Walking Carn Naun to St Ives - 3 miles

OS Explorer Map 102: grid reference SW476411 to SW507414

Walk Duration: 1 hour 30 mins. - In reverse.

As we only had one car organised for this trip, we parked the car at Barnoon Car Park in St. Ives and walked to Carn Naun Point and returned. We didn't want to park at Zennor, walk to Clodgy Point and then risk the public transport back. However, on the course of our walk we met several people who were doing exactly that. We had to do a 'there and back walk'. It was a shame because the distances at 6¼ miles, are about the same for either walk! A further option would be to stay at one of the cottages offered by St. Ives Cottages A good guidebook to carry is the National Trail Guide: SW Coast Path - Padstow to Falmouth by John Macadam.

Park your car and head down past the cemetery to Porthmeor Road. Turn left passing a putting green and bowling green. Pick up the coast path now and head over the low cliffs to Clodgy Point. This area is well used by families as it offers a slightly different slant on St. Ives. Continue on your way to Clodgy Point - the Start. Incidentally 'Clodgy' is Cornish for 'leper'...the mind boggles!

Use the seat to organise yourself for the walk. Head up the relatively steep hill to a marker post. Take the right-hand path now up onto Burthallan Cliff, ignoring the inland route marker. The path climbs steadily now and was quite muddy in places due to springs flowing down from the hills above. Crossing these rivulets has been made slightly easier by handily placed stepping stones. Take care here because the large rocks are set into the path at odd angles, making it all too easy to twist an ankle. Follow the 80 metre (260 foot) contour now around Hellesveor Cliff (NT) above Hor Point - grid ref. SW498413. Now some 10 minutes into your walk follow the undulating path between the points reaching a short steep climb just above Zawn Quoits after a further 15 minutes. On reaching the top you are rewarded with a large flat grassy area at Pen Enys Point, also NT, at grid ref. SW491412.

The beach below you on the western side is called Polgassick Cove. Ahead you see a large post which at first you think is a coastal footpath marker post. On reaching it however, you see that it is a route marker for the Trevalgan Farm Holiday Park Trail. Their posts give little snippets of information about Badgers (#16), whales and seals (#18) and the shipwreck of the 'Bessemer City' cargo ship in 1936 (#19) and tell you that this area is called Trevalgan Cliff. Use the wooden boardwalk to cross over boggy ground fed by another spring. At Trevalgan Farm marker post #20 you are informed that you are roughly 4 miles from Zennor and the two routes now separate. Bear right at the path junction and continue following the contours passing the small inlet of Brea Cove.

At another path junction take the most seaward route and not the permissive path to pass a rocky outcrop. Gorse and purple heather flowers carpeted the fround when we were there in June 2003. Pass the 'Ordnance Survey Triangulation Station OS BM S8139' (Trig. Point) of Carn Naun Point - grid ref. SW476411, some 97 metres (320 feet) above the sea. Enjoy the view looking west to glimpse Gurnard's Head and Pendeen or east to see Pen Enys Point, Godrevy Island and Lighthouse and St Agnes Head. Inland lie the granite hills of north west Penwith.

Drop down from Carn Naun with care as the rocky path can be quite steep in places. You may be lucky enough to see a small waterfall tumbling into the cove if it has rained recently. Rest for a short while at River Cove - your endpoint - before retracing your steps or returning via inland field paths to your car in St. Ives.

Previous walk: Zennor Head to Carn Naun Point
Next walk: St Ives - Clodgy Point to Carbis Bay