Walks in Cornwall with a low chance of encountering livestock

Walks in Cornwall with a low chance of encountering livestock

Enjoy the walks by being guided by the app

Phone showing walk for purchase
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
Phone showing Google navigation to start of walk
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
Hand holding a phone showing the iWalk Cornwall app
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
Phone showing walk directions page in the iWalk Cornwall app
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
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Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
Phone showing walk map page in the iWalk Cornwall app
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Phone showing facts section in iWalk Cornwall app
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
Person looking at phone with cliff scenery in background
Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
Phone showing walk stats in the iWalk Cornwall app
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
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We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.

Please note this is only a best guess from the landscape that livestock are less likely on these routes than others - it not a guarantee as livestock are moved around and sometimes used to graze the coast and parkland.

  • 2 miles/3.2 km - Easy

    Trevose Head (short version)

    Trevose Lighthouse

    Trevose Head (short version)

    2 miles/3.2 km - Easy

    A circular walk around the rugged coastline of Trevose Head via the iconic lighthouse and golden sandy beach at Mother Ivey's Bay, with spectacular wildflowers in spring and summer and thundering waves in winter that sometimes expose the shipwreck at Booby's Bay.

  • 2.5 miles/4 km - Easy

    Botallack Head

    Crown Mines

    Botallack Head

    2.5 miles/4 km - Easy

    A circular walk around Cornwall's most iconic mining remains, used for the filming of the BBC's Poldark series

  • 2.7 miles/4.3 km - Easy

    Hayle and The Towans

    Gardens at Hayle

    Hayle and The Towans

    2.7 miles/4.3 km - Easy

    A circular walk on the Towans at Hayle, where Cornwall's beam engines were cast using sand from a prehistoric lagoon when West Penwith was an island.

  • 2.9 miles/4.7 km - Easy

    Helston

    River Cober

    Helston

    2.9 miles/4.7 km - Easy

    A circular walk at Helston along the wooded valley of the River Cober and through the town via the church.

  • 3.2 miles/5.2 km - Easy

    King's Wood and Pentewan Valley

    St Austell River

    King's Wood and Pentewan Valley

    3.2 miles/5.2 km - Easy

    A circular walk through the King's Wood Woodland Trust reserve to the lost port of Pentewan, along the trackbed of the horse-drawn tramway that once carried china clay to the busy port and via the system of reservoirs and sluices that were used to flush sand out of the harbour.

  • 3.5 miles/5.6 km - Easy

    Par and Tywardreath

    Path through Tywardreath marshes

    Par and Tywardreath

    3.5 miles/5.6 km - Easy

    A circular walk at Tywardreath where a mediaeval Priory was based and Par where much of the route was once a tidal creek and a wetland nature reserve has been created on some of the reclaimed land.

  • 3.9 miles/6.3 km - Easy

    Bude Canal and Coast

    Bude Canal

    Bude Canal and Coast

    3.9 miles/6.3 km - Easy

    A figure-of-8 walk at Bude where the demand for lime-rich sand could not even be met by 4000 horses a day and so a 35-mile canal was built to transport it to the Tamar Valley.

  • 4.4 miles/7.1 km - Easy

    Truro and the old Newham railway

    Chapel Hill in Truro

    Truro and the old Newham railway

    4.4 miles/7.1 km - Easy

    A circular walk at Truro along the river, trackbed of the Newham railway and through the historic city centre.

  • 6 miles/9.7 km - Easy

    Marazion to Penzance

    Marazion to Penzance

    6 miles/9.7 km - Easy

    A circular walk around Mount's Bay where the remains of the prehistoric forest that surrounded St Michael's Mount can still occasionally be seen on very low tides after storms

  • 6 miles/9.6 km - Easy

    Twelveheads and Chacewater

    Poldice Mine

    Twelveheads and Chacewater

    6 miles/9.6 km - Easy

    A circular walk in the Copper Kingdom of the Old World where the majority of world's copper came from during the 18th and 19th Centuries

  • 2.2 miles/3.6 km - Easy-moderate

    West Pentire and Polly Joke

    Poppy fields at West Pentire

    West Pentire and Polly Joke

    2.2 miles/3.6 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through the poppy fields of West Pentire to Polly Joke beach, returning over the headland to the pub that was a cowshed until the mid-20th Century.

