Charlestown to Carlyon Bay

South Coast · Coast path · Out and back · Easy

35 min – 55 min · Charlestown Harbour → Charlestown Harbour

Desk-researched

Desk-researched — not yet run on the ground

Elevation profile

160 m gain · high 64 m

Hover or use arrow keys to read the profile

12 m – 64 m

Line mapped on a filtered walking graph that keeps to paths and quiet lanes and treats fast or classified roads as cross-only (scripts/walk-graph.mjs); elevation from EU-DEM 25 m. Not from a recorded run.

Mapped from OpenStreetMap footpaths on the OpenTopoMap contour map — a planning line, not a recorded run.

Distance: 5.2 km
Climb: 160 m
Per km: 31 m
On foot: 35 min – 55 min
Line: Mapped

A short out-and-back from Charlestown's Georgian harbour — square-riggers at their moorings, film crews in season — along the low cliffs to the beach front at Carlyon Bay. An easy route with two proper climbs out of the harbour cuts.

Getting there and back

Regular buses link Charlestown with St Austell station, ten minutes away.

Parking

Pay car parks above Charlestown harbour; they absorb film-set days better than the village lanes do.

Conditions

Worn cliff-top path and short tarmac links, with two sharp dips and climbs where streams cut to the sea.

Navigation

Coast path signs the whole way; the beach complex at Carlyon marks the turn without ambiguity.

Season

A gentle all-year option on this sheltered coast; even winter southerlies rarely make it unrunnable.

Dogs

Simple on a lead; Crinnis beach has seasonal restrictions worth checking before promising anyone a swim.

Good for

A harbour-to-beach leg-stretcher from St Austell
Runners staying around the bay
Adding beach kilometres at Crinnis when the tide allows

Watch for

Shale cliff edges that flake and are re-fenced often
The golf-course boundary section keeps you politely hemmed in
Cliff-fall warnings at the Carlyon end are current, not decorative

On the ground

Cafes, pubs and toilets around Charlestown harbour
Seasonal beach facilities at Carlyon Bay

GPX download

The line on this page is mapped from OpenStreetMap paths, not a recorded run. Treat the file as a planning aid and check it against conditions on the ground.

Download GPX