Photo: Gareth James · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Ebbw Vale · parks, paths & countryside

29% of the land within 5 km of Ebbw Vale is National Park or National Landscape

The Brecon Beacons National Park begins 0.2 mi from the town’s edge. 92% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. 106 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. Ebbw Vale grades A− for the outdoors: #11 of 38 in Gwent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.

1named park 0.2 mito Brecon Beacons

Green space

2.0 ha

per 1,000 residents

Typical UK town 2.1

Near a park

92%

of residents within 400 m

Typical UK town 83%

Footpaths

106 km

3.3 km per km², town + 1 km

Typical UK town 3.0 per km²

Protected landscape

29%

of the land within 5 km

Nearest: Brecon Beacons National Park

Outdoors grade

Ebbw Vale grades A− for the outdoors

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

A⁻

Better than 79% of UK towns#11 of 38 in Gwent · 18th of 60 UK towns its size

Public green space2.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces

46out of
100

A park within a walk92%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)

70out of
100

National Park or National Landscape29%of the land within 5 km

83out of
100

Footpaths3.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it

66out 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

Ebbw Vale is 18th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors

The 60 UK towns and cities of 18,200 to 21,100 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

Ebbw Vale3.3

Towns its size3.4

Gwent towns2.7

All UK towns3.0

Green space, ha per 1,000 residents

Ebbw Vale2.0

Towns its size2.2

Gwent towns2.5

All UK towns2.1

Residents within 400 m of a park

Ebbw Vale92%

Towns its size86%

Gwent towns85%

All UK towns83%

Show as a table

	Town	Outdoors	Green space	Near a park	Path per km²	Protected
1	Camborne Cornwall	A⁺	2.2	93%	4	8%
2	Littlehampton West Sussex	A⁺	2.1	99%	3.1	18%
3	Litherland Merseyside	A	7.3	94%	3.3	0%
4	Buxton Derbyshire	A	3.5	86%	3.8	61%
5	Faversham Kent	A	2	88%	3.5	24%
6	Houghton Regis Bedfordshire	A	3.5	81%	8	20%
7	Colne Lancashire	A	3.2	86%	5.3	8%
8	Waltham Abbey Essex	A	11.9	92%	6.7	0%
9	Farnham Surrey	A	5.1	73%	4.3	35%
10	Hazlemere Buckinghamshire	A	2.5	81%	4.7	68%
11	Forest Town Nottinghamshire	A	6.4	94%	5.7	0%
12	Northwich Cheshire	A	8.8	92%	4.8	0%
13	Leek Staffordshire	A	4.2	83%	3.6	19%
14	Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire	A	3.3	82%	5.1	5%
15	Keynsham Somerset	A	2.1	95%	4.6	11%
16	Harwich Essex	A⁻	1.7	95%	2.1	20%
17	Peterlee County Durham	A⁻	2.3	85%	4.2	0%
18	Ebbw Vale Gwent	A⁻	2	92%	3.3	29%
19	Rothwell West Yorkshire	A⁻	3.4	91%	4.7	0%
20	Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire	A⁻	2.8	94%	4.9	0%
21	Devizes Wiltshire	A⁻	1.8	91%	3.2	38%
22	Walkden Greater Manchester	B⁺	3.4	92%	3.4	0%
23	Belper Derbyshire	B⁺	2.4	94%	4.1	0%
24	Eastwood Nottinghamshire	B⁺	2.6	93%	3.9	0%
25	Hythe and Dibden Purlieu Hampshire	B⁺	0.8	49%	4.4	44%
26	Sandhurst Berkshire	B⁺	5.1	79%	3.9	0%
27	Hazel Grove Greater Manchester	B⁺	2.9	62%	4.2	3%
28	Mirfield West Yorkshire	B	2.5	90%	3.7	0%
29	Ripley Derbyshire	B	2.4	91%	3.7	0%
30	Irlam Greater Manchester	B	3.1	95%	2.8	0%
31	Cradley Heath West Midlands	B	3.3	76%	4.3	0%
32	Penwortham Lancashire	B	2.9	91%	3.1	0%
33	Ely Cambridgeshire	B	2.7	88%	3.3	0%
34	Stanley County Durham	B	1.7	88%	5.2	0%
35	Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire	B	3.1	79%	3.8	0%
36	Romsey Hampshire	B⁻	1.2	82%	4.5	2%
37	Ware Hertfordshire	B⁻	2	81%	4.9	0%
38	Calne Wiltshire	B⁻	1.3	88%	2.4	33%
39	Wednesbury West Midlands	B⁻	2.7	93%	2.3	0%
40	Dereham Norfolk	B⁻	1.8	90%	3.4	0%
41	Failsworth Greater Manchester	C⁺	1.8	77%	4.6	0%
42	Clevedon Somerset	C⁺	1.1	69%	3.3	0%
43	Rawmarsh South Yorkshire	C⁺	2	84%	3.2	0%
44	Maesteg Mid Glamorgan	C⁺	2	94%	2.5	0%
45	Melksham Wiltshire	C⁺	2.2	87%	2.7	0%
46	Bideford Devon	C⁺	0.9	83%	1	11%
47	Newmarket Suffolk	C⁺	1.9	91%	2.6	0%
48	Knowle and Dorridge West Midlands	C⁺	2.7	82%	2.4	0%
49	Adwick le Street South Yorkshire	C⁺	2.8	89%	1.8	0%
50	Spennymoor County Durham	C⁺	2.1	84%	2.7	0%
51	Thornton Lancashire	C	2.1	71%	1.6	0%
52	Nantwich Cheshire	C	2.2	86%	2.3	0%
53	Horwich Greater Manchester	C	1.8	67%	3.4	0%
54	Maghull Merseyside	C⁻	1.6	86%	2.2	0%
55	Skegness Lincolnshire	C⁻	0.9	58%	2.5	0%
56	Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire	C⁻	1.6	46%	1.7	0%
57	Selby North Yorkshire	C⁻	1.6	81%	1.9	0%
58	Goole East Riding of Yorkshire	D	1.7	81%	1.4	0%
59	Stamford Lincolnshire	D	1.3	64%	2.7	0%
60	Tiverton Devon	D	1.5	59%	2.6	0%

