Walking Boscastle to Buckator - 2.7 miles

OS Explorer 111: grid reference SX097914 to SX118935

Walk Duration 2 hours 20 minutes  

Park your vehicle at the main Cobweb Car Park in Boscastle. If time permits why not explore what the nearby temporary Tourist Information Centre has to offer - well worth a visit. This area was ravaged in the terrible Boscastle Flood of August 16th 2004. For more information on the Boscastle Flood please click here for a downloadable leaflet (863Kb) - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

An excellent guidebook is the National Trail Guide: SW Coast Path - Minehead to Padstow by Roland Tarr. Walk down towards the harbour taking care crossing the busy road in summer. Pass to the right of the footbridge heading down past the NT shop along the right hand side of the river. Look for a narrow metalled lane leading up right marked as the coastpath. Pass a row of cottages as you continue climbing steadily up the path. Look to your left across the harbour to see fine views of Eastern Blackapit and Willapark. Climb the slate steps - taking care in wet weather - following the waymark post to zig-zag your way up Penally Hill at 87m (288ft.). The path soon meets and runs alongside a slate wall. If you wish, why not take 10 minutes or so out here to head left to the fish-shaped weather vane at the crest for photographs.

Return to the the waymark post and wall, keeping to the seaward side. The path undulates as it makes its way northeast. About now it should be possible to get your first view of the spectacular 37m (120ft.) Pentargon Waterfall - especially if it has been raining in the past week. After an acorn marker the path drops gradually with the dark grey mass of Pentargon Cliff filling your view left. Pass a NT omega for Pentargon and a waymark post to a stile in the slate wall. Walk along the left-hand field boundary to another waymark post marked Boscastle 1/3 mile. Cross another field by a pair of stiles. Read the warning sign stating that you are on STEEP AND CRUMBLING CLIFFS and to STAY CLEAR OF THE EDGE.

Head quite steeply down the 100 or so wooden steps down to a bridge over the Beeny Stream that feeds the waterfall. Pass the NT marker for Hillsborough as you drop down onto the footbridge. Climb up steps after the waymark post and look back to see the waterfall. The path levels out as it passes a waymarker.before dropping down steps to another. Pass the chasm of Seals Hole - grid reference SX106927, taking care on the slaty path. Climb steeply now up towards the waymark post just below Firebeacon Point, the last section being made easier by wooden and then slate steps. Take a rest on the well situated Paul Heard Memorial Seat to catch your breath. The offshore rocks below you are the Beeny Sisters. Pass the inscribed waymark post for Beeny and climb the stile into a field. Follow the well-trodden grassy path to another stile. Below lies Saddle Rock (grid reference SX114932).

Ahead left lies the dark grey cliff of Buckator with Gull Rock nestling below it. A fine place to take photographs northeast up the coast. The scene is somewhat reminiscent of the approach to Pentargon. Your route now passes through a gap in the hedge climbing gradually to the top of the next field. Pass a pair of waymark posts, the second pointing over a stile. Incidentally there is an inland return footpath here if you wish to take it. We continued on over the stile towards Buckator. Pass a forlorn looking bench seat and climb up to another stile. Be sure to remain on the path here as the crumbling nature of the cliffs can be seen clearly at a fenced off area. Yet another stile leads you to seaward of a wire fence passing another waymark post and a further stile. The coastpath now drops gradually down towards a long boardwalk. A dozen or so circular stepping stones are strategically placed so that you can cross the marshy ground to the boardwalk without getting your feet wet. You are now parallel with Buckator Cliff making this the end of the section.

Previous walk: Trevalga to Boscastle
Next walk: Buckator to Trevigue Farm, High Cliff

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