100%	1.5	0%
33	Backwell Somerset	C⁺	2.3	57%	4.4	0%
34	Halfway Houses Kent	C	1.8	71%	1.8	0%
35	Queen's Hills Norfolk	C	0.4	100%	3	0%
36	Backworth Tyne and Wear	C	2	59%	4.4	0%
37	Hope Clwyd	C	8.5	64%	2	0%
38	Clapham Bedfordshire	C	1.3	94%	2.7	0%
39	Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse Derbyshire	C	1.6	75%	3.6	0%
40	Skelmanthorpe West Yorkshire	C	1	88%	3.2	0%
41	Brundall Norfolk	C	1.6	62%	2.3	20%
42	Meopham Kent	C	1.3	53%	2.5	35%
43	Long Lawford Warwickshire	C	1.2	91%	2.6	0%
44	Cuffley Hertfordshire	C⁻	13.6	19%	1.9	0%
45	Wesham Lancashire	C⁻	1.7	87%	1.8	0%
46	Saxilby Lincolnshire	C⁻	1.3	100%	0.7	0%
47	Chudleigh Devon	C⁻	0.3	83%	1.4	15%
48	Epworth Lincolnshire	C⁻	1.6	75%	2.2	0%
49	Great Ayton North Yorkshire	C⁻	0.2	48%	2.2	31%
50	Freckleton Lancashire	D	0.4	73%	1.4	0%
51	West Kingsdown Kent	D	0.8	28%	1.6	52%
52	North Weald Bassett Essex	D	1.4	67%	2.4	0%
53	Linton Cambridgeshire	D	1.1	67%	2.6	0%
54	Shepperton Green Surrey	D	1.4	73%	1.7	0%
55	Banks Lancashire	D	0.3	33%	1.7	0%
56	Blidworth Nottinghamshire	D	0.5	23%	3.2	0%
57	Broughton Lincolnshire	D	0.9	39%	2.7	0%
58	Kegworth Leicestershire	D	0.4	54%	2.6	0%
59	Wheatley Oxfordshire	D⁻	0.2	34%	2.4	0%
60	Warboys Cambridgeshire	D⁻	0.4	67%	1	0%

The map

Parks, footpaths & countryside

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Aberbargoed’s built-up area.

Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW

Places to walk

Parks to walk in, in and around Aberbargoed

The biggest is Parc Coetir Bargod, 96 ha (237 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.

Aberbargoed’s biggest

Parc Coetir Bargod

Park or garden

96 ha (237 acres)16.4 km of path

3 h 40 minto walk all 16.4 km of path

134 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Aberbargoed

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Close to home

9 in 10 Aberbargoed residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park

Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).

Within 400 m (95%)Further (6%)

Aberbargoed95%

Towns its size87%

Gwent towns85%

All UK towns83%

About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 26 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 170 residents.

National Parks & National Landscapes

The Brecon Beacons National Park is 7.1 mi away

Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.

National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts

National Park

Brecon Beacons

7.1 mi north1,350 km²since 1955

Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.

Footpaths & waymarked walks

Footpaths in and around Aberbargoed

66 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Aberbargoed and the kilometre around it, 5.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).

No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Aberbargoed; its footpaths are on the map above.

Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.

When to get out

The best walking months in Aberbargoed: May to September

The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Daylight (h)	8.3	9.9	11.7	13.8	15.6	16.6	16.2	14.6	12.6	10.5	8.7	7.8
High (°C)	7	7	10	13	16	19	20	20	17	14	10	7
Rain (mm)	171	133	110	91	91	86	100	112	116	177	171	191

June is the driest month (86 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 191 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Aberbargoed →

Things to do

2 viewpoints, 26 playgrounds and the nearest beaches

Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.

2Viewpoints 1Nature reserves 26Playgrounds2.3× towns its size

The nearest beaches

Aberbargoed is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.

The Bendricks19 mi from Aberbargoed’s edge

Directions

Pebble Beach20 mi from Aberbargoed’s edge

Directions

Watch House Beach21 mi from Aberbargoed’s edge

Directions

Ladye Bay22 mi from Aberbargoed’s edge

Directions

Clevedon Beach22 mi from Aberbargoed’s edge

Directions

Good to know

Check the water before you swim. Natural Resources Wales tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.

Every named place, with directions

Viewpoints 2

Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.

Nature reserves 1

Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve43 ha · 0.1 mi from town

Directions

Playgrounds 26

Plus 26 playgrounds without a name on the map.

Next door

The outdoors in nearby towns

The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.

BargodMarkhamTir-y-berth and Glan-y-nantBlackwoodFleur-de-lis and PengamPen-pedair-heolAberbargoed

ABCDOutdoors Grade

Town	Outdoors	Green space, ha per 1,000	Near a park	Protected within 5 km
Aberbargoed	A	22.8	95%	0%
Bargod 0.7 mi	A	13.6	100%	0%
Markham 1.1 mi	D⁻	0.1	0%	0%
Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant 1.8 mi	A	22.1	100%	0%
Blackwood 1.8 mi	A⁻	3.6	97%	0%
Fleur-de-lis and Pengam 1.9 mi	B	6.0	54%	0%
Pen-pedair-heol 2.0 mi	D	0.9	80%	0%

Bargod, 0.7 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.

Questions about the outdoors in Aberbargoed

What is the biggest park in Aberbargoed?

Parc Coetir Bargod, 96 ha (237 acres), with 16.4 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.

Is Aberbargoed near a National Park?

Yes. Brecon Beacons National Park begins 7.1 mi north of the town’s edge. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.

What is the nearest beach to Aberbargoed?

The Bendricks, 19 mi from the edge of the town, then Pebble Beach (20 mi). Aberbargoed itself is inland.

How many people in Aberbargoed live near a park?

95% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.

When is the best time of year for walking in Aberbargoed?

May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

Is Aberbargoed good for walking?

For paths, yes: 5.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 96% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 99% (22.8 ha per 1,000 residents).

How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?

From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Aberbargoed’s overall grade.

Sources

Where Aberbargoed’s outdoors figures come from

Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.