The map

Parks, footpaths & countryside

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ebbw Vale’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 Ebbw Vale

The biggest is Coronation Park, 0.6 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.

Ebbw Vale’s biggest

Coronation Park

Park or garden

0.6 ha (2 acres)

1 mi southfrom the centre

Directionsto the park

Close to home

9 in 10 Ebbw Vale 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 (92%)Further (8%)

Ebbw Vale92%

Towns its size86%

Gwent towns85%

All UK towns83%

About 1,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 28 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 701 residents.

National Parks & National Landscapes

National Parks and National Landscapes around Ebbw Vale

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

0.2 mi north-east1,350 km²since 195529% of the land within 5 km

National Landscape

Wye Valley

17 mi east655 km²since 1971

Official site

29% of the land within 5 km of Ebbw Vale is National Park or National Landscape, more than 82% of UK towns. Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.

Footpaths & waymarked walks

Footpaths in and around Ebbw Vale

106 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ebbw Vale and the kilometre around it, 3.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).

No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Ebbw Vale; 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 Ebbw Vale: June 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	16.7	16.2	14.6	12.6	10.5	8.7	7.8
High (°C)	6	6	8	11	14	17	19	18	16	12	9	6
Rain (mm)	184	153	122	103	101	98	108	123	122	184	193	215

June is the driest month (98 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 215 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 52 nights a year. The climate in Ebbw Vale →

Things to do

28 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.

6Hills and peaks 3Nature reserves3× towns its size 28Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size

The nearest beaches

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

The Bendricks24 mi from Ebbw Vale’s edge

Directions

Fossil Beach25 mi from Ebbw Vale’s edge

Directions

Sugar Loaf Beach25 mi from Ebbw Vale’s edge

Directions

Pebble Beach25 mi from Ebbw Vale’s edge

Directions

Ladye Bay25 mi from Ebbw Vale’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.

Up high. Briery Hill, at 467 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Ebbw Vale.

Every named place, with directions

Hills and peaks 6

Briery Hill467 m (1,532 ft) · 0.3 mi from town

Directions

Cefn Manmoel - Y Domen Fawr504 m (1,654 ft) · 0.3 mi from town

Directions

Craig Rhiwargan427 m (1,401 ft) · 0.6 mi from town

Directions

Mynydd Carn-Y-Cefn550 m (1,804 ft) · 0.7 mi from town

Directions

Cruglwyn434 m (1,424 ft) · 0.9 mi from town

Directions

Darren Ddu491 m (1,611 ft) · 1.1 mi from town

Directions

Nature reserves 3

Beaufort Hill Ponds & Woodlands83 ha · 0.0 mi from town

Directions

Parc Nant y Waun21 ha · 0.1 mi from town

Directions

Silent Valley Local Nature Reserve46 ha · 0.5 mi from town

Directions

Playgrounds 28

Adventure Castle0.2 mi from town

Directions

Plus 27 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.

TredegarBrynmawrNantygloBlainaCwmAbertysswgEbbw Vale

ABCDOutdoors Grade

Town	Outdoors	Green space, ha per 1,000	Near a park	Protected within 5 km
Ebbw Vale	A⁻	2.0	92%	29%
Tredegar 1.4 mi	A⁻	6.9	78%	20%
Brynmawr 1.8 mi	C⁺	1.2	68%	45%
Nantyglo 1.9 mi	A⁻	2.5	82%	29%
Blaina 2.7 mi	C⁺	2.1	53%	13%
Cwm 3.2 mi	C⁻	2.0	12%	0%
Abertysswg 3.5 mi	B	2.5	85%	0%

Nantyglo, 1.9 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Tredegar has at least twice Ebbw Vale’s green space per resident.

Questions about the outdoors in Ebbw Vale

What is the biggest park in Ebbw Vale?

Coronation Park, 0.6 ha (2 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.

Is Ebbw Vale near a National Park?

Yes. Brecon Beacons National Park begins 0.2 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.

What is the nearest beach to Ebbw Vale?

The Bendricks, 24 mi from the edge of the town, then Fossil Beach (25 mi). Ebbw Vale itself is inland.

How many people in Ebbw Vale live near a park?

92% 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 Ebbw Vale?

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

Is Ebbw Vale good for walking?

For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 66% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 46% (2.0 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 Ebbw Vale’s overall grade.

Sources

Where Ebbw Vale’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.