Did you know?

Walking the entire South West Coast Path is equivalent to scaling the world’s tallest mountain four times! That’s right, with 115,000 feet of ascent and descent the Coast Path rivals the likes of Mount Everest. Unlike Everest though, completing the 630 miles will see you cross 230 bridges, catch 13 ferries, open (and close!) 880 gates, climb over 436 stiles, pass more than 4,000 Coast Path signs and go up or down over 30,000 steps. Approximately 71% of the Path is in either a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and you’ll also pass through 2 World Heritage Sites, a UNESCO Biosphere and a UNESCO Geopark. It’s no wonder nearly 9 million people visit the Path and we have more than 1 million visits to our website each year!

Whilst the Coast Path is open to everyone and completely free, it’s makes up the largest visitor attraction in the South West and plays an important part in the region’s tourism economy. In 2016, we surveyed over 200 walkers to find out more about what they get up to when exploring the Coast Path and 56% said they will visit a pub, café or restaurant that day. Overall spend by South West Coast Path walkers increased by 31% between 2010 and 2015 compared to 16% for tourism as a whole.

Looking after such an incredible asset is therefore more important than ever before.  Did you know Trail Partnership members ensure 523 miles (842km) of vegetation along the Path is cut each year? They receive £452,000 funding annually from Central government and Natural England to maintain the Path (30% less than in 2010) but with costs of over £1,000 per mile every year we rely on the generous donations of our members, partners, volunteers and supporters to help fund improvement projects. If you’re interested in supporting the work we do, please donate, take part in an event or become a member.

Find out more fascinating facts like this, from the latest economic research to the record time to complete the distance by clicking on the links on the right hand side.