Walk - Carnevas to Porthcothan

3.5 miles (5.7 km)

Carnevas Holiday Park - PL28 8PN Carnevas Holiday Park

Easy -

A gentle stroll around a coastline dramatically sculpted by the power of the waves, where smugglers took advantage of the secret coves and caves to land their cargoes. There are terrific vistas across the open sea, and the path borders tranquil farmland where the endangered corn bunting is making a comeback. Skylarks trill overhead, and seabirds such as fulmar, razorbill and guillemot nest on the cliffs.

There are a range of wonderful places to lay your head near the Coast Path for a well-earned sleep. From large and luxurious hotels, to small and personable B&B's, as well as self-catering options and campsites. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Penlan B&B

Situated 250m from Porthcothan Bay beach close to the Coast Path, midway between Padstow and Newquay on bus route. Twin ensuite .

YHA Treyarnon Bay

Just 50m from the sea and 10m from coastal footpath offering private rooms, bell tents, pods and pitch up. Licenced Bar and Cafe. Perfect place to rest your head.

Penhalonga B&B

Family run B&B, full English breakfast. Single nights. Dogs welcome. Call Liz

Bedruthan Hotel & Spa

Perched on a rugged cliff in the Cornish village of Mawgan Porth, this 4-star dog friendly hotel offers a luxury spa, two on-site restaurants, a bakery, and a host of activities for the whole family.

Tregella Place Camping

Basic rural site with some facilities. 10 min drive from Padstow

The Scarlet Hotel

Luxury boutique spa hotel and eco-sanctuary with cliff top sauna. Adult only/dog friendly..

The Annexe Eastholme

Self catering one bedroom apartment, kingsize bed, heating, wifi, parking, fully equipped, linen and towels included. Drying/laundry available on request for a small fee.

Higher Pendeen Camping

Advanced bookings only - Award winning, rustic, family-run, friendly, off-grid and ecologically considerate back to basics site with five pitches and Bell Tents.

Dennis Cove Campsite

Closest campsite to the harbour,10min walk from the Path via the Camel Trail. Serene site bordering the Camel Estuary. A perfect base to explore the Cornish coastline & beaches.

Coswarth House

A beautifully furnished boutique hotel in a listed building with breakfast served at Rick Stein's Cafe. Each room has a luxury bathroom.

South Quay B&B

A house on the harbourside in Padstow. 2 double rooms, the en suite top bedroom has a tiny terrace under the gable of the house.
You'll be spoilt for choice for where to eat and drink along the Path. With lots of local seasonal food on offer, fresh from the farm, field and waters. Try our local ales, ciders, wines and spirits, increasing in variety by the year, as you sit in a cosy pub, fine dining restaurant or chilled café on the beach. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Carnewas Tearooms

The family run Carnewas Tearooms and Garden is on the coastal path overlooking Bedruthan Steps with views onto Parkhead.

The London Inn

A traditional Cornish pub full of charm and character with a large selection of cask ales and four comfortable rooms. Situated minutes from the Harbour.

Old Custom House

Prime position on Padstow’s South Quay, quality food and drink with a view plus 23 rooms & self-catering option

Rest A While Tea Garden

A delightful Tea Garden where you can relax enroute with outstanding views just 50m off the Coast Path. Serving hot & cold drinks & Cream Teas (traditional, savoury, vegan, gluten-free). Outside seating only. 11 am -3.00 pm
What is on your list of things to do when you visit the Path? From walking companies, to help you tailor your visit, with itineraries and experts to enhance your visit, to baggage transfer companies and visitor attractions there are lots to people and places to help you decide what you'd like to do. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Trevose Golf & Country Club

Trevose Golf & Country Club offers high-end coastal accommodation, golf, tennis, pool, and the acclaimed Constantine Restaurant for a luxury getaway.

Padstow Tourist Information

All the information you need to enjoy your visit to Padstow.

The National Lobster Hatchery

Experience pioneering marine conservation in action on the beautiful estuary in Padstow and be inspired to make a difference.

Interactive Elevation

Route Description

  1. From the entrance to Carnevas Holiday Park turn right and walk along the road, passing Trethias Farm on your left.

Under your feet at the top of the hill above Carnevas, although you won't see it, the bedrock contains rocks formed from mobile magma, a fluid lava brought to the surface by the eruption of volcanoes at the time that the slate beds were forming. Around Padstow, parts of the coast consist of pillow lava associated with this volcanic activity.

