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St Just to St Ives Coast Path

West Cornwall · Coast path · Point to point · Hard

4 hr 30 min – 6 hr 30 min · St Just, Cape Cornwall side → St Ives, Porthmeor Beach

Verified

Recorded on the ground · 2026-07-03

Elevation profile

882 m gain · high 115 m

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9 m – 115 m

Line and elevation from a run recorded on the ground on 2026-07-03.

The real line, recorded on the ground on 2026-07-03, drawn on the OpenTopoMap contour map.

Distance
30.0 km
Climb
882 m
Per km
29 m
On foot
4 hr 30 min – 6 hr 30 min
Line
Recorded

The big one: from St Just past the Botallack engine houses, Pendeen Watch, Bosigran and Gurnard's Head to Zennor, then over the boulder fields to St Ives. Run and recorded end to end — the watch said thirty kilometres, and every one of them asks for attention.

Getting there and back

The clean way to run it, verified in person: train to Penzance, then the bus up to St Just for the start. Finish at Porthmeor and it's a short walk through town to St Ives station, where the branch line runs frequently through the summer back down to St Erth for the Penzance connection. Want a few more miles instead of the town walk? Carry on to Carbis Bay, Hayle or St Erth stations and take the train from there.

Parking

Don't try to make this a car day — St Just is small and its buses are infrequent, so parking at the start leaves you stranded at the finish. Go by rail instead (see below). If you must drive, leave the car at the St Ives end and taxi or bus round to the start rather than the other way about.

Conditions

Recorded end to end on 2026-07-03: granite steps and mine track early, boggy valley crossings through the middle, and near-constant boulder work after Zennor. Five hours elapsed, with a pub stop at the Tinners Arms. Dropping into St Ives at Porthmeor, Norway Stores is the first place you reach for a cold drink and something to eat — a welcome sight after the boulder fields.

Navigation

Coast path waymarks the whole way. The boulder sections past Zennor ask you to pick lines rather than follow a worn path; keep the sea on your left and be patient.

Season

A settled-weather route that wants long daylight. In winter the bogs deepen, the granite greases up, and the time estimates stop being polite.

Dogs

Too long and too rough for most dogs. The boulder sections need every paw placed, and the stiles keep coming.

Good for

  • A full coast path mission
  • Arc of Attrition and coast race recces
  • Mining-coast scenery that distracts from the climbing

Watch for

  • Old mine workings close to the path around Botallack and Levant — stay on the line
  • Boulder fields and rock steps through the whole Zennor-to-St Ives half
  • Boggy stream crossings between Morvah and Zennor after rain
  • Remote middle section where bailing out means slow inland lanes

On the ground

  • Car parks and shops in St Just
  • Shop and toilets at Pendeen
  • Pubs at Gurnard's Head and Zennor mid-route
  • Norway Stores in St Ives — the first cold drink and food at the finish
  • Everything in St Ives

GPX download

This line comes from a run recorded on the ground on 2026-07-03. The download is resampled from that recording, with timestamps and device data stripped.

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