The Coast of Cornwall

The Spectacular Cornish coast

Speaking as a Cornishman, I found it a little off-putting that when I decided to stir my stumps and 'do' the Cornwall Coastal Footpath that all the guidebooks were written backwards from my perspective. It was obvious that all the authors started the coastpath at the Devon-Cornwall border at Marsland Mouth near Bude in North Cornwall and walked around the coast in an anti-clockwise direction ending at Cremyll near Plymouth. I wanted to change all that. I wanted to start in West Cornwall, get to Land's End and then consider which coast to take. My aim to educate myself about Cornwall by walking its borders towards Devon rather than away from it! Pick your coast and click below to follow the detailed step-by-step guide to 'Walk Cornwall' - in over 200 easily walkable stages...


Approx. 141 miles/227 km.		Approx. 155 miles/249 km.
Following the North Coast path east from Land's End to Marsland Mouth, near Bude		Following the South Coast path east from Land's End to Cremyll near Torpoint.

Northcott Mouth near Bude to Cremyll completed.

Completed: 289.3 miles (465.57 km.) or 97.67% of the total

I joined the South West Coast Path Association and found their guidebooks to be really useful. Few people realise that 2003 marked the Silver Jubilee for this National Trail. Planning the walk is essential so that overall distance, difficulty and Walk Duration can be calculated before setting out. I found the 'Walk the Cornish Coastal Path ' by Collins to be invaluable at this early stage. Research allowed me to alter my plans accordingly, ensuring that the walks were always enjoyable. The South West Coast Path Team undertook a survey of the whole Coast Path in 1999/2000 using the 'Global Positioning System'. Until recently the distance had been estimated to be 613 miles. The use of GPS such as the Garmin eTrex GPS Personal Navigator now fixes the distance at 630 miles (1014km). Likewise, several publications put the distance for Cornwall's coastline at 258 miles this has now been updated to 296.2 miles (476.6 km). In fact Cornwall makes up almost 47% of the whole South West Coast Path!

The views encountered are frequently simply stunning and no book or film can do them justice. Why not follow some of the stages yourselves? The walks detailed on this website began in 2000 and certain stages were walked in reverse to accomodate safe, secure parking for our vehicle. For details of those stages, with points of interest, photographs, along with a short description and an approximate timescale please choose your coast and follow the relevant hyperlinks. After comprehensive research some stages appeared too difficult for us as 'inexperienced walkers' to attempt. I have tried to keep these stages to a minimum and will try to cover these later....Maps and guidebooks used can be reviewed and purchased at the Online Bookstore.

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