Walk · Dorset

Branksome Chine to Alum Chine

Bournemouth

3.4MILES

1h 45mON FOOT

60mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland

Off-road 60% 40% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 45%Lane & track 15%Road with traffic 40%

Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

Branksome Chine car park, at the bottom of Branksome Wood Road

Parking

Pay and display at both Branksome Chine and Alum Chine, roughly 150 spaces each; both are a steep zig zag above the beach and fill by 11am in summer

Directions to the start →

A 3.4-mile loop of an hour and three quarters along the seafront promenade between two wooded chines, returning up through the subtropical planting of Alum Chine and the pines of Branksome Dene. Flat on the prom, then 60 metres of steady climb through the chines on surfaced paths and steps. Park at Branksome Chine or Alum Chine, both pay and display, both a steep zig zag walk down to the sand and both busy from mid-morning in summer. This is the key stretch to know: BCP allows dogs all year from the western side of Alum Chine to the Branksome Chine beach office, so a swim is legal in August here when the main Bournemouth sands are shut, with leads required on the promenade and the zig zags.

THE SMALL PRINTBCP lists the western side of Alum Chine to Branksome Chine beach office as open to dogs all year round; the Blue Flag beaches either side exclude dogs from 1 May to 30 September. Dogs must be on a lead on the promenade, the zig zags and the chine footpaths at all times.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed

REGION · DORSET

GRID · 50.7005, -1.9210

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.BCPCOUNCIL.GOV.UK/BEACHES-AND-SEAFRONT/WHAT-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW-BEFORE-VISITING-ONE-OF-OUR-BEACHES/WHERE-AND-WHEN-YOU-CAN-BRING-YOUR-DOG-TO-THE-BEACH

Branksome Chine to Alum Chine

House rules, decoded

1812

29 Spice

7Bone Burger Co.

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