East Portlemouth and Gara Rock
Three point nine miles of easy coast above the eastern shore of the Salcombe estuary, taking around two and a quarter hours with 190 metres of climbing on rocky cliff path, a surfaced lane and one green lane. Start at the small East Portlemouth car park, or leave the car in Salcombe and cross on the passenger ferry from Whitestrand, which takes dogs for a small fare and saves the long drive round by Frogmore. This is the best dog walk on the estuary because Mill Bay, Sunny Cove and Rickham Sand all stay open to dogs year round, there is sheltered water to swim in on the way out, and the only care needed is the unfenced cliff top by Gara Rock and stock in the fields on the green lane home.
North Sands
The inner and quieter of Salcombe's beaches, with a good stretch of sand at low water and the Winking Prawn behind it. North Sands carries no dog exclusion in the South Hams order, unlike South Sands a few hundred yards on, so it is the summer default for anyone in Salcombe with a dog.
Snapes Point estuary loop
1 MI · 35M · 92% OFF-ROADA one-mile National Trust loop out to a low headland in the middle of the Salcombe estuary, half an hour of gentle walking with a few steps and about 45 metres of climbing on grass and farm track. The Trust car park at the top of Sandhills Road is free and holds perhaps a dozen cars, so it is a good bet when Salcombe itself is gridlocked; the walk is also reachable on foot from the town in fifteen minutes. Dogs can be off the lead on the headland but the loop crosses grazed pasture with cattle in summer, and the shoreline below is reached only at a couple of muddy gaps, so this is a view walk rather than a swimming one.