Walk · Devon

Sharp Tor and Bolt Head from South Sands

Salcombe · TQ8 8LL
Tor Woods Fir Wood N 440 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors
3.6MILES
2h 15mON FOOT
240mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland
Off-road 82% 18% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 74%Lane & track 8%Road with traffic 18%

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
South Sands beach, at the end of Cliff Road below Tides Reach TQ8 8LL
Parking
Small paid car park at South Sands, full by 10am in July and August; the free overflow is Shadycombe in Salcombe with the seasonal ferry down
Directions to the start →

A 3.6-mile circuit from South Sands up past the palms of Overbeck's to the rock towers of Sharp Tor and Bolt Head, about two and a quarter hours with 240 metres of climbing on uneven, rocky cliff path and a stepped drop into Starehole Bay. Start from the small paid car park at Tides Reach or leave the car in Shadycombe in Salcombe and take the South Sands ferry, because the lane down is narrow and the beach parking fills by mid-morning. Dogs are excluded from South Sands between 1 May and 30 September except to cross on a lead for the ferry, but the headland above is open and off-lead, with sheep in the fields behind Tor Woods and a long unfenced drop above Starehole.

THE SMALL PRINTSouth Hams dog control PSPO: dogs excluded from Salcombe South Sands between 1 May and 30 September inclusive, a 24-hour ban, except during ferry operating times when dogs are permitted to cross the sands on a lead to embark and disembark.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed
Livestock — leads on
REGION · DEVON
GRID · 50.2228, -3.7820
SOURCE · HTTPS://SOUTHHAMS.GOV.UK/ENVIRONMENTAL-HEALTH-AND-NUISANCE/DOGS/DOG-EXCLUSION-AREAS-BEACHES
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