Around the Hayle estuary and the Towans dunes to the artists' town of St Ives.
Highlights
- Hayle estuary birds
- Carbis Bay
- St Ives
Know before you go
- Estuary and town road sections
Climbs 327 m and descends 314 m, topping out at 55 m and dropping to 1 m. Measured along the mapped route.
What you walk on, by distance (from OpenStreetMap way types).
Four axes rated 1–5 — the single rating above is only the headline.
Around the Hayle estuary and the Towans dunes to the artists' town of St Ives.
Places on this leg with a full history, and free audio guides you can read or hear.
Hayle to St Ives is 7.1 miles (11.5 km). Allow about 3 h 54 min of walking, before stops.
Stage 20 climbs about 327 m and descends about 314 m, with a high point of about 55 m. On the South West Coast Path the ascent, not the distance, is what decides how long a day takes — the route repeatedly drops to sea level and climbs straight back out.
It is graded easy. Rated out of five: physical demand 1/5 (Low), terrain 3/5 (Moderate), navigation 2/5 (Modest), remoteness 2/5 (Modest). On the SAC hiking scale it is T1 — mostly well-made path, falling is largely unlikely.
By distance the surface is footpath 46%, track 1%, road & lane 51%, other 2%. Percentages come from the mapped way types along the route.
March to October is the usual window for this leg. Outside it, daylight is short, some estuary ferries stop running and cliff-top wind and rain make an exposed route much harder work.
Water on this stage is abundant. We map 7 refill points on the leg — mostly pubs, cafés and taps in the villages the path passes through. Shade is minimal: this is open cliff-top walking, so carry more than you think in summer.
Highlights on this leg are Hayle estuary birds, Carbis Bay, St Ives. It also passes 1 place we cover in depth: St Ives. There is 1 free audio guide between them.
Estuary and town road sections.