Walking Treyarnon to Trevone - 4.8 miles

OS Explorer Map 106: grid reference SW859741 to SW891759

Walk Duration About 3 hours

Park your car at the large car park at Treyarnon. The fee was £1.50 at the time of our visit. An excellent guidebook to carry is the Friendly Map & Guide to exploring the River Camel & The Camel Trail. Walk out of the car park towards the sea and Public Conveniences. Bear right as you face the sea, passing the Treyarnon Youth Hostel on the road before heading left as signed onto the coastpath. Shortly you near two seats on Treyarnon Point. Take time out here to look around: south to Park Head and north to Trevose Head.

Continue past a waymark post over a stile by a wooden gate staying on the wide track until it runs out on meeting Constantine Bay beach. Proceed on the beach of coarse golden sand noting the wide expanse of beach size at low tide - if you wish you can travel above the beach along the top of the low dunes. Where a rock formation almost prevents further progress look ahead to see wooden steps leading up from the beach onto the low cliff once again. Now about 25 minutes into your walk climb to reach a level sandy path passing above the finer sandy beach known as Booby's Bay. Where the paths split shortly take the left fork passing another waymarker post. Continue following the wide grassy path as it runs between a large house on your right and a slate bench seat to your left. The route now begins to climb ever so gently up to Trevose Head. Walk through a kissing gate and continue to climb the headland passing to the left of a collapsed sea cave known as Round Hole. Once successfully past the chasm continue climbing up to the seat on Trevose Head. Walk past another waymarker looking ahead to Trevose Lighthouse. Follow the signed route down and then up steps above the lighthouse. Incidentally the lighthouse was built in the 1840's and stands nearly 70 feet tall.

Round the headland, heading due east now towards Cat's Cove. The path levels out shortly so look around for a seat on which to have a refreshment stop. We stopped at this vantage point for an hour for a picnic lunch. Looking ahead it is possible to make out about 8 distinct headlands running up the north coast of Cornwall. We could clearly see Cataclews Point, Roundhole Point, Gunver Head, Stepper Point (with its daymark tower), Pentire Point, Rumps Point, Tintagel Head and Cambeak. We thought that we could possibly also see Morwenstow/Bude in the distant haze but couldn't be sure. Turn around and look behind you to see Park Head, Kelsey Head (with its Chick), St. Agnes Head and St. Ives in the far west. Refreshed, walk down the path passing a well placed telescope (20p) following a slate boundary hedge towards the beach and caravan site ahead (Mother Ivey's Bay). Cross a tarmac road [that leads left to the lifeboat station] via two stiles. Continue dropping down to Polventon (Mother Ivey's) Beach almost engulfed by the caravan park. Follow the route carefully as it winds its way behind the beach passing through a kissing gate. Now, over 90 minutes into your walk visit the beach for a short while if you wish.

Return to the path climbing steps onto the low cliff. Negotiate a small valley using the concrete steps then climb steadily to a kissing gate. Continue on the wide grassy path. Look ahead now, you may just be able to make out 4 or 5 white circles on a distant cliff. This is part of the satellite-tracking station at Morwenstow north of Bude. Walk along the seaward side of a field towards a couple of seats on Cataclews Point and continue heading towards a large house. Pass through 2 kissing gates making for Harlyn Bay car park at the far end of the beach. Stay on the coastpath - unless you wish to walk along the beach - crossing 2 high slate stiles as you walk on a level sandy track beside a fence. About 2 hours into the walk you should encounter a dark green sign. Follow the instructions and waymarker: Coastal Footpath along beach for 370 yards. No alternative route. Drop down to the beach and make your way over to the car park at Harlyn Bay is also the site of an ancient Iron Age cemetery, discovered while digging foundations for a house at the start of the 20th century.

Head to the right up the grassy slope, looking offshore to see the Gulland Rock. Take five minutes out to admire the view at St. Cadoc's Point. Ahead in the distance lies Gunver Head, Newland Island and Pentire Head. Look straight ahead across Newtrain Bay to see the unmistakeable Round Hole on the sloping field at Trevone. Proceed along the wide gravel path as it makes its way gently east passing through a wooden kissing gate. The path now drops down gradually running between fences and through another wooden kissing gate. Later on after passing through a third gate bear left as signed 'Coast Path' to see an area with seven bench seats. Proceed now down to Trevone passing another seven bench seats from which you can admire the view. The first (western) beach met at Trevone is quite shingly unlike the main beach below Round Hole which is far more sandy.

Previous walk: Porthcothan to Treyarnon
Next walk: Trevone to Stepper Point, Padstow