Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Hell's Mouth & Godrevy Point loop from Portreath — Cornwall

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Hell's Mouth & Godrevy Point loop from Portreath — Cornwall

Hard

5.0

(3)

hikers

Hell's Mouth & Godrevy Point loop from Portreath — Cornwall

06:07

22.7km

280m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: June 11, 2024

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Cornwall AONB

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

381 m

Portreath Beach

Highlight • Viewpoint

Portreath has a beautiful sandy beach that is popular in particular with bodyboarders. Out to sea you can see Gull Rock and behind the harbour wall and protected from the Atlantic is a swimmer's haven. There is a great little kiosk just behind the beach with plenty of seating next door if you don't want to go down onto the beach itself.

Tip by

1.10 km

Ralph's Cupboard

Highlight (Segment) • Gorge

To the west of this bay, a rock wall protrudes into the bay and divides it. This wall is the result of long-term erosion, which led to the collapse of a former cave. The name Ralph’s Cupboard comes from a legend that the giant Ralph lived in this bay. This giant attacked the incoming ships and stored the recovered treasures in the cave, his closet.
The eastern side of the bay shows a typical cliff with dark gray shales and greywackes at the lower end and periglacial deposits at the upper part of the cliff.

Translated by Google •

Tip by

1.85 km

Porthcadjack Cove and Waterfall

Highlight • Waterfall

Lying beneath the striking North Cliffs, Porthcadjack Cove is a little-visited beach on the Cornish coast. Accessible from the Coast Path via a steep and narrow path, the isolated nature of this beach makes it a serene spot and a real hidden gem.

Tip by

2.87 km

Basset's Cove

Highlight • Natural Monument

The 7.3 km long circular route takes you back to a time when Cornwall was covered by sea and then became a Europe-wide mountain range. The sedimentary rocks of this area around Portreath were deposited in a deep marine environment during the Devonian age (ca. 393 - 373 million years):

Greywacken: Gray rock with fine to coarse grains (0.3 - 2 mm; 0.01 - 0.08 inch), consisting of quartz, feldspars and fragments of foreign rocks. In some cases, shiny/shimmering components can be seen (mica), the rocks form layers and banks.

Siltstones: Light gray rock with fine grains (<0.063 mm; <0.002 inch) that are not visible to the naked eye. Layers can be recognized based on the color difference.

Slate: Gray to black, sometimes slightly red to greenish colored rocks with very fine grains (<0.02 mm, <0.001 inch), the rocks appear foliated with very thin layers, often alternating with greywackes.

The originally horizontal sedimentary layers of Cornwall were tectonically overprinted around 323 - 299 million years ago during the Variscan orogeny (mountain formation). During this time, the southern major continent Gondwana collided with the northern major continents Laurentia and Baltica as well as smaller continent fragments (terranes) such as Avalonia and Amorica. The orogeny ended approximately 270 million years ago with the formation of the supercontinent Pangea. Due to the pressure from the south, the sedimentary rocks were compressed, folded and internally transformed under increasing temperatures. This is how slates emerged from the original claystones. There are no deposits in the area for the period between the formation of the Devonian rocks until 3 million years ago. During the Ice Age 3 million years ago, the region of modern-day Cornwall lay in a tundra area south of the glaciers that covered the Northern Hemisphere. Periglacial deposits from this period can be observed on the cliffs.

Translated by Google •

Tip by

3.89 km

View of Navax Point

Highlight • Viewpoint

Be sure to pause a moment to enjoy this stunning view.

Tip by

7.14 km

Hell's Mouth Cliffs

Highlight • Natural Monument

From the cliffs above Hell’s Mouth, you get a spectacular view out to sea. The dark cove, situated underneath a sheer rock face, has been the subject of much tragedy and legend over the years. Don't step too close to the edge of these ominous cliffs to get a better view as there have been many landslides, including a time when 110,000 tons of earth and rock collapsed into the sea — and was caught on camera.

Tip by

8.94 km

View of Godrevy Lighthouse and Heritage Coast

Highlight • Natural Monument

Godrevy Heritage Coast stretches from Portreath in the east, to Godrevy. 14 miles of marvellous glorious hiking territory with a stunning coastline of cliffs and coves.

Tip by

9.82 km

View of Mutton Cove

Highlight • Viewpoint

This is a wonderful place to see seals. As it is only around a 5 minute walk from the National Trust Car Park, it is ideal for those who can't walk as far to get close to nature. For the quickest journey head straight across the headland. Or for a slightly longer one, take the coast path.

The view of seals is best at low tide when the seals are out of the water on the beach, but even at high tide you are likely to be able to see their heads bobbing in the water. Look for grey buoy like objects in the water. Don't forget your binoculars!

Tip by

10.6 km

Godrevy Cove

Highlight • Monument

Godrevy Head at the eastern end of St Ives Bay, overlooking Godrevy Island and its lighthouse, offers one of Cornwall's most beautiful sunsets. The lighthouse on Godrevy Iceland is said to have inspired the writer Virginia Woolf to her novel "To the Lighthouse". West of Godrevy Head is a series of breathtaking beaches such as Gwithian Beach, where Atlantic waves meet at full speed.

Translated by Google •

Tip by

11.4 km

Godrevy Café

Highlight • Cafe

Godrevy Cafe has a a great selection of food and drink. Open 7 days a week, and dog friendly.

Tip by

22.7 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

8.72 km

8.55 km

2.92 km

1.65 km

933 m

Surfaces

7.88 km

5.27 km

4.94 km

2.01 km

1.89 km

770 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (90 m)

Lowest point (10 m)

Weather

Friday 22 May

17°C

12°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 15.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

This route was planned by komoot.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Edit route

Download GPX

Move start point

Embed on a website

Report an Issue

Nearby routes

Moderate

4.9

614

St Anthony Head & Percuil River loop from Portscatho — Cornwall

04:10h

15.6km

180m

Hard

4.9

334

St Ives to Zennor Circular Walk

05:13h

18.8km

340m

Hard

4.9

325

St Ives to Zennor loop — Cornwall

05:23h

19.5km

320m

Hard

4.8

360

Cadgwith, Lizard Point & Kynance Cove loop from Kennack Sands — South West Coast Path

05:15h

19.1km

310m

Moderate

4.9

480

Godrevy to Hell's Mouth coastal walk — Cornwall

02:26h

9.09km

100m

Moderate

4.8

368

Lamorna loop from Mousehole — Cornwall

02:22h

8.43km

170m

Moderate

4.7

397

South West Coast Path: St Ives to Lelant

03:09h

11.5km

180m

Moderate

4.4

274

St Ives coastal loop via Man's Head — Cornwall

02:36h

9.54km

140m

Moderate

4.8

323

St Just-In-Roseland loop from St Mawes

02:39h

9.77km

130m

Moderate

4.9

278

St Agnes Beacon & North Cliff loop from St Agnes

03:03h

10.8km

240m

Moderate

4.7

403

St Agnes Bay from Perranporth on the South West Coast Path — Cornwall

03:28h

12.2km

240m

Easy

4.8

380

Trelissick Woodland Walk

01:15h

4.61km

60m

Hell's Mouth & Godrevy Point loop from Portreath — Cornwall

Portreath Beach

Ralph's Cupboard

Porthcadjack Cove and Waterfall

Basset's Cove

View of Navax Point

Hell's Mouth Cliffs

View of Godrevy Lighthouse and Heritage Coast

View of Mutton Cove

Godrevy Cove

Godrevy Café

Nearby routes

Sign up or log in to keep exploring this route

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️