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.
A short but stiff 1.4 miles round the Iron Age hill the town calls the Sleeping Elephant, three quarters of an hour with 130 metres of climbing on coast path and footpath that goes rocky, slippery and muddy in patches. Start at Hele Bay car park just east of Ilfracombe harbour, where the number 3 and 3a buses from Barnstaple stop 100 metres up Hillsborough Road, and take the stepped path up from the beach. Dogs do well here because Hele Bay itself is not covered by the North Devon beach order and there are dog-friendly pubs at the bottom, though the summit paths run close to unfenced cliff edges and the woodland stretch is steep enough that a big dog on a lead will pull you off balance.
A demanding 4.2 miles of about two and a half hours from the rock pools at Lee Bay, west along the coast path over gorse and heather heathland and back through the woods and old farmland behind, with 300 metres of climbing and some genuinely marshy sections. Start at the small car park at Lee Bay, reached by steep single-track lanes three miles west of Ilfracombe and served only by the sparse 305 bus; there are toilets 75 metres up the footpath from the car park. The heathland is a fine off-lead stretch and the beck at Lee gives dogs a drink, but the coast path runs unfenced above sheer slate cliffs, the farmland has stock, and the pubs in Lee and up in Mortehoe are the nearest water bowls.
A small ale house on Broad Street in old Ilfracombe, a couple of minutes from the harbour and the Tunnels. It describes itself as a family friendly, pet friendly environment for all well behaved individuals and families, and rooms are now available above the pub.
Victorian bathing beaches reached through hand-carved tunnels in the cliff, privately run and ticketed, with a tidal seawater pool. Dogs may go through the tunnels on a lead but are not allowed onto the beaches themselves, at any time of year, so this is a walk-through rather than a day out with a dog.
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