Walk · Devon

Lee Bay and the coastal heathlands

Ilfracombe · EX34 8LR

4.2MILES

2h 30mON FOOT

300mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

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

Off-road 88% 12% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 62%Lane & track 26%Road with traffic 12%

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

Lee Bay car park, at the bottom of the village by the beach EX34 8LR

Parking

Small paid car park at Lee Bay, perhaps 30 spaces, full on fine days and reached by steep narrow lanes

Directions to the start →

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.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed

Livestock — leads on

REGION · DEVON

GRID · 51.2077, -4.1845

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.SOUTHWESTCOASTPATH.ORG.UK/WALKSDB/25/

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Lee Bay and the coastal heathlands

House rules, decoded

11 The Quay

Acorn Lodge

Adele's Café and Sandwich Bar

Cottages you can book near Ilfracombe

Tell us the pub we have not walked into yet.

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