Walking the South West Coast Path with a Dog

The South West Coast Path is a good trail for a dog in the ways that matter most — long days in the open, beaches, no scrambling — and a demanding one in the ways people forget: cliff edges, fields of stock, stiles, boats, summer beach rules and hardly any shade. This guide goes through each of them using the ratings and warnings on the stage pages, the site's ferries page and the sources listed above. Where the site's records are silent — dog-friendly beds, ferry dog policies — it says so rather than guessing.

Cliffs

The path runs along the top of cliffs for most of its length, and the ground near the edge is often undercut, soft or fenced only on the field side. Two stage pages carry specific edge warnings — Portreath to Hayle for the sheer cliffs at Hell's Mouth, and Seaton to Seatown for the unstable fossil cliffs — but the rule applies everywhere. A dog chasing a gull or a rabbit does not see the drop.

Keep the dog on a short lead wherever the path runs close to the edge, in wind, and anywhere you cannot see what is beyond the next rise. Walk with the dog on the landward side of you. On the stretches with a fence between the path and the field, the seaward side is the open one, which is the opposite of what a dog on a lead usually expects. The Lulworth ranges leaflet's advice to stay away from cliff edges and overhangs and not to sit under or climb cliffs applies to both of you.

Livestock and stiles

Most of the path outside the towns crosses farmland, and the stage surface figures on this site show why: on Hartland Quay to Bude, 93 per cent of the stage is footpath, and much of that is field-edge path with stock in the fields. Cattle, sheep and horses are all common. Keep the dog on a lead through any field with animals in it, walk round the herd rather than through it, and if cattle come towards you, let the dog off so it can get clear and you can too.

Stiles are the other farmland reality. Many are now gates, but a long section still has stiles, some with a dog gap and some without, and a dog that cannot be lifted is a problem at the third one of the morning. If your dog is large, practise the lift before you go.

Water and shade

This is the point most first-time dog walkers underestimate. Shade is rated minimal on every one of the 52 stages on this site — this is open cliff-top walking end to end, with woodland only on a few Exmoor and estuary stretches. Water is rated scarce on 15 stages:

On these days carry water for the dog as well as for yourself — a collapsible bowl and an extra litre — and refill at every mapped point; each stage page lists the pubs, cafés and taps along the way and how reliable they are. On the three scarce stages also rated 4 for remoteness (Lynmouth to Combe Martin, Clovelly to Hartland Quay, St Ives to Pendeen) there may be nothing at all between the ends. Stream water is usually available in the combes, but sea water is not drinking water, and a dog will try it.

In July and August, start early, rest in the middle of the day where there is shade, and watch for the signs of overheating on the long climbs — the ascent on this path is what tires a dog as much as a walker. Consider the best-time guide: May, June and September are cooler and quieter.

Ferries

Seventeen crossings on fifteen stages, and each boat sets its own rules. The ferries page lists every crossing with its season and its fallback — it does not record dog policies, because they are the operator's to set and change, so this guide does not claim to know them. Ask before the day, and expect that a small ferry may ask for the dog to be carried or kept on a lead on deck.

Two crossings need a separate thought. The River Erme on stage 37 has no boat: you wade it for roughly an hour either side of low water at Mothecombe, and most dogs cross more happily than their owners. The Gannel on stage 17 and Gillan Creek on stage 28 are stepping stones near low water or a seasonal ferry; stepping stones with a dog on a lead are awkward, so use the boat when it runs.

Beaches and seasonal restrictions

The path runs along or above dozens of beaches, and in summer many of them restrict dogs. The rules are set locally — by a council or by the landowner — so the beach on one side of a headland can differ from the beach on the other. Two examples from the sources for this guide:

• Torbay (stage 42, Brixham to Babbacombe): the council bars dogs from ten beaches or beach sections from 1 May to 30 September, including Paignton Sands, Preston Sands, Torre Abbey Sands, Breakwater Beach and Broadsands, and allows them all year on fifteen others including Babbacombe Beach and Anstey's Cove. Assistance dogs are allowed on all beaches all year.
• Studland (stage 52, the finish): the National Trust allows dogs on all its beaches — Knoll, Middle, South Beach and Shell Bay — all year, but from 1 May to 30 September they must be on a lead of under two metres anywhere on the beach, and from 1 March to 31 July on a lead in the heathland and dunes to protect ground-nesting birds.

Other councils along the route publish their own seasonal orders, and this site has not verified each one, so the working assumption is a summer restriction on any resort beach until you have checked. The path itself is unaffected: a beach ban applies to the sand, not to the right of way above it.

Ground-nesting birds and wildlife

The Studland rule for the heath and dunes is one instance of a general spring problem: dunes and heath hold ground-nesting birds in spring and early summer, and Braunton Burrows on stage 5, the Hayle estuary on stage 20 and the Exe and Taw estuaries are birdwatching sites. Keep the dog on a lead through dunes and heath in spring, and away from the shoreline on the estuary stages where wading birds feed.

The Lulworth ranges

Stage 51 crosses the Ministry of Defence ranges when they are open. The ranges leaflet is explicit: keep to the waymarked paths between the yellow-banded posts and within the fences at all times, do not touch any metal object on the ground, and stay away from the cliff edges. With a dog that means a lead for the whole crossing — the paths have been cleared of explosives; the ground either side has not.

Where to stay

The accommodation records behind this site — hotels, guesthouses, hostels and campsites — do not carry a dog-friendly flag, so this guide cannot give you a list of beds that take dogs. Ask when you book. The usual answers on this coast are pubs with rooms, farmhouse B&Bs on the cliff sections and campsites, all of which the stays directory lets you filter by type; the camping guide lists the campsites the records place near the path. In late July and August, when the accommodation page says beds are scarce along the whole path, a dog narrows the field further, so book early.

A short kit list for the dog

A short lead and a longer one; a collapsible bowl and an extra litre of water on the scarce stages; the dog's food for the remote days, because the stage may pass no shop; a towel for the estuary crossings and the tent; a harness that lets you lift the dog over a stile or into a boat; poo bags, carried out on the cliff stages where there are no bins; and, for the longer days, a check on the pads at each stop — the path's mix of rock, steps and sand is hard on them.

The days that suit a dog best

The flat estuary and beach days: Woolacombe to Braunton, Braunton to Instow, Instow to Westward Ho! in North Devon; Hayle to St Ives in Cornwall; Seatown to Abbotsbury and Abbotsbury to Ferrybridge along Chesil in Dorset. Low ascent, few cliff edges, and towns at the ends. Note that four of those six are rated scarce for water, so the bowl still comes.