Planning a Day Hike on the South West Coast Path: Step by Step

The South West Coast Path runs for around 630 miles from Minehead to Poole Harbour, and that number is exactly why plenty of people never set foot on it. You do not need a fortnight and a support vehicle. One well-chosen section — six or seven miles of cliff, a river crossing, a pub at the end — shows you what the path does best. What makes the day work is the planning, because on this coast the mileage is rarely the hard part. Tides, ferries and the shape of the land decide whether your plan holds together.

Start with the shape of the coast, not the distance

A road map tells you a section is eight miles. The coast path tells you something different. Every headland between your start and finish means a descent and a climb, and on some stretches you drop to sea level and climb back up four or five times in a morning. Look at the contour lines before you look at the distance.

The figure that matters most in a route description is the total ascent, not the length. A 12 km walk with 500 m of climbing on rough ground is a full day. The same 12 km along a flat estuary path is a stroll. As a working pace, allow roughly 2–3 km per hour on undulating coast path including short stops, and be honest about how often you will stop to look at the view.

How far is sensible?

For a first coast path day, 8–10 km is plenty. Regular walkers can comfortably manage 12–16 km. Anything past 20 km is a serious outing with a decent amount of climbing, and best left until you know how the terrain treats your legs. An out-and-back route also deserves consideration: no transport logistics, and you can turn around whenever you like.

Pick a section you can actually get to and from

Linear walks are the classic coast path day, but they only work if the two ends are connected. Check the bus and train times before you settle on a route, not afterwards. Rural services in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset thin out sharply outside summer, and a Sunday timetable can be almost nothing at all.

If there is no public transport, you have three options: leave a second car at the finish, book a taxi in advance, or walk a circular route using inland footpaths back to your start. Book taxis ahead in summer and expect small village car parks to fill early on bright weekends.

Plan at least one escape route

An escape route is anywhere you can leave the coast path and reach a road, a bus stop or a village without a fight. They turn a difficult day into a manageable one and a bad forecast into a shorter walk rather than a cancelled one. On some sections they are everywhere; on others you can walk for miles with no way off the cliff except onwards.

The easiest places to find them are river valleys, coves with a slipway and a lane, and the farm tracks that lead up to inland villages. Before you set off, know two: one at roughly the halfway point, and one you can reach if you decide to turn back early.

What makes an escape route usable

• A public right of way that reaches a road, not a private drive or a locked gate.
• A bus stop with a service that runs on the day you are walking.
• Enough phone signal to call for help or book a taxi — patchy on many cliffs.
• Somewhere to shelter or get water if the weather turns.

Set a turnaround time as well as a destination. If you are not at the halfway point by, say, 2pm, you take the escape route. That single decision saves a lot of torchlit finishes.

Time the walk around the tide

Tides catch out more coast path walkers than distance does. Several stretches of the path run along beaches below cliffs, cross estuary mouths, or pass coves that are cut off at high water. A route that is straightforward at low tide can be impassable three hours later, and there is no shortcut around a flooded cove.

Use the tide table for the nearest standard port, not one thirty miles along the coast — times and heights vary noticeably from place to place. High water arrives roughly fifty minutes later each day, so yesterday's timings will not do. Where a route depends on the tide, aim to be past the awkward section at least two hours either side of low water and never try to beat a rising tide. If the water is already moving in and the way ahead looks doubtful, turn around. The sea does not negotiate.

Sort the ferries before you commit

Foot ferries make some of the finest sections possible — crossing an estuary beats a long detour inland every time — but they are the most fragile part of any plan. Many run seasonally, some stop in poor weather, and last crossings are often earlier than people assume. Examples along the route include the crossings at the Exe, the Salcombe estuary and the Camel at Padstow, but the principle applies to every one of them.

Check the season dates, the first and last crossing of the day, and whether the boat takes dogs or bikes if that matters to you. Confirm again the day before, and once more on the morning. If the ferry is not running, the inland alternative can add hours, so have a fallback: reverse the route, walk a shorter loop on one side, or save that section for another day.

Expect the weather to change

Coast weather moves faster than inland weather. Sea fog can swallow a headland in twenty minutes, and an exposed cliff top in a strong wind feels far colder than the car park you left. Pack a waterproof, a warm layer and spare socks whatever the forecast says. Grippy soles matter more than ankle support on wet rock, mud and the stone steps that climb every valley.

Food and water need thought too. Seasonal cafés shut out of season, village shops keep short hours, and not every beach has a tap. Carry more water than you think you need in summer, and a paper map in case the signal disappears. Tell someone your route, your finish point and your expected time back. If you have a health condition or you are unsure how much you can manage, take advice from a qualified professional before choosing a long or remote section.

The night before: a five-minute routine

None of this takes long if you do it in one go, the evening before.

1. Re-read the route on the map and mark your escape points.
2. Check tide times and heights for the nearest port.
3. Check ferry times and the last bus, and note the phone number for a taxi.
4. Look for path diversions or closures — landslips and erosion do close sections.
5. Check the forecast for wind and rain, not just temperature.
6. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

Then go. The best day on the coast path is rarely the longest one — it is the one where the tide, the ferry and your legs all agree with each other.

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