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Trek England — Cornwall, United Kingdom

Cornwall's Coast Path: St Ives to Land's End

Three days around the wild granite tip of Penwith — from St Ives along Cornwall's roughest cliffs, past ruined engine houses and hidden coves, to Land's End.

Cornwall's Coast Path: St Ives to Land's End
Photo: Geof Sheppard · CC BY-SA 3.0
Duration
3 days
Distance
42 km
Walking time (est.)
13 h 15 min
Ascent
1250 m
Difficulty
Moderate
Best season
April–September, with May–June best for cliff wildflowers and long light

Walking

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    Getting there and back

    Start
    St Ives
    Finish
    Land's End

    One-way: plan your trip back

    Directions to the start Back from the finish

    The South West Coast Path runs about 1,014 km (630 miles) from Minehead in Somerset all the way round to Poole Harbour in Dorset — England’s longest National Trail after the England Coast Path. This is the piece most walkers would pick if they only had a few days: the far western tip of the Penwith peninsula, where Cornwall runs out of land.

    Because the path faithfully rises and falls at every stream mouth and headland, it is far tougher than a coastal walk sounds. The northern side of Penwith is the roughest of it — a boulder-strewn, granite-slabbed switchback with almost no easy ground. Then the character changes: around Pendeen and Botallack the cliffs fill with the chimneys and engine houses of Cornwall’s abandoned tin mines, clinging to ledges above the Atlantic, and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Finally the coast swings south to the famous, crowded headland at Land’s End.

    Getting there. Trains run to St Ives via a short branch line from St Erth, itself on the main line from Penzance. From Land’s End, buses run back to Penzance, where you can pick up the train home.

    Good to know:

    Footpath as mapped in OpenStreetMapStraight line between stops, not the path

    Elevation profile

    Highest point
    186 m Day 1
    Lowest point
    -3 m Day 3
    Total descent
    617 m

    Point at the profile, or focus it and use the arrow keys, to see that spot on the map.

    Terrain heights along a straight line between each day’s stops, not along the footpath, so a pass or a switchback the path takes can be missing. Descent and walking times use the same line.

    Elevation data: Terrain Tiles (Mapzen, AWS Open Data)

    Day by day

    DayDistanceAscentDescent (est.)Walking time (est.)
    Day 1St Ives to Zennor
    Distance10 kmAscent350 mDescent (est.)113 mWalking time (est.)3 h 15 min
    Day 2 Hardest dayZennor to Cape Cornwall
    Distance21 kmAscent600 mDescent (est.)408 mWalking time (est.)6 h 45 min
    Day 3Cape Cornwall to Land's End
    Distance11 kmAscent300 mDescent (est.)96 mWalking time (est.)3 h 15 min

    Number of days

    Fewer or more days? Pick a number and the written stretches regroup into balanced days.

    4 days

    Your plan in 4 days

    1. Day 1 St Ives → Zennor

      10 km 350 m 3 h

      Leave by 4:47 PM

      Stretches: Out of St Ives to Zennor Head Down to the village

      Sleeps where the written plan does (day 1).

    2. Day 2 Zennor → Pendeen Watch

      13 km 350 m 3 h 45 min

      Leave by 4:03 PM

      Stretches: The long empty coast to Pendeen Watch

      Not an overnight in the written plan: check there is somewhere to sleep before you book.

    3. Day 3 Pendeen Watch → Cape Cornwall

      8 km 250 m 2 h 30 min

      Leave by 5:20 PM

      Stretches: Levant and the tin coast Crowns engine houses to Cape Cornwall

      Sleeps where the written plan does (day 2).

    4. Day 4 Cape Cornwall → Land's End

      11 km 300 m 3 h 15 min

      Leave by 4:36 PM

      Stretches: South to Sennen Cove The last headland

      Sleeps where the written plan does (day 3).

    Back to the written plan (3 days)

    Days are cut only where a written stretch ends, balanced by estimated walking time. The written plan below is unchanged.

    Flights on Kayak Car rental on Localrent Travel eSIM on Airalo

    Day 1

    St Ives to Zennor

    St Ives → Zennor 10 km 350 m 3 h 15 min

    Leave by 4:32 PM

    Navigate this day

    Leave the harbour town and commit to the boulder-strewn granite coast, finishing inland at one of Cornwall’s most atmospheric small villages.

    Water and food

    Water
    Drinking water 190 m from stop 1
    Food
    54 Lemons Cafe 40 m from stop 1
    Lulu's Fast food 50 m from stop 1
    Curry Garden Restaurant 50 m from stop 1
    Mine Taproom Pub 60 m from stop 1
    The Tinners Arms Pub 40 m from stop 2

    Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Ways off

    Mountain lifts and buses often run in summer only. Check the timetable before you rely on one. Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Segments

    1. Out of St Ives to Zennor Head
      Out of St Ives to Zennor Head 8 km 250 m Map

      St Ives harbour → Zennor Head

      Boulder-strewn granite clifftop

      St Ives was a fishing port before it became a resort and an artists' colony, and it empties quickly: within a mile the houses are gone and the path is picking its way over granite slabs, boulders and bracken. Slow, awkward and completely wild. About 4 hours.