  • 2.4 miles/3.8 km - Easy-moderate

    Gwithian and Upton Towans

    Gwithian Towans

    Gwithian and Upton Towans

    2.4 miles/3.8 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk around the nature reserve in the sand dunes that was once the National Explosives Works where young girls manufactured dynamite from nitroglycerine, two tonnes of which detonated causing a shock wave that broke windows in St Ives and Penzance and could be heard on Dartmoor.

  • 2.7 miles/4.4 km - Easy-moderate

    Gwennap Pit to Carn Marth (short version)

    Gwennap Pit

    Gwennap Pit to Carn Marth (short version)

    2.7 miles/4.4 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk at Carn Marth with panoramic views right across mid-Cornwall to Falmouth and the Roseland, the Cornish Alps and Bodmin Moor, and St Agnes and Trevose Head

  • 3 miles/4.8 km - Easy-moderate

    Looe woodland, river and coast

    Looe

    Looe woodland, river and coast

    3 miles/4.8 km - Easy-moderate

    A walk following the West Looe river from woods to its confluence and then to meet the Atlantic beside one of Cornwall's mediaeval ports.

  • 3.1 miles/5 km - Easy-moderate

    Padstow to Harbour Cove

    Camel Estuary

    Padstow to Harbour Cove

    3.1 miles/5 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through Padstow's mediaeval network of streets to the church, the Elizabethan Manor at Prideaux Place and Tregirls Farm, with panoramic views of the estuary, returning along a mile of sandy beaches.

  • 3.2 miles/5.1 km - Easy-moderate

    Lanhydrock Gardens

    Lanhydrock Gardens

    Lanhydrock Gardens

    3.2 miles/5.1 km - Easy-moderate

    A fairly short and easy circular walk through Lanhydrock gardens with plenty of picnic spots along the River Fowey that you can combine with a visit to the house.

  • 3.3 miles/5.3 km - Easy-moderate

    Penrose to the Loe Bar

    Porthleven

    Penrose to the Loe Bar

    3.3 miles/5.3 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk alongside the Loe Pool to the Loe Bar and back via the farm on the hill spur, which in Cornish gave the name to the Penrose Estate.

  • 3.4 miles/5.5 km - Easy-moderate

    Luxulyan Valley circular

    Luxulyan Valley

    Luxulyan Valley circular

    3.4 miles/5.5 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk following the leats and horse-drawn tramways through the World Heritage site of the Luxulyan Valley to the massive viaduct which carried the tramways towards Newquay and water to winch the trams up the valley with a huge waterwheel, recommended in guidebooks as early as the 1920s "as one of the most glorious walks in all Cornwall".

  • 3.4 miles/5.4 km - Easy-moderate

    Wheal Maid and Poldice Valley

    Taylor's Engine House

    Wheal Maid and Poldice Valley

    3.4 miles/5.4 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk in the area described in Victorian times as the richest square mile anywhere on Earth

  • 3.6 miles/5.8 km - Easy-moderate

    Lost Church and Perranporth dunes

    Perran Sands

    Lost Church and Perranporth dunes

    3.6 miles/5.8 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk on the highest dune system in Britain to the chapel dating from Celtic times which was lost in the dunes for nearly 1000 years.

  • 3.7 miles/6.0 km - Easy-moderate

    Calstock

    Tamar Valley

    Calstock

    3.7 miles/6.0 km - Easy-moderate

    A walk at Calstock where a Victorian mineral railway from Kelly Bray once ran down to the quayside and the viaduct was built in the 1900s to connect this to Plymouth, creating today's Tamar Valley Line.

  • 3.7 miles/5.9 km - Easy-moderate

    Lerryn River and Tivoli lost gardens

    Lerryn Bridge

    Lerryn River and Tivoli lost gardens

    3.7 miles/5.9 km - Easy-moderate

    A woodland and riverside walk at Lerryn - thought to be the inspiration for the book The Wind In The Willows - and the lost pleasure gardens of Tivoli Park

  • 3.8 miles/6.1 km - Easy-moderate

    Lanhydrock to Respryn

    Respryn Bridge

    Lanhydrock to Respryn

    3.8 miles/6.1 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through the mature broadleaf woodland in the less well-known areas of the Lanhydrock estate, through bluebell woods and along the River Fowey, past the mediaeval bridge at Respryn, built after numerous prayers for safe passage in the ford-side chapel, had not resulted in the desired outcome.

