Walking Trevone to Stepper Point, Padstow - 5.7 miles

OS Explorer Map 106: grid reference SW892760 to SW918753

Walk Duration 3 hours

Due to the time of year and ease of parking we undertook this walk in reverse. Park your car at any of the car parks in Padstow - we chose the 'School Hill Car Park' just above the town. Take the five minute walk down to the harbour and bear left to pass the Tourist Information Centre. Look for the metalled lane leading up to the War Memorial and St. Saviour's Point. Now about 15 minutes into your walk pass the War Memorial and continue on towards the estuary mouth. Pass through the metal gate and stile dropping down the wide stony path looking across the Camel Estuary to Brae Hill, Daymer Bay and Pentire Head. Look ahead to see St. George's Cove, Harbour Cove and the feature on the headland of Stepper Point. This will later be seen to be a shipping daymark tower. Note the overgrown disused WW2 buildings and climb up and around St. George's Cove. Pass the Napoleonic gun emplacement at Gun Point, taking 5 minutes out to explore if you wish - this should be at about 30 minutes into your walk.

Negotiate the stile and pass a coastal footpath marker stating that you are now entering Harbour Cove. The path narrows and grows more sandy as you walk amongst the low dunes. Continue over 4 slate stiles following the well marked path. Cross the wide track and take the small wooden footbridge over marshy ground. Climb a second wooden stile to drop down to a small wooded valley - may be muddy. Walk over another footbridge and up steps to meet a road. Pass the quite picturesque coastguard cottages on your right and go through a kissing gate. This is Hawker's Cove. Drop down onto the (private) slipway for a quick look around if you wish. The sound of waves breaking on the shore grows louder as you leave the estuary and climb gradually up to Stepper Point. Continue climbing, passing through another kissing gate to meet a small whitewashed coastguard lookout

At the Coastguard Lookout you are offered a choice of paths. Take either the true coastpath as indicated or walk inland beside a hedge heading in the general direction of the tower. Walk along the wide grassy path through the gorse to the daymark tower - now sadly unsafe to explore. As you are about 90 minutes after setting out, take time out to look around. Look east to Pentire Head and Newland Island and west to Butter Hole, Gunver Head and ultimately Trevose Head. Continue westwards past the tower looking to to your right to see the small gully known as Pepper Hole - a collapsed sea cave.

Now bear left to walk with care around the large chasm of Butter Hole, beware the sides drop away almost vertically 52m (170 feet) to the sea below. This should be roughly 2 hours after leaving Padstow. The path remains quite level now as you head for Gunver Head. Climb a high slate stile and through a kissing gate as you approach another small cove known as Fox Hole. Bear left around Gunver Head and over a stile to drop down, gradually at first, to the Merope Islands and Tregudda Gorge. Cross the stream by the footbridge, take the stile as you pass Longcarrow Cove. The path now widens again and levels out as it wends its way gradually down to Trevone beach.

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En route please take time out to look at the striking marble cliffs at Porthmissen Bridge and the amazing collapsed inland sea cave known as Round Hole. PLEASE NOTE BOTH FEATURES SHOULD BE APPROACHED WITH GREAT CARE. Arrive at Trevone roughly 3 hours after setting out. An excellent guidebook is the National Trail Guide: South West Coast Path - Padstow to Falmouth by John Macadam

Previous walk: Treyarnon to Trevone
Next walk: Padstow (North Quay) to Polzeath