Nestled in the upper Usk Valley at 1,006 feet (307 m) above sea level, Usk Reservoir is a remote and strikingly beautiful 280-acre upland water body set within the western reaches of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Surrounded by the Glasfynedd Forest and open moorland, with the Black Mountain escarpment rising to the south, this reservoir sits near the very source of the River Usk and is widely regarded as one of the finest stillwater trout fisheries in Wales. Completed in 1955 by Swansea City Council, the dam stands approximately 109 feet (33 m) high and stretches 1,600 feet (480 m) in width — notably the first earth dam in the UK to feature horizontal drainage blankets. The reservoir is now owned and managed by Welsh Water, with the surrounding forests overseen by Natural Resources Wales on their behalf.