Crackington Haven to Tintagel and King Arthur.

August 10, 2025 - from the itinerary: Rating Challenging - strenuous to Moderate. It is important to keep to the Coast Path in this section, even though you may be tempted to seek better views of the impressive cliffs and extraordinary rock formations, as you will be climbing through valleys and across cliffs with spectacularly sheer drops to the Atlantic below. This section of Coast Path is very rewarding if you enjoy bird watching and you may also spot the herds of Soay sheep and goats whose grazing helps to encourage the growth of spectacular wildflowers. There has reputedly been more imported post Roman pottery excavated from the headland of Tintagel than in the rest of Britain put together and this fact, along with the heroic and mysterious literary legends of King Arthur which surround the area, should highlight how historically significant this stretch of Cornish coastland really is.

Distance: 11.72 miles Weather: Hot and sunny - got a bad sunburn

What to see:

• Isolated beaches of The Strangles (a place of courtship for Thomas Hardy and his first wife Emma) and Rusey Beach and the Northern Door arch of Little Strand.

Yes, this was very nice. It was a tough slog going up to the Strangles, but well worth the climb for the views and the breeze.

• Spotting the herds of Soay sheep or goats that graze along the cliffs helping to keep down the scrub and encourage grassland and wild flowers.

I was lucky to see both the ponies (not mentioned here) and the big goat. This photo will be hard to see the goat because he was very far away.

• Breathtaking views from the seat on the highest cliff in Cornwall: High Cliff, over 700ft (223 metres). Slumping has caused an undercliff, which is rich in coastal heath.

Yes, this was an additional climb, but worth it to see the animals and walk through the herd of cattle.

• The sheer black cliff of Buckator towering over Gull Rock.

Saw seals hauled up - they looked like big slugs

• Pentargon: a 120ft high waterfall.

  Was obvious that many tried to see it close up as now there's a warning sign and it's blocked off. The best view is on the south side, looking back. There hasn't been a lot of water, so it wasn't running very hard. Still it was beautiful, but I wish I could have been closer

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Here is another random "waterfall"

• Seal spotting from Beeny Cliff: “in all its chasmal beauty bulks old Beeny to the sky” (Beeny Cliff, Thomas Hardy).

I saw the Cliff, but no seals.

• Boscastle, with its ancient harbour almost invisible from the sea, is a beautiful fishing village in the bottom of a rugged, steep sided valley. Boscastle is especially remembered for the devastating flash flood in August 2004 (the torrential rainfall led to a 2m rise in river levels in just 1 hour).

This should have been where I stopped, but I had another 5 miles to go. There were no places to stay when Chris made the reservations. A very pleasant town with some beautiful flowers and lovely views. They had a witchcraft museum which I skipped....

• Watching the peregrine falcons, buzzards and kestrels. You will also be able to see many breeding seabirds in early summer. Short Island and Long Island, near the rock arch known as Ladies Window, are favourite spots for guillemots and razorbills.

There were many gulls (see in the movie below), but I didn't see the others mentioned

• The medieval lynchets or terraced fields of Bossiney Common. The deep tracks up the cliffs from Bossiney Cove provide evidence of the practice of hauling sand and seaweed up to spread on the fields.

Nope, didn't see this. Was probably too exhausted

• Birdwatching and seal spotting from Willapark with its Bronze Age tumuli thought to be more than 3000 years old. Lye Rock was once the site of Cornwall’s largest colony of puffins, yet sadly there are now few to be seen.

I''m not sure I saw any tumuli (ancient burial mounds) or puffins. Was probably too exhausted. There was this interesting chair at the top.

• The attractive stone walls built in the ‘curzyway’ (herringbone) pattern.

This was very interesting. Below and in the movie are some examples

• Tintagel Head: the site was originally a Roman settlement and a Celtic fortress, but the majority of visual ruins are those of the 13th century castle built by Earl Richard. Geoffrey of Monmouth visioned the 12th century castle here as King Arthur’s birthplace.

I was exhausted, hot and filthy, but I made the walk over to see this - FOMO. See more below.

(King Arthur at the gallows)

Breakfast was cheesy scrambled eggs, toast, some yogurt.

I know you're dying to see the Dutch couple and I got a photo. I continue to be followed by them...

The Dutch Couple

I brought my suitcase down yet another narrow spiral staircase...

This was a long slog. At one point I named my boots Umpa and Lumpa because that's how I felt walking in them. The heat and the strong sun didn't help.

I said goodbye to the Coombe Barton Inn

on a fairly flat walk through a covered footpath by a stream

The heather was/is beautiful all along the path

A word about styles. Cornwall has styles that look like the path is blocked. I actually thought I went the wrong way a couple days ago before I figured out this was a style. A picture doesn't do it justice, but it's like someone put blocks across the path.

I ran out of water about 3 miles from Tingagel and immediately had an ice water and a pint when I arrived. Probably not a great idea when I almost immediately went out to see the ruins before they shut

The King Arthur hotel was interesting - I had a non-ensuite bathroom which was a bit of a hastle, especially if I had to go in the middle of the night. Also, the floor is uneven in many of these old buildings and I keep losing my balance. Should I be concerned if earplugs are left for me? probably, but it was very quiet.

Across from the ruins you can see Castle Hotel which was used in several Doc Martin episodes

Some more notes on the ruins. It's run by the National Trust and costs £20 which I thought was pretty expensive. It was really hot and to get to the ruins the route descends rather sharply quite a bit (100+ feet) and then ascends to the ticket booth and the ruins. You cross a bridge to the island which is nice and accessible, but then on return you have to go down about 50 steps, cross another bridge and ascend another 50 steps. Then you have to go back up the road to the main street. There were a lot of unfit people and also old people. I couldn't believe they didn't offer some sort of shuttle because people were really struggling. I was struggling because this was another 2 miles of hills I could have done without. Rant over.

Below are a number of shots of the ruins. The castle must have been quite impressive. The Tintagel Castle dates back to the early Middle Ages. Legend, history and archeology all suggest that this rocky headland was a royal settlement and thriving trading port, used by Cornish kings of Dumnonia (post-Roman kingdom) between the 5th and 7th centuries. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth named it as the place where the legendary King Arthur was conceived. It was almost certainly this link to the literary hero that inspried Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to build his castle here during the 1230s. On the site is a well known statue of King Arthur in the gallows area. The photo doesn't do it justice. There was also a tunnel I walked through - I probably shouldn't have been there, but I can't read....

I couldn't resist getting some local fudge

Finally got my shower and came down for dinner which was very uninspiring. The only thing that was vaguely healthful was vegan chili.

Slept well and forced myself not to have to go to the bathroom at 2am....