St Ives to Pendeen Walk -

The St Ives to Pendeen walk follows the South West Coast Path for approximately 22km. It is a one way route rather than a circular walk, maintained as part of the National Trails network, and it is worth knowing upfront that this is genuinely one of the toughest stretches on the entire path, with rocky, sometimes boggy ground that slows progress more than the distance alone would suggest.

The walk starts gently enough out of St Ives towards Clodgy Point, where seals are often spotted from Mussel Point as the Atlantic breaks against the offshore Carrack Rocks. From here the path turns into a genuine roller coaster, dropping into steep coves and climbing straight back out again, past the granite outcrops above Wicca Pool and on to Zennor Head, where dolphins are sometimes visible offshore and the surrounding fields still carry their Bronze Age boundaries, farmed today in ways that protect both the wildlife and the history.

Below Zennor Head lies Pendour Cove, better known locally as Mermaid’s Cove. Legend holds that a mermaid once lured a local man into the sea after he fell in love with her singing voice, and that if you sit above the cove at twilight on a summer evening, you may still hear him singing from beneath the waves. The path continues out to the windswept headland of Gurnard’s Head, where the remains of an ancient cliff castle and settlement still mark the ground, before reaching Bosigran Castle, an Iron Age fort on a stretch of coast that draws climbers from across the country.

Portheras Cove, further along, is a beautiful and little visited sandy beach where seals are often seen, though it comes with a serious caution attached. Metal fragments are believed to remain from the wreck of the Alacrity, which ran aground here in 1963 and was later dynamited, so swimming or walking barefoot on this particular beach is not advised. The walk ends at Pendeen Lighthouse, first lit in 1900 to guard one of the most dangerous stretches of coastline in Britain, part of which can still be rented as holiday accommodation today.

Given how remote this section is, with almost no settlements offering food or accommodation directly on the path, it is worth stocking up before you set off, and worth knowing that shortening the walk generally means walking a distance and then catching a bus back to St Ives, Penzance, or St Just rather than finding a natural halfway stopping point.

Parking is available at St Ives, inland from Bosigran Castle, and at Pendeen.

A Walk Between Pendeen And Morvah

Here’s a video shot back in 2000 of the Pendeen to Morvah stretch of the walk

Weather

St Ives to Pendeen

17°

Overcast

Feels 19° Wind 1 mph Humidity 96%

Today

19° 16°

Tue

20° 14°

16%

Wed

18° 12°

Thu

17° 5°

Fri

19° 11°

16%

Sat

18° 4°

30%

Sun

19° 9°

60%

Weather data by Open-Meteo

Plan The Walk

Places along this walk

Places to stay

Lordryans

Where to park

Porthmeor Beach & Tate Gallery

Cafes

West Beach Bar & Cafe

Attractions

Tower ruins
Old Church Ruins
Treveal Cove viewpoint
Holy Well Of St Ia

Shops

Ayr Supply Stores

Toilets

Porthmeor Carpark Toilets (Male)
Porthmeor Carpark Toilets (Female)

A Walk Between Pendeen And Morvah

Weather

Plan The Walk