Wales

Marloes Peninsula coastal walk

A visitor walking along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path at Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire — A visitor exploring the Pembrokeshire Coast Path at Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire | © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

Explore this beautiful heathland peninsula on the Pembrokeshire coast, surrounded by wildlife such as seals, seabirds and porpoises. This circular route takes you across farmland, along the Wales Coast Path and through the remains of Iron Age forts.

Near to

Marloes Sands and Mere

Start point

Marloes Sands car park, grid ref: SM789082

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 4 (km: 6.4)

Duration2 hours

Dog friendly***

*Moderate to rugged paths, some gradients and steps. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**The route is rugged but there is an accessible section from Martin's Haven car park. For further details, please see section marked Access.
***Dogs welcome. Please keep them on leads around livestock and on the coast path. For further details, please see Facilities section.

What is the Deer Park?

The area at the far end of the peninsula is named after a failed attempt to establish a deer park in the late 18th to early 19th century. It’s the site of an important Iron Age fort, and is the best place to spot baby seals in late summer.

Address
Marloes, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, SA62 3BH
Directions via Google Maps
By train
Haverfordwest, 12 miles (19.3km); Milford Haven, 9 miles (14.4km); Pembroke Dock, 13 miles (20.9km).
On foot
Marloes and the Deer Park are on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
Pembrokeshire Coast Path
By bus
315 Puffin Shuttle, Haverfordwest to Marloes, daily May to September.
Cycling
B4327 from Haverfordwest, along numerous country roads.
By road
B4327 from Haverfordwest, along numerous country roads. Satnav: use SA62 3BH.
Total stages: 7
Total stages: 7
Start point
Marloes Sands car park, grid ref: SM789082
Stage 1
From the south end of Marloes Sands car park, turn right by the emergency phone, following signs to the toilets. Continue along the lane and as you pass Marloes Mere look out for wetland birds. Past the Mere, turn left towards the coast path. The popular beach of Marloes Sands is covered at high tide. Gateholm Island, to your right, is a prehistoric settlement only reachable at low tide.
Stage 2
On reaching the coast path you'll see Marloes Sands to your left. Turn right, however, and continue towards Gateholm Island. As you come level with Gateholm, Skokholm is ahead of you with Skomer coming into view on the right.
Stage 3
Continue along the coast path and through the Iron Age fort. Enjoy the dramatic sedimentary rock formations along the coast. Skomer Island and Midland Isle gradually come into view. Grassholm, white with gannets in summer, can be seen on the horizon from the site of the Iron Age fort.
Birds to spot
You can spot many seabirds on the peninsula. Guillemots, puffins and razorbills breed in huge colonies on Skomer, and Grassholm is one of the largest gannetries in the world. Wooltack Point is a good vantage point for watching seabirds fishing during the spring and summer. This area is also a very popular breeding ground for the chough (with its distinctive red legs and beak), which you can spot all year round.
Stage 4
Continue along the coast path around the deer park (the end of the Marloes Peninsula). Follow the path up to Wooltack Point for views across to Skomer and St Davids Peninsula.
Seals and Jack Sound
About 50 Atlantic grey seal pups are born each year on the beaches around the peninsula, making the cliffs above the beaches on the Deer Park excellent for clifftop seal watching. You can spot seal pups on the small beaches at the west end of the Deer Park in late summer, and Jack Sound is a popular haunt for porpoises. The treacherous waters of Jack Sound lie between the Deer Park and Midland Isle, while Wooltack Point offers spectacular views across St Bride's Bay.
Stage 5
Go through the gate onto the road and turn left towards Martin's Haven and the Skomer embarkation point. Just before the beach, follow the coast path right and up the steps. The path continues east, with St Bride's Bay to the left and West Hook Farm to the right. Enjoy the magnificent views across St Bride's Bay towards Newgale, the Solva Coast, St David's Peninsula and Ramsey Island.
Ponies in the Deer Park
Grazing Welsh mountain ponies keep the coastal heathland vegetation in good order. Plants such as heather and gorse need nutrient-poor acidic soils to grow, but modern farming practices have increased soil fertility by applying lime, manure and fertiliser. Trehill Farm is part of an important experiment to provide more favourable soil for heathland, stripping topsoil and speeding up re-acidification by adding sulphur, a by-product of the oil refinery at Pembroke.
Stage 6
After just over a mile (1.6km), leave the coast path, turning right through a self-closing gate and past a West Hook Farm National Trust sign, then cross three fields to reach the road.
Stage 7
Turn left and walk along the road past Trehill Farm. Just over 400yd (400m) past the farm, turn right by two semi-detached cottages and down the track leading back to the car park. (Just over 100yd (100m) past the turning, a track to the right leads to another hide overlooking Marloes Mere.)
End point
Marloes Sands car park, grid ref: SM789082
Trail map
Map of the Marloes Peninsula walk | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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Marloes Peninsula Deer Park, Pembrokeshire

Trail

Martins Haven – the deer park walk

A short but spectacular walk around the end of the Marloes Peninsula with lots of seals (pups in autumn), heather and wildflowers, spectacular rocks and sea views.