  • 3.9 miles/6.3 km - Easy-moderate

    Penzance to Newlyn

    Newlyn Harbour

    Penzance to Newlyn

    3.9 miles/6.3 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk at Mount's Bay from the largest port town in the bay to the harbour of Cornwall's largest fishing fleet.

  • 4 miles/6.4 km - Easy-moderate

    Watergate Bay to Newquay (via bus)

    Watergate Bay

    Watergate Bay to Newquay (via bus)

    4 miles/6.4 km - Easy-moderate

    A one-way coastal walk, made circular via an initial bus journey, from Watergate Bay along the coast path to Newquay, passing the sea caves at Whipsiderry beach, the Iron Age hillfort on Trevelgue head and the beaches of Porth, Lusty Glaze and Tolcarne.

  • 4.1 miles/6.6 km - Easy-moderate

    Degibna and Carminowe Valley

    Irises in the Carminowe Valley

    Degibna and Carminowe Valley

    4.1 miles/6.6 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk in the wooded valleys beside the Loe Pool with panoramic views over the lake

  • 4.3 miles/7 km - Easy-moderate

    Tehidy Woods to Deadman's Cove

    Bassets Cove

    Tehidy Woods to Deadman's Cove

    4.3 miles/7 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through the wildlife reserve and bluebell woodland of Tehidy Country Park to Deadman's Cove and the North Cliffs, where many sailing ships were wrecked before the Godrevy Lighthouse was built.

  • 4.7 miles/7.6 km - Easy-moderate

    Trelissick

    Trelissick Gardens

    Trelissick

    4.7 miles/7.6 km - Easy-moderate

    A figure-of-8 walk along the creeks of the River Fal through the 300 acre estate surrounding Trelissick House.

  • 4.8 miles/7.7 km - Easy-moderate

    Saltash and the Lynher Valley

    Forder Lake

    Saltash and the Lynher Valley

    4.8 miles/7.7 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk in the ferry town that was the main riverside settlement in mediaeval times when Plymouth was moorland, and where a handful of Elizabethan buildings still remain from the period when Francis Drake built a property empire from his circumnavigation of the globe.

  • 5 miles/8 km - Easy-moderate

    St Austell, Clay Trails and Menacuddle Well

    Rhododendrons at Menacuddle Well

    St Austell, Clay Trails and Menacuddle Well

    5 miles/8 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk in china clay country, including a trail laid on the trackbed of a mineral railway from St Austell to the Cornish Alps and one of Cornwall's most picturesque holy wells.

  • 5.3 miles/8.6 km - Easy-moderate

    Falmouth and Pendennis Point

    Blockhouse on Pendennis Point

    Falmouth and Pendennis Point

    5.3 miles/8.6 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk around the thriving town of Falmouth, which didn't exist until Elizabethan times when Sir Walter Raleigh suggested that the largest natural harbour in Europe would be a good place to build a port town.

  • 6 miles/9.6 km - Easy-moderate

    Penrose and Porthleven

    Porthleven

    Penrose and Porthleven

    6 miles/9.6 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through the woodland alongside the Loe to the most southerly port on the British mainland, famous for its huge storm waves.

  • 6.1 miles/9.7 km - Easy-moderate

    Trevose Head

    Trevose Lighthouse

    Trevose Head

    6.1 miles/9.7 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk around the rugged coastline of Trevose Head via the iconic lighthouse and golden sandy bays of Constantine, Booby's, Mother Ivey's and Harlyn, with spectacular wildflowers in spring and summer.

