Cornwall

Chyvarloe to Gunwalloe Fishing Cove

A woman wearing a running vest with her dog on a lead runs along a coast path with sea in the distance — Runner on the SW Coast Path | © National Trust Images/John Millar

This 3 1/4 mile circular trail, will take you along a section of Loe Pool and beginning the SW Coast Path at Loe Bar, you will take in coastal views to Gunwalloe Fishing Cove. Where you will then return to the start point via the road and in-land fields.

Near to

Penrose

Start point

Chyvarloe car park, postcode TR12 7PY.

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 3.25 (km: 5.2)

Duration1.75 hours 105 mins

Dog friendly***

*A moderate climb; uneven paths, may be muddy in winter; 500m of road walking.
**There are kissing gates at multiple points along this route
***Keep dogs under close control. Beware of livestock and cliff edges.

Beware of cliff edges

Stay clear of cliff edges. No swimming, boating, watersports or fishing are allowed in Loe Pool, and no swimming is permitted at Loe Bar due to dangerous currents and tides. Loe Pool and River Cober are prone to seasonal flooding.

Total stages: 6
Total stages: 6
Start point
Chyvarloe car park, postcode TR12 7PY.
Stage 1
Start at the car park just past Chyvarloe and walk back down the track to the farm, opposite Chyvarloe Wartha. Go through the gap in the hedge and then through the kissing gate. Go down the field and through the second kissing gate into Chyvarloe Wood.
Stage 2
The path descends down through the woods and you’ll reach the path at Carminowe Creek; turn left, and follow it all the way to Loe Bar. In winter, this path is prone to flooding, follow signs for the alternative route.
Stage 3
Take the grassy path curving round to the left of Loe Bar. Go past the track leading back to Chyvarloe and take the coast path onto the cliffs.
Anson memorial
A short detour leads to the Anson memorial. Watch for kestrels and peregrine falcons on the cliffs, and skylarks and linnets over the fields. In early summer the path is edged with milkwort, squill, kidney vetch and lousewort, and runs beside a bank smothered in scurvy grass, thrift and sea campion. Paths are bordered with bird’s foot-trefoil and black medick. Look, too, for Portland spurge, sea holly and sea sandwort. A large colony of scarce mining bees lives at this end of the Bar.
Stage 4
Continue up the coast path. At a fork take the steeply sloping path to the right, with views across Gunwalloe Fishing Cove to Halzephron Cliffs. Take care where the path veers close to the crumbling cliff edge.
Stage 5
Once you've reached the slipway at Fishing Cove, if you'd like, take a short detour down to the beach. To continue on the trail route, turn left up the track to the main road.
The beach
As you near the cove, you’ll pass evidence of the cove’s pilchard fishing industry – a net store and fish cellars, and several rusty winches. The beach, like Loe Bar, is nine-tenths flint pebbles, washed in from off-shore chalk deposits. Beneath the sea wall at the foot of the cliffs you’ll see the fast-eroding remains of a ‘raised beach’, formed 120,000 years ago before the last Ice Age, when sea levels were higher. On the cliffs to the south, two pillboxes from the Second World War guard the beach, one mounted with a flagpole.
Stage 6
At the road, opposite the Helzephron Inn, turn left. At the next junction, where the main road curves to the right, go straight ahead, in 250m you'll reach a footpath on the left. Follow the path over stiles through the fields. Go through a gate, into a green lane, and eventually emerge onto a track passing Penrose bunkhouse, and at the lane turn left, back to your car.
End point
Chyvarloe car park, postcode TR12 7PY.
Trail map
Map of walk from Chyvarloe to Gunwalloe Fishing Cove | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 ordanance survey
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