Walking Millook Haven to Phillip's Point - 3.3 miles

OS Explorer 111: grid reference SX184002 to SX200043

Walk Duration 1 hour 35 minutes  

For this walk we chose to 'take the bus for a walk' - a recent offer allowing walkers to get to their start point by bus and then walk one way back to their car - rather than having to walk both ways.. An excellent guidebook to the area is the National Trail Guide: SW Coast Path - Minehead to Padstow by Roland Tarr. Park your car at the large car park at the Tourist Information Centre in Bude. Walk over to The Strand and catch any bus offering Widemouth Bay as its destination. We caught the bus to Widemouth Bay and then walked up over Penhalt Cliff down into Millook Haven to the lifesaving buoy: the end point of the previous section - Crackington Haven to Millook Haven.

Leave the beach and walk up the narrow road with care. Climb steadily passing Foxhole Strand and Bridwill Point looking back over your left shoulder as you crest the rise to see Raven's Beak and Chipman Point in the mist. Continue climbing to pass Penhalt Free Car Park at the top. Pause here to look north up the coast to Widemouth Bay. Drop down following the coastpath or road passing the 3-star Penhalt Farm Holiday Park - Telephone (01288) 361210.

Now about 30 minutes into your walk, continue down the narrow road passing the buildings of Outdoor Adventure. Leave the road to walk through the shaded lane and climb the track to meet the coastpath once again at Wanson Mouth - grid reference SX196010. Climb the steps away from the crumbling cliffs passing three waymarkers. The path now turns seaward to follow a fence north into Widemouth Bay's southern beach. Look at the large rock on the otherwise quite flat beach if it is low water. This is Black Rock. Cross the small footbridge and the post inscribed 'Widemouth'.

Pass through the kissing gate to arrive at Widemouth Bay's Southern Beach - grid reference SX199022. Pause here for photographs if you wish. Walk north along the back of the beach into the low dunes to reach the second, larger car park at Widemouth Bay's Northern Beach after a further 15 minutes or so. Follow the coastpath north as it climbs gradually to about the 40m contour level around Lower Longbeak. Continue just seaward of the road as you climb up to Higher Longbeak (61m). We now decided to cut this walk short as we were wet through so we walked up as far as Phillip's Point passing the Chough's Hotel & Restaurant. We now took the first available road at Upton Cross down into Bude and our car at the Tourist Information Centre. Once dried out our next walk will be Phillip's Point to Bude Haven

Previous walk: Crackington Haven to Millook Haven
Next walk: Phillips Point to Bude Haven