15yo hiking in wales?

Church Stretton is easier, are you anywhere near the there? They can go on the train themselves.

I would say that a fairly popular easy route that isn’t too off beaten track in the Brecon Beacons would be okay for 15-18 year olds. Take supplies, phones, OS maps, torch/whistle, have them on tracker, nothing too cliff like.

I let DS(16) get the train to Dartmoor and go hiking and wild camping with his similar aged mates this February 🥶

But they did the Ten Tors last year, which involved lots of winter training weekends up there.

They had a great time, all went well.

Just to add I’ve never done that particular hike so I apologise if it is much harder than I’ve realised!

If you are driving them there/back and spending the day in the area, and they’ve also planned it properly and are capable then why not? Like I say I think you need to stay in the area and they need proper equipment, and also to ensure you can see her location and she has what3words, the weather is decent etc.

If a day hike for me it would depend on the planned route and how well equipped they are.

Brecon Beacons can be tough. It’s fine if it goes well but can they cope with anything going wrong?

i’d probably say yes but I want to see your route first and I’ll do check ins at various points.

D of E provider here. It is great that they are wanting to progress with their skills and be independent. The thing that a lot of people don’t realise is that there is a lot of planning and safeguarding decisions behind a D of E expedition. The young people are given a sense of independence and freedom however there is a team of seasoned professionals checking their every move and ready to intervene if anything looks like it is going south. Remote supervision involves meeting the groups at certain check points and literally observing them through the trickier sections. This might be with binoculars from the other side of the valley!

in my professional opinion I think you really need an adult to travel with them to the area and be ‘on call’/remote supervisor.

Very experienced hiker, fell runner, scrambler, orienteer here.

Going by themselves while on a trip with an adult in the area who knows the route and could respond accordingly if something came up. Yes fine.

Travelling to a remote corner of the U.K. by themselves, absolutely not.

Things can go wrong incredibly quickly on high ground, the weather on the bottom is nothing like the weather on the tops often enough. I went wrong on the pennine bridleway, a major major route in crap weather once. It was a nice autumn day at the bottom of the hill!

Get them doing activities where they can improve their skills first, local oriteering events or junior fell races will be a few quid to enter and really help their nav skills and reading the ground.
Or maybe agree a weekend away with them where they can go off and walk by themselves

Are they there and back in a day, or staying overnight?

I'd say without the event of mobile phones, borderline. With mobile phones, then yes, and good on them.

Day hikes certainly - discuss the route and risks but no reason why they can’t manage this and have a fab time. I would prefer them to overnight in a YHA or similar though. If it’s all daytime then yes indeed.

I agree. And if they've got experience in that terrain and know how to read a map etc. I'd also probably limit to good weather forecasts (and non-winter conditions).

DofE hikes are well supervised insofar as there may not be a responsible adult walking with them, but they aren’t far away.

Are they intending to camp or just day hike? If it’s just a day hike then I’d probably say ok and id go along and park nearby for the day - as long as they take sensible precautions and provide a copy of their route to me - maybe they agree to meet me at several waypoints?

But I’d also want to know how silly dd and her friends are

My dd is 15 and doing silver DofE - she is fab at map reading and despairs of her mates who all seem to have no sense of direction or distance. On the other hand my dd has no sense of personal danger and will do things like climb trees and roll down hills for a laugh

Depends on routes, how long out (camping etc?) and the nature of the terrain.

i did similar at 15 and enjoyed it. Adult on the route not required if they have check ins at campsites etc

I was 15 when I travelled up to the Lake District (from Gloucestershire, so quite a way away!) with my friend for a couple of days hiking. We stayed in a Youth Hostel on Lake Windemere, and really had a great time. We kept in contact with home and did lots of planning beforehand. It was really good for my confidence and independence. So I'd obviously be inclined to say yes, as she sounds even more prepared and experienced than I was!

Well it depends

How long is the walk?? Has any of them done that walk before?? Do they understand the risks etc?? What about water??

There's so many eventualities

Is there an older sibling who could go with them?

How far away are the Brecon Beacons? From me it’s under an hour by car so I’d be happy if my dc had a lift at that age, by 16 my dd was hiking regularly there in fact