      About this place

      St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times, it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis, and the town is now primarily a popular seaside resort. It is notable in achieving the title of Best UK Seaside Town from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by The Guardian newspaper.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: waterborough · Public domain
    2. Down to the village
      Down to the village 2 km 100 m Map

      Zennor Head → Zennor

      Field path inland

      Turn inland off the headland to Zennor, a tiny parish on the north coast about 10 km from Penzance, wrapped in ancient field walls. Its church carries the carved mermaid of local legend, and there is a pub and a hostel — a welcome sight after that coast.

      About this place

      Zennor is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Penzance, along the B3306 road which connects St Ives to the A30 road. Alphabetically, the parish is the last in Britain. Its name comes from the Cornish name for the local saint, Saint Senara.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Jim Champion · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Day 2

    Zennor to Cape Cornwall

    Zennor → Cape Cornwall 21 km 600 m 6 h 45 min

    Leave by 12:33 PM

    Navigate this day

    More rough coast to the lighthouse at Pendeen Watch, then engine houses on the cliff edge all the way to Cape Cornwall.

    Water and food

    Water
    None found near the stops. Carry enough for the day.
    Food
    The Tinners Arms Pub 50 m from stop 1
    Count House Cafe Cafe 630 m from stop 2
    Little Wonder Cafe Cafe 100 m from stop 3

    Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Ways off

    Mountain lifts and buses often run in summer only. Check the timetable before you rely on one. Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Segments

    1. The long empty coast to Pendeen Watch
      The long empty coast to Pendeen Watch 13 km 350 m Map

      Zennor → Pendeen Watch

      Remote clifftop, rough and boggy in places

      The emptiest miles of the walk — hours of cliff, heath and small coves with almost no way off the path — ending at Pendeen Watch, the working lighthouse standing about a kilometre north of Pendeen village. About 5 hours.

      About this place

      Pendeen Lighthouse, also known as Pendeen Watch, is an active aid to navigation located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the north of Pendeen in west Cornwall, England. It is located within the Aire Point to Carrick Du SSSI, the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Penwith Heritage Coast. The South West Coast Path passes to the south.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Jim Champion · CC BY-SA 3.0
    2. Levant and the tin coast
      Levant and the tin coast 4 km 100 m Map

      Pendeen Watch → Botallack

      Mining tracks along the cliff

      The coast turns industrial. At Levant, a National Trust site near Trewellard, sits the world's oldest Cornish steam winding engine still working where it was built; the mine's tunnels run out under the seabed.

      About this place

      Levant Mine and Beam Engine is a National Trust property at Trewellard, Pendeen, near St Just, Cornwall, England, UK. Its main attraction is that it has the world's oldest Cornish steam winding engine still working in its original location. There is also a visitor centre, a short underground tour, and the South West Coast Path leads to Botallack Mine, via a cliff-top footpath.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Kernow Skies · CC BY-SA 3.0
    3. Crowns engine houses to Cape Cornwall
      Crowns engine houses to Cape Cornwall 4 km 150 m Map

      Botallack → Cape Cornwall

      Clifftop path

      Pass the Crowns at Botallack — two engine houses perched on a ledge just above the breakers, part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site — and continue to Cape Cornwall, a small headland north of Land's End that was believed to be Cornwall's most westerly point until the first Ordnance Survey put it right.

      About this place

      Cape Cornwall is a small headland in West Cornwall, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Land's End near the town of St Just. Until the first Ordnance Survey in the early 19th-century, Cape Cornwall was believed to be the most westerly point in Cornwall.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Kernow Skies · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Day 3

    Cape Cornwall to Land's End

    Cape Cornwall → Land's End 11 km 300 m 3 h 15 min

    Leave by 4:35 PM

    Navigate this day

    Gentler cliffs south from the Cape, a long sand beach at Sennen, and the final headland.

    Water and food

    Water
    None found near the stops. Carry enough for the day.
    Food
    The Blue Lagoon Fish & Chips Fast food 70 m from stop 1
    Sennen Cove Cafe Cafe 80 m from stop 1
    The Old Boathouse Convenience shop 90 m from stop 1
    The Bakehouse Cafe 330 m from stop 2
    The Land's End Hotel Restaurant 340 m from stop 2

    Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Ways off

    Mountain lifts and buses often run in summer only. Check the timetable before you rely on one. Places mapped by volunteers on OpenStreetMap; opening times and taps change, so check before relying on one. © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Segments

    1. South to Sennen Cove
      South to Sennen Cove 8 km 200 m Map

      Cape Cornwall → Sennen Cove

      Clifftop path with coves

      Kinder walking than anything since St Ives, dipping through small coves before the sweep of Whitesand Bay opens up and drops you into Sennen Cove — a small coastal village in Sennen parish, with a lifeboat station and Cornwall's best-known surf beach. About 3 hours.

      About this place

      Sennen Cove is a small coastal village in the parish of Sennen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the Penwith District Council, the population of this settlement was estimated at 180 persons in 2000. The South West Coast Path passes through Sennen Cove.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Jim Champion · CC BY-SA 3.0
    2. The last headland
      The last headland 3 km 100 m Map

      Sennen Cove → Land's End

      Short clifftop finish

      A short walk out to Land's End, the headland about 13 km west-south-west of Penzance where England stops: English Channel to the east, Celtic Sea to the west, the Longships lighthouse offshore. The tourist complex is unlovely, but walk out onto the rocks and the ending earns itself.

      About this place

      Land's End is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about eight miles (13 km) west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is the English Channel, and to the west the Celtic Sea.

      Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Balon Greyjoy · CC0

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