Port Isaac to Port Quin

North Coast · Coast path · Out and back · Hard

1 hr – 1 hr 45 min · Port Isaac, main car park → Port Isaac, main car park

Desk-researched

Desk-researched — not yet run on the ground

Elevation profile

198 m gain · high 74 m

Hover or use arrow keys to read the profile

15 m – 74 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: 6.5 km
Climb: 198 m
Per km: 30 m
On foot: 1 hr – 1 hr 45 min
Line: Mapped

An out-and-back between two harbour hamlets on a stretch the guidebooks politely call strenuous: the path drops to sea level and climbs straight back out four times in each direction. Port Quin, the turnaround, is a handful of cottages and no shop — carry what you need.

Getting there and back

Buses reach Port Isaac from Wadebridge; service is thin, so plan the return before you start.

Parking

Use the main car park at the top of Port Isaac — the village lanes below are barely wide enough for people, let alone parking.

Conditions

Rock steps, worn earth and short grassy shoulders; almost nothing flat enough to call recovery ground.

Navigation

One path, well signed. The work is never in finding the way, only in getting up it.

Season

Dry ground makes it merely hard; wet ground makes the steps a controlled-descent exercise. Winter light finishes early under these cliffs.

Dogs

For fit dogs used to steps. Everything here is either up, down, or a stile.

Good for

Stair repeats with a sea view
Race prep for lumpy coast events
Out-running the Port Isaac day-trip crowds

Watch for

Relentless steep steps, greasy after rain
The smoothed elevation profile underplays how sharp each dip really is
Unfenced drops on the narrower shoulders

On the ground

Car parks, toilets, pubs and cafes in Port Isaac
Nothing but a National Trust bench at Port Quin

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