South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for, running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft, almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
The final section of the path was designated as a National Trail in 1978. Many of the landscapes which the South West Coast Path crosses have special status, either as a national park or one of the heritage coasts. The path passes through two World Heritage Sites: the Dorset and East Devon Coast, known as the Jurassic Coast, was designated in 2001, and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape in 2007.
In the 1990s it was thought that the path brought £150 million into the area each year, but new research in 2003 indicated that it generated around £300 million a year in total, which could support more than 7,500 jobs. This research also recorded that 27.6% of visitors to the region came because of the Path, and they spent £136 million in a year. Local people took 23 million walks on the Path and spent a further £116 million, and other visitors contributed the remainder. A further study in 2005 estimated this figure to have risen to around £300 million. Following investment through the Rural Development Programme for England, more detailed research was undertaken in 2012, and this found the annual spend by walkers to have risen to £439 million which sustains 9771 full-time equivalent jobs.
History of the path
The path originated as a route for the Coastguard to walk along patrolling for smugglers. They needed to be able to look down into every bay and cove; as a result, the path closely hugs the coast, providing excellent views, but rarely the most direct path between two points. The South West Coast Path is no longer used by the Coastguard, but it has been transformed from a practical defence system into a resource for recreational walkers. The path is covered by England's right-of-way laws, as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which keep historic footpaths open to the public even when they pass through private property. Sections of the path are maintained by the National Trust, which owns parts of the coast.The path is a designated National Trail, largely funded by Natural England. It was created in stages, with its final section, Somerset and North Devon, opening in 1978. It is maintained by a dedicated South West Coast Path Team.
The South West Coast Path Association, a registered charity, exists to support the interests of users of the path. The Association was formed in 1973; since then, it has campaigned for improvements to the path and undertakes considerable fundraising to help care for and improve the path. Its services include accommodation guides and completion certificates.
Route description
The route is described here anticlockwise, from Minehead to Poole. The distance and total ascent between any two points, in either direction, can be obtained from the South West Coast Path website. A survey carried out in 1999 and 2000 found that at that time the path had 2,473 signposts or waymarks, and included 302 bridges, 921 stiles, and 26,719 steps. In practice, any such calculation is soon out of date because of path diversions due to landslips or access changes.Walked as a single hike, the path may take between 30 and 60 days to complete, but most walkers tend to break it up into shorter segments completed over several years. A team of six Royal Marines, taking turns in pairs to run two-hour sections, completed the path in six days in 2004. In 2012 Mal Law ran the entire path in 16 days, 9 hours and 57 minutes. New records for completing the path were set on 11 May 2013, when Mark Townsend and Julie Gardener completed the trail in 14 days, 14 hours and 44 minutes and 23 April 2015, when Patrick Devine-Wright completed the trail in 14 days, 8 hours and 2 minutes. This record, however, was quickly broken by Mark Berry, who ran it in 11 days, 8 hours and 15 minutes. On 24 May 2016, Damian Hall set a new fastest known time of 10 days, 15 hours and 18 minutes and Kristian Morgan ran the route 10 days, 12 hours and 6 minutes in September 2020. This was beaten by Dave Phillips with 10 days, 8 hours and 24 minutes in May 2022 and then by Dan Lawson who completed the route in 9 days 13 hours and 40 minutes in July 2025.
Somerset
The South West Coast Path starts from the western side of Minehead, in Somerset, at a marker erected in 2001 and partly paid for by the South West Coast Path Association. The path follows the waterfront past the harbour to Culver Cliff before climbing up on a zigzag path through woodland. Entering the Exmoor National Park, it cuts inland past North Hill, Selworthy Beacon and Bossington Hill before regaining the cliff top at Hurlestone Point. After passing through Bossington, it follows the beach to Porlock Weir and connects with the Coleridge Way.The scenery of rocky headlands, ravines, waterfalls and towering cliffs gained the Exmoor coast recognition as a Heritage Coast in 1991. The Exmoor Coastal Heaths have been recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the diversity of species present. The path passes the smallest parish church in England, Culbone Church, in Culbone. The path crosses the county boundary into Devon, a few hundred yards north of the National Park Centre at County Gate.
