Walk · Cornwall

Swanpool and Maenporth from Falmouth

Falmouth
A39 Cliff Road Spernen Wyn Road Hoe Wood Swanvale Nature Reserve Swanpool N 880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors
6.2MILES
2h 45mON FOOT
150mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland
Off-road 76% 24% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 56%Lane & track 20%Road with traffic 24%

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.

Starts at
Gyllyngvase Beach car park, Falmouth seafront
Parking
Gyllyngvase pay-and-display on the seafront, large but full on hot days; Swanpool car park is smaller and closer to the cliff path, Maenporth has its own beach car park
Directions to the start →

Six miles round the headlands south of Falmouth, two and three quarter hours with 150 metres of climbing and a lagoon nature reserve at the halfway mark. Start on Gyllyngvase seafront where the town car park is, or at Swanpool a little further on; both are pay-and-display and the number 35 bus runs the same line if you would rather do it one way. Easy going with no significant stile trouble and a freshwater pool at Swanpool, but the three town beaches are all restricted in season and the path around Pennance Point runs along an unfenced low cliff.

THE SMALL PRINTGyllyngvase bans dogs 10am to 6pm from 15 May to 30 September as a Blue Flag beach; Swanpool, Castle Beach and Maenporth ban dogs 10am to 6pm from 1 July to 31 August. All under the Cornwall Council order.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead OK
Water bowls
REGION · CORNWALL
GRID · 50.1450, -5.0670
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.IWALKCORNWALL.CO.UK/WALK/MAENPORTH_TO_BUDOCK_WATER
Also in Falmouth
No photo yet
Restaurant DOGS WELCOME

Beach House Falmouth

TR11 5BG
No reviews yet

Café, bar and kitchen sitting directly on Swanpool beach with the coast path running past the door. Dogs are welcome everywhere at Beach House, including the upstairs Top Bar, which the owners describe as completely dog-friendly. Note that Swanpool itself bans dogs 10am to 6pm through July and August.

In the bar In the dining room
VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors
Walk SOME LIMITS

Falmouth and Pendennis Point

TR11 4LP
5.4 MI · 2H 30M · 56% OFF-ROAD

Five and a half easy miles right round the Pendennis peninsula, taking in the working docks, the castle headland and all three town beaches, about two and a half hours on largely surfaced paths. Start from The Moor in the middle of Falmouth or from the castle car park on the point itself; the town has two railway stations on the Truro branch, so this walk is genuinely car-free. There are no stiles and no livestock, but a good deal of it is pavement and dock road where a lead is needed, and every beach on the loop closes to dogs for part of the summer.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
Gyllyngvase Beach
Beach SOME LIMITS

Gyllyngvase Beach

Dogs banned MAY–SEP

Falmouth's main town beach, a gentle curve of sand with gardens behind it and the coast path running along the top. As an award beach it carries the long restriction, closed to dogs from 10am to 6pm between mid-May and the end of September. Swanpool, ten minutes west, only closes in July and August.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›

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