Walk · Dorset

Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

West Lulworth · BH20 5RQ

3.6MILES

2hON FOOT

230mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

Off-road 86% 14% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 60%Lane & track 26%Road with traffic 14%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, 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

Lulworth Cove main car park, beside the Heritage Centre BH20 5RQ

Parking

Large paid estate car park, several hundred spaces, full by 10am in July and August with queues back along the B3070; the Durdle Door holiday park car park above is the alternative

Directions to the start →

A 3.6-mile circuit of the most photographed mile of English coast, two hours and 230 metres of climb, up the stepped chalk of Hambury Tout to the arch at Durdle Door, on to Scratchy Bottom and back by farm track and lane to Stair Hole. Hard-surfaced and stepped for the first half, grass and stone after, and busy: this is not a quiet walk between April and October. Start at the Lulworth Cove main car park, a large paid estate car park with the visitor centre attached, which fills completely by mid-morning in summer with queues on the B3070. The clifftop is unfenced above sheer chalk, sheep graze the Newlands fields, and the cove is the one place a dog can swim, though the shingle shelves steeply.

THE SMALL PRINTSheep graze the fields above Durdle Door, so leads through the grazing, and the whole clifftop is unfenced above sheer chalk drops with a long stepped descent to the beach. Dogs are not admitted to the visitor centre building.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed

Livestock — leads on

REGION · DORSET

GRID · 50.6205, -2.2495

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.KOMOOT.COM/GUIDE/20611/HIKING-IN-DORSET

Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

House rules, decoded

Blue Crab Cafe Bar

Boatshed Cafe

Chococo

Dog-friendly cottages you can book

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