The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

The Southwest Coast Path: St Ives to Padstow

In October I continued my SWCP odyssey, walking in the “wrong” direction, eastwards from St Ives to Padstow in northern Corwall. My totals were: 105 km and 2550 meters elevation gain over the 6 days. Enjoy the photos and pardon the lack of usual verbiage!

St Ives to Phillack

13 km and 250 m elevation gain

View back towards St Ives harbor
A house for sale in Lelant, overlooking the River Hayle. A bit out of my price range, I’m sure.
The Hayle Mining Pump House monument
My Penellen Guest House balcony view

Day 2: Phillack to Portreath

18 km and 500 m elevation gain

Mutton Cove. Note all the seals hauled out.
Godrevy Lighthouse, marking a dangerous reef called The Stones
Sea Campion. As usual, not many wildflowers were out in the autumn.
Coast view back to Hell’s Mouth. The nearby Hell’s Mouth Café was a great spot for lunch.
Corvids (far left) and equines near Portreath
Portreath

Day 3: Portreath to Perranporth

20 km and 700 m elevation gain

Towanroath Shaft engine house at Wheal Coates
Convoluted erosional geology
The coast near Perranporth
My Seiner’s Arms hotel room view, Perranporth

Day 4: Perranporth to Newquay

14.5 km and 250 m elevation gain

Perranporth beach. The Seiners Arms is the rambling blue building
Looking back on Perranporth Beach
The “Commandant’s House” (my term – I’m not sure what this building is) at Penhale Camp. The camp was established in 1939 to train WW2 anti-aircraft gunners.
‘Shrooms & Sea
The Newquay tidal foot bridge

Day 5: Newquay to Porthcothan

19.5 km and 450 m elevation gain

Bedruthan Path, a gorgeous stretch of coast
Carnewas (Cornish, meaning “rock-pile of summer dwelling”) at Bedruthan
View towards Park Head. This was easily the best day for photography.
A pano just before reaching Porthcothan
An old curzyway dry stone wall, typical construction on this stretch of north Cornwall

Day 6: Porthcothan to Padstow

20.5 km and 400 m elevation gain

Trevose Head Lighthouse, featuring four holiday cottages
RNLI lifeboat station, Padstow, at Trevose Head
Prideaux Place Deer Park, Padstow. Seasonally open to the public, Prideaux Place has a fascinating history. I had diverted slightly to reach my inland Airbnb, where I stayed the final two nights.

This past six weeks I have traveled to northern Morocco to see some cultural sights and then to Tenerife and Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for group walking weeks. They will all be subjects for a future blog post or two towards the end of the year or early 2026.

Tomorrow I depart for Kuala Lumpur and then onward to Taiwan for my 3½ month winter trip to Southeast Asia and Western Australia. Not to worry, though, there will be some hiking involved. . .

The Vagabond Hiker

Comments

  1. Wow that coastline and blue water! Beautiful! Looking forward to your Morocco report. 🙂

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