  • 6.2 miles/10 km - Easy-moderate

    Gwennap Pit and Carn Marth

    Gwennap Pit

    Gwennap Pit and Carn Marth

    6.2 miles/10 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk through an area steeped in mining history, with panoramic views from Carn Marth and the almost legendary Gwennap Pit which became so famous that even the neighbouring mine was renamed to Cathedral

  • 6.2 miles/10 km - Easy-moderate

    The Loe

    Penrose Estate

    The Loe

    6.2 miles/10 km - Easy-moderate

    A circular walk around the Loe Pool, the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall, and along the Loe Bar, one of Cornwall's most treacherous beaches on which 100 of those onboard the HMS Anson drowned metres from the shore, motivating the invention of the rocket lifesaving apparatus that saved thousands of lives.

  • 2.5 miles/4 km - Moderate

    Danescombe Valley

    Cotehele Gardens

    Danescombe Valley

    2.5 miles/4 km - Moderate

    A circular walk from Cotehele Quay into the broadleaf woodland of the Danescombe Valley where bluebells and orchids flower in spring and fungi erupt through the carpet of autumn leaves.

  • 2.9 miles/4.7 km - Moderate

    Polperro harbour and headlands

    Polperro Net Loft

    Polperro harbour and headlands

    2.9 miles/4.7 km - Moderate

    A figure-of-eight walk around the fishing village and headlands surrounding Polperro, passing the net loft perched above the harbour, the Victorian sea pool, the site of the mediaeval chapel and the harbourmaster's route to the lighthouse.

  • 3.1 miles/4.9 km - Moderate

    Kilminorth Woods and the Giant's Hedge

    Kilminorth Woods

    Kilminorth Woods and the Giant's Hedge

    3.1 miles/4.9 km - Moderate

    A woodland walk alongside the West Looe River where the Giant's Hedge once divided kingdoms of the Dark Ages, centuries before the ancient trees that now tower above it were even seedlings.

  • 4.3 miles/7 km - Moderate

    Lelant to St Ives

    St Ives Bay

    Lelant to St Ives

    4.3 miles/7 km - Moderate

    A one-way walk to St Ives along the beaches from Lelant including the vast expanse of Porthkidney Sands, Carbis Bay and Porthminster Beach using the train or bus to make the route almost circular.

  • 4.7 miles/7.5 km - Moderate

    Perranporth to St Agnes (via bus)

    Perranporth

    Perranporth to St Agnes (via bus)

    4.7 miles/7.5 km - Moderate

    A one-way coastal walk, made circular via an initial bus journey, along the ore-bearing cliffs between Perranporth and St Agnes passing the remains of Nobel's dynamite works, Britain's best preserved spitfire base and the Blue Hills of Trevellas Coombe where tin is still processed on a small scale using traditional methods.

  • 4.7 miles/7.5 km - Moderate

    Porthtowan to Chapel Porth

    Banns Vale

    Porthtowan to Chapel Porth

    4.7 miles/7.5 km - Moderate

    A circular walk from Porthtowan, along the coast, valleys and woodland, passing engine houses and other relics of Cornish copper mining.

  • 4.8 miles/7.7 km - Moderate

    Grampound to Trenowth

    View from the Railway Bridge at Trenowth

    Grampound to Trenowth

    4.8 miles/7.7 km - Moderate

    A circular walk in the Fal valley from Grampound which began as river port in Roman times which evolved into the gateway into West Cornwall in mediaeval times and went on to become the centre of Cornwall's tanning industry.

  • 5.7 miles/9.1 km - Moderate

    Perranporth to Trevellas

    Droskyn Point

    Perranporth to Trevellas

    5.7 miles/9.1 km - Moderate

    A circular walk past the remains of Alfred Nobel's dynamite works to the red-and-yellow ore-rich cliffs above the wreck of the treasure ship Hanover, returning, via the spitfire base, along Perran Coombe where a 2-mile leat once carried water to power a massive waterwheel in a chamber within the cliffs.

  • 5.8 miles/9.3 km - Moderate

    Newquay

    Huer's Hut in Newquay

    Newquay

    5.8 miles/9.3 km - Moderate

    A circular walk around the UK's surf capital which was transformed from a tiny fishing village with a few thatched cottages when, in order to export ore from the harbour, a horse-drawn tramway was built across Cornwall which later became part of the Great Western Railway.

