Past the Slapton Ley freshwater lagoon and Blackpool Sands to the Dartmouth Castle ferry.
Highlights
- Slapton Sands & Ley
- Blackpool Sands
- Dartmouth Castle
Know before you go
- Road beside the Slapton Line
Climbs 587 m and descends 590 m, topping out at 117 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.
Past the Slapton Ley freshwater lagoon and Blackpool Sands to the Dartmouth Castle ferry.
Places on this leg with a full history, and free audio guides you can read or hear.
Torcross to Dartmouth is 10.2 miles (16.4 km). Allow about 5 h 36 min of walking, before stops.
Stage 40 climbs about 587 m and descends about 590 m, with a high point of about 117 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 moderate. Rated out of five: physical demand 2/5 (Modest), 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 67%, track 4%, road & lane 25%, other 4%. 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 moderate. We map 5 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 Slapton Sands & Ley, Blackpool Sands, Dartmouth Castle. It also passes 2 places we cover in depth: Dartmouth & Dartmouth Castle, Slapton Sands & Ley. There are 2 free audio guides between them.
Road beside the Slapton Line.