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

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 walkable paths. 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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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3.89 km

View of Navax Point

Highlight • Viewpoint

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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