  • 5.9 miles/9.5 km - Moderate

    Carn Brea and the Great Flat Lode

    Tors on Carn Brea

    Carn Brea and the Great Flat Lode

    5.9 miles/9.5 km - Moderate

    A circular walk along the Great Flat Lode, where the Basset family made their fortune from the rich mineral reserves, to Carn Brea where they built a hunting lodge balanced on a tor in the style of a castle.

  • 5.9 miles/9.5 km - Moderate

    Cotehele to Calstock

    Calstock Viaduct

    Cotehele to Calstock

    5.9 miles/9.5 km - Moderate

    A circular walk through the gardens of Cotehele to Calstock where Cornwall's largest Roman fort once stood, the Vikings allied with the Cornish to fight off the Saxons, and more recently railway wagons were lifted over 100ft by steam power from the quay to the top of the viaduct.

  • 6.2 miles/10 km - Moderate

    Chapel Porth to Trevaunance Cove

    Towanroath Engine House

    Chapel Porth to Trevaunance Cove

    6.2 miles/10 km - Moderate

    A circular walk along the coast between the golden sandy beaches of Chapel Porth and Trevaunance Cove at St Agnes via the iconic engine houses of Wheal Coates, perched above the breakers.

  • 6.5 miles/10.5 km - Moderate

    Duloe to Herodsfoot

    Duloe Stone Circle

    Duloe to Herodsfoot

    6.5 miles/10.5 km - Moderate

    A circular walk through the woodland along the West Looe River to Herodsfoot from Duloe, where Cornwall's smallest stone circle stands.

  • 2.5 miles/3.9 km - Moderate-strenuous

    Talland Bay to Polperro

    Reuben's Walk at Polperro

    Talland Bay to Polperro

    2.5 miles/3.9 km - Moderate-strenuous

    A circular walk between Talland Bay and Polperro along an area of coastline so famous for smuggling that there is even a museum on the subject.

  • 4.5 miles/7.2 km - Moderate-strenuous

    Gunnislake to Chilsworthy

    River Tamar

    Gunnislake to Chilsworthy

    4.5 miles/7.2 km - Moderate-strenuous

    A circular walk in the Tamar Valley at Gunnislake where Victorian canal systems, engine houses and tramways have been recolonised by nature and kingfishers rather than barges now journey up and down the river.

  • 5.2 miles/8.4 km - Moderate-strenuous

    Portreath and Tehidy Woods

    Portreath Beach

    Portreath and Tehidy Woods

    5.2 miles/8.4 km - Moderate-strenuous

    A circular walk along the rugged North Cliffs hiding smuggler's coves such as Ralph's Cupboard, to the sandy beach and historic mining port of Portreath, returning via the bluebell woodland of Illogan and Tehidy Country Park.

  • 7.7 miles/12.4 km - Moderate-strenuous

    Zennor to St Ives (via bus)

    View from Zennor Head

    Zennor to St Ives (via bus)

    7.7 miles/12.4 km - Moderate-strenuous

    A fairly demanding but rewarding one-way coastal walk, made circular via an initial bus journey, along the rugged coast between St Ives and Zennor, passing Seal Island which may have given rise to the legend of the mermaid of Zennor and - thanks to some imaginative naming - ice cream (Moomaid of Zennor). The walk is in the optimal direction to remove time pressure and for panoramic views across St Ives bay.

  • 7.1 miles/11.5 km - Strenuous

    Polperro to Lansallos

    Udder Rock Obelisk

    Polperro to Lansallos

    7.1 miles/11.5 km - Strenuous

    A circular walk along the rugged coast from Polperro, where a bell buoy rings out across the waves from the treacherous reef known as Udder Rock.

  • 7.3 miles/11.7 km - Strenuous

    Portreath to Tobban Horse

    Coastline at Portreath

    Portreath to Tobban Horse

    7.3 miles/11.7 km - Strenuous

    A circular walk along the rugged coast from Portreath towards Porthtowan passing small coves and remnants of the clifftop mines beside the old RAF base, and returning via the horse-drawn tramway that brought fortune to Portreath harbour, where its "lighthouse" and "monkey house" remain from the shipping activity.

Download the iWalk Cornwall app and use the QR scanner within the app to find out more about any of the walks above.