Walk - Hartland Quay to Bude

Highlights

• Amazing rock formations around Hartland Quay: jagged finger like reefs reaching to the sea are exposed at low tide.
• The unusual small mountain-like prominence of St Catherine’s Tor, believed to have had a Roman chapel or villa on top, with its waterfall tumbling to the beach below.
• Standing and admiring the views to Lundy Island and the Coast Path ahead, surrounded by spring flowers such as pink thrift, sheeps bit, kidney vetch and bird’s foot trefoil.
• The waterfall at Spekes Mill Mouth: the point where the two streams that rise on Bursdon Moor cascade down a sheer rock face and through a series of smaller falls before tumbling to the sea below.
• The remains of ramparts at the Iron Age fort on Embury Beacon (157m, 515ft).
• Enjoying a snack on the sand at Welcombe Mouth.
• The view from Yeolmouth Cliff back to Gull Rock with its ‘Devil’s Hole’.
• The Hawker’s Hut near Morwenstow is preserved by the National Trust and was originally built from timbers retrieved from shipwrecks by the eccentric poet and Anglican clergyman Robert Hawker (1803-1875). He is said to have spent many hours in his hut meditating, writing and smoking, inspired by the views over the Atlantic, and even entertaining guests, including Alfred Lord Tennyson and Charles Kingsley.
• The fantastic views to the south from the tip of Steeple Point.
• The beautiful beach and marine life of Duckpool. At dusk in July it is possible to see glow worms: a truly rare sight.
• Bude and Stratton Town Museum: situated on the quay in Bude and housed in what was once the Bude Canal's blacksmith's shop. The museum holds a large collection of documents, paintings and photographs illustrating the history of Bude Canal. Open every day from Good Friday–September, 11.00-17.00. Tel: 01288 353576.
• Finding a good place to eat, rest and watch the surfers enjoying "The long, wave and the thundering shores of Bude". (The Birth of King Arthur, Tennyson.)

Shorter option

Walk the 7.5 miles (12km) to Morwenstow and continue to Bude on the next day.

Longer option

This walk should be enough for anyone!

Public transport

The First North Devon X9 bus runs every 2 hours from Exeter Bus Station to Stratton (and Bude).

From Stratton you can take the 319 to the village of Hartland.

Trains run regularly between Exeter and Barnstaple.

The Stagecoach 319 service runs between Barnstaple and Hartland.

For timetable information, zoom in on the interactive map and click on the bus stops, visit Traveline or phone 0871 200 22 33.

Parking

Hartland Quay (Postcode for Sat Navs: EX39 6DU), Milford, Welcombe Mouth, Morwenstow, Duckpool, Sandy Mouth, Maer Cliff and Bude.