  1. Just after Trethias Farm, turn left onto the footpath cutting across the field and follow it up to the road, turning left here.
  2. Fork left at Treyarnon Farm and walk to the beach at Treyarnon Bay.
  3. Turn left to cross the beach and pick up the South West Coast Path on the other side, climbing gently up to round the point by Trethias Island and carry on between farmland and the dramatic cliffs.

At low tide a wonderful rock reef appears at the far end of Treyarnon Beach, riddled with rock pools, one of them large enough for swimming and all of them worth exploring. Trethias Island is separated from the mainland by a deep gully, and hides a huge cave which extends under the headland, emerging in the small cove beyond. Please be aware that the tide comes in very rapidly, cutting this area off from the main beach in minutes and flooding the cave.

On the headlands immediately above Trethias Island are three prehistory promontory forts, dating back to the Iron Age. These primitive castles took advantage of the cliffs to protect their communities on the seaward side, building earthwork ramparts on the landward side to give further protection from possible attacks. The remains of these ramparts can be seen under the grass along this part of the Coast Path.

The landowners here are working with the RSPB to protect the corn bunting, which features on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species as a bird in danger of global extinction. Intensive farming operations in the past destroyed vital habitats and food sources. Traditional methods of land management are being used in many places along the Cornish coastline to restore the corn bunting population. It is a stout, dumpy brown bird which flies off with a fluttering flight and with its legs characteristically 'dangling'. Look out for them in the fields on your left, foraging for food or singing from the fence posts.

  1. The Coast Path continues straight ahead past the series of headlands, but detouring on the smaller paths hugging the coastline gives an interesting view of the dramatic formations caused by the pounding of the waves.

The bedrock under this area is known as the Trevose Slate Formation. Consisting of slate and siltstone, it was formed in layers at the bottom of a deep ocean, way beyond any land, approximately 364 to 391 million years ago in the Devonian Period. There are deposits of fine material from microscopic sea organisms in the rock. Fossils of planktonic creatures found in the slate along this coastline have helped geologists date these rockbeds.

Breakers rolling in from the Atlantic crash relentlessly around the cliffs, eating into the rock in the places where it is weaker, along fault lines, turning cracks into caves and then washing around the caves to make them bigger. The pressure of the air forced through the cave will cause a blowhole in the roof if it is close to the surface, and as this is enlarged, so eventually the roof of the cave falls in. The sea continues its erosion, cutting off the outer wall from the coastline, forming first an arch and then an island, which itself gets reduced to a stack, while the cave becomes a cove and finally a bay.

!! The cliffs are very unstable as a result of all this erosion, so take care around the headlands. !!

The inlets and coves made this an ideal coastline for smugglers, augmenting their meagre livelihood from fishing with a spot of Free Trade. The rocky caves with their sandy floors made a perfect hiding place for the contraband. Padstow resident William Rawlings wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth in 1765, complaining that his servants had on one occasion encountered no fewer than 60 horses travelling up from one of these beaches 'having each three bags of tea on them of 56 or 58lbs weight'.

  1. If you want a shortcut the permissive path running inland to your left at the start of the National Trust open access land at Porthcothan will return you to the road near Carnevas Holiday Park. Otherwise carry on to Porthcothan. There is a network of paths through the heathland here, but the Coast Path continues around the coastline, with more examples of the spectacular coastal erosion.

Please keep dogs on a lead along this part of the walk. There are often sheep grazing here as part of a conservation strategy employed by the National Trust to control the aggressive rank grasses and scrub that would otherwise smother the important maritime grasslands.

Most perennial, slow-growing maritime species occur on sea cliffs. This is not because they need any specific characteristic in this habitat, such as salt, but because further inland they are easily smothered by more vigorous, faster-growing species. The high salt content of the air this close to the sea discourages or kills the terrestrial plants, giving the competitively inferior maritime species a better chance of flourishing.

Unusual plant species occurring along the coast here include the tree mallow, with its massive pink flowers, and the golden samphire. This is an edible plant looking a little like a handful of dwarf beans dotted with tiny yellow flowers. Rock sea lavender also thrives here, resembling heather with its lilac flowers, as does betony, whose purple heads are often humming with insects.

Note the traditional 'curzyway', or 'Jack and Jane', stone walls along the way, where the slates have been stacked in a herringbone pattern before being populated by delicate lichens and stoneworts. Clumps of the pink-headed thrift grow from their tops like thatch, and in places the hedge consists of tamarisk, a feathery-leaved Mediterranean plant which loves dry sandy soil.

  1. At Porthcothan turn left on the road and carry on gently uphill to the road leading off to the left, towards Treyarnon.
  2. Turn left onto this road and follow it back to Carnevas Holiday Park.
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