Loe Bar and Penrose Loop

South Coast · Trail · Loop · Moderate

1 hr 15 min – 1 hr 55 min · Helston, Coronation Park → Helston, Coronation Park

Desk-researched

Desk-researched — not yet run on the ground

Elevation profile

201 m gain · high 64 m

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0 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: 11.1 km
Climb: 201 m
Per km: 18 m
On foot: 1 hr 15 min – 1 hr 55 min
Line: Mapped

A circuit of Loe Pool on National Trust estate drives and woodland paths, dropping to Loe Bar where a ridge of shingle holds the pool back from Mount's Bay, then returning up the eastern shore past Degibna. Traffic-free almost throughout.

Getting there and back

Buses serve Helston from Penzance, Falmouth and Truro; the park is a few minutes from the stops.

Parking

Coronation Park in Helston is free and sits right on the route. Porthleven works as an alternative start with a short link path.

Conditions

Compacted estate drive and woodland path, one soft shingle crossing, and a rougher, rootier stretch up the Degibna side.

Navigation

Keep the water on one side and you cannot go far wrong. The only junction that matters is signed for Degibna at the south-east corner.

Season

Works year-round; the estate drives drain well. The bar crossing is grim in a southerly gale and glorious in most other weather.

Dogs

One of the best dog routes in the county: leads near livestock and around the cafe, freedom in between.

Good for

Long steady runs without a single road to cross
Sheltered miles among the estate oaks
Runners based around Helston and Porthleven

Watch for

The bar itself: soft shingle that doubles the effort for two hundred metres
Swimming is forbidden at Loe Bar — the undertow there has killed, and the signs mean it
Exposed wind funnel at the bar even when the woods are calm

On the ground

Free parking and toilets at Coronation Park
Seasonal National Trust cafe at Penrose stables

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