North Devon
The next big headland is Foreland Point, after which the path comes to Lynmouth, with the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway linking it with Lynton on the hill above. At Lynmouth, the path intersects with the Two Moors Way. The river here suffered a catastrophic flood in the 1950s. Beyond Lynton, the path passes through the Valley of Rocks, known for its herd of goats, then Duty Point and Lee Bay, then Crock Point and Woody Bay. After Highveer Rocks, the path crosses the small River Heddon, then skirts Trentishoe Down and Holdstone Down and climbs Great Hangman.At, this is the highest point on the path. With a cliff face of, it is described as the highest cliff on mainland Britain. The path now leaves the Exmoor National Park and enters the village of Combe Martin, which claims to have the longest village street in England ).
File:swcoastpath.ilfracombe.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|left|The South West Coast Path passes along the cliffs at Ilfracombe, North Devon. The highest point in this view is Hillsborough. Part of Ilfracombe is seen on the right.
After rounding Widmouth Head, the path passes 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay and enters the seaside resort of Ilfracombe, with its small harbour, surrounded by cliffs. A seasonal foot passenger ferry service runs from the harbour to Lundy Island. the Balmoral, the Waverley and pleasure boats ply to Porthcawl, near Swansea. From Ilfracombe to Bideford, the Tarka Trail coincides with the South West Coast Path.
The path leaves Ilfracombe through The Torrs and follows the cliff top past several small bays, including Lee Bay, before passing Bull Point and the Bull Point Lighthouse, into Rackham Bay. It then rounds Morte Point, passing the nearby village of Mortehoe, before turning south to enter the long sandy Morte Bay, which includes Woolacombe and Putsborough. Baggy Point divides Morte Bay from Croyde Bay, and the surfing mecca of Croyde, and then the much larger Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, which forms part of the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The wide expanse of Saunton Sands, which takes its name from Saunton, merges into the Braunton Burrows Site of Special Scientific Interest, the largest sand dune system in England and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is particularly important ecologically because it includes the complete successional range of dune plant communities, with over 400 vascular plant species. The short turf communities are very rich in lichens and herbs, and the dune slacks are also rich. The many rare plants and animals include 14 with UK Biodiversity Action Plans.
From Braunton Burrows the South West Coast Path turns inland, following the Braunton Canal to Braunton, and then along the north bank of the River Taw, following part of the route of the old Ilfracombe Branch Line, past the perimeter of the Royal Marines Base Chivenor towards Barnstaple where the new Barnstaple Western Bypass now forms the closest bridge over the Taw to the sea. After crossing medieval Barnstaple Long Bridge, the path then turns west, following the disused Bideford & Instow Railway line along the southern bank of the Taw past Fremington Quay and the Fremington Quay Cliffs SSSI to Instow at the joint estuary of the Rivers Taw and Torridge and the Taw-Torridge Estuary. The ferry which used to operate at Instow ceased on the retirement of the ferryman in 2007, but since 2013 a revived ferry again runs in summer. The path goes upstream to cross the river by the 13th-century Long Bridge at Bideford, which is the site of the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre and terminus of the North Devon Railway.
The path continues north beside the Torridge Estuary, in places following the route of the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway, past Northam to Appledore and around the promontory past the Shell middens and a submerged forest, that dates from the Mesolithic period, off the pebble ridge to Westward Ho!. The path then follows the coast around Clovelly Bay where several small villages including Abbotsham lie inland, because of the cliffs. The path passes the site of the Iron Age Hill fort at Peppercombe Castle and the village of Bucks Mills. Clovelly itself is a historic village with a small natural harbour. The path continues past the site of the Iron Age Hill fort at Windbury Head to Hartland Point and Hartland Quay. Hartland Point features a lighthouse and radar tower, and marks the western limit of the Bristol Channel with the Atlantic Ocean to the west. There is a winter helicopter service from Hartland Point to Lundy, which is visible from many points along the path between Welcombe and the Cornish border.