Mapped route line
Coast path
North Coast / Coast path
Pentire Head and The Rumps Loop
A loop from New Polzeath around Pentire Point and out to The Rumps, where an Iron Age fort's ditches still corrugate the neck of the headland, returning through National Trust farmland. The Camel estuary opens up on one side, open Atlantic on the other.
40 min – 1 hr 10 min
New Polzeath, cliff-top car park to New Polzeath, cliff-top car park
Desk-researched / Not yet field-checked
- Distance
- 6.0 km
- Elevation
- 281 m
- Start
- New Polzeath, cliff-top car park
- Terrain
- Coast path
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Route type
- Loop
Practical notes
Best for
- A short loop that feels far bigger than its distance
- Seal and seabird watching off The Rumps
- Escaping Polzeath's holiday churn in twenty minutes
Watch for
- Full exposure on both points when the wind is working
- Rampart ditches and rabbit holes in the fort turf
- Cattle on the farmland return
Facilities
- Car park and seasonal facilities at New Polzeath
- Everything else is back in Polzeath proper
Season
Any season; spring squill turns the headland blue in May, and winter gives it back to the fulmars.
- Parking
- The cliff-top car park at New Polzeath sits right on the route; Polzeath's main beach car parks add half a kilometre.
- Public transport
- Seasonal buses reach Polzeath from Wadebridge and Rock. The Rock ferry from Padstow makes a good long-way-round approach.
- Conditions
- Firm headland turf and worn coast path, one rocky pinch below Pentire Point, and farm track on the return.
- Navigation
- Seaward round the headland, out-and-back spur to The Rumps, then the signed permissive path back through Pentire Farm.
Nearby routes
More ground nearby
Mapped route line
Coast path
Crantock and Pentire Point West Loop
A small headland with big output: Crantock beach, Porth Joke and the Gannel's shifting sands.
- Distance
- 6.5 km
- Gain
- 151 m
Desk-researched
Mapped route line
Coast path
Port Isaac to Port Quin
Four kilometres each way, and none of them level: the coast path's steepest little stretch outside the far west.
- Distance
- 6.5 km
- Gain
- 198 m
Desk-researched
Mapped route line
Coast path
Perranporth to St Agnes Coast Path
Mining cliffs between two beach towns: airfield heath, Blue Hills valley and paths cut past old shafts.
- Distance
- 6.6 km
- Gain
- 234 m
Desk-researched
From the journal
Reading for this ground
Data
Cornwall's climbing ceiling: how flat is it, really?
The route data puts a number on it. The highest point is 339 m, the biggest unbroken climb is about 160 m, and the county banks its vertical in tiny bites — which is why hill training here means repetition.
13 July 2026
Data
Cornwall's coast path routes, ranked by climb per kilometre
One number that predicts how a coastal run will actually feel — with the two places it lies to you.
11 July 2026