Stunning St. Ives – Astonishing dog walk in Cornwall

Nestled along the stunning Cornish coastline, St. Ives offers a paradise for both two-legged and four-legged explorers. With its dog-friendly golden sandy beaches, picturesque harbour, and winding coastal paths, this charming seaside town provides the perfect backdrop for an exceptional dog walk in Cornwall.

Distance	Total Time	Difficulty
10.94 km	03:45	Difficult

This was our last walk of 2024, and what I hike it was. Join the gang for a scenic hike through St. Ives, where the blue waters meet the rugged cliffs.

St Ives is a town in Cornwall well known for its surf beaches and art scene. We discovered that it is one of the most dog-friendly places we have visited in the UK.

Parking in the town is challenging in busy times. There are many car parks, but they were often full during the few days we spent in the area. An early start makes it easier though. For this hike, we parked at Park Avenue car park at Park Avenue, St Ives, TR26 1QE.

Dogs are allowed all year long but with restricted times in the two months of summer. The beaches in St Ives ban dogs from the 1st of July to the 31st of August, 10 am to 6 pm.

Don’t forget to check the post notes at the bottom of the page, with maps, a detailed table about the hike and links to everything mentioned in the post.

The Hike

The gang started the hike at the car park and turned right at Park Avenue. Shortly after that, where the road became Tregenna Terrace, we turned left and began the descent through the staircases between the houses, aiming for the harbour and enjoying the beautiful views of the bay.

Coming down the steps, we reached Dove St and turned right into Street-An-Pol until we reached the Perdnolva Walk, where we turned left and continued until the smallest of the two piers in the harbour.

We then decided to walk around Wharf Road to the Harbour Sand beach, where we could already see a number of dogs swimming and running around the beach. The area around the harbour is lovely, with its cafes and restaurants. 

After checking Smeaton’s Pier and the Lighthouse, we made our way to Balmaluz Beach and, from there, to the Southwest Coast Path.

We passed by Porthgwidden Beach and the St Nicholas Chapel, which are both following the coast path.

Coming down from the chapel, we quickly covered the roads around Porthmeor Beach and rejoined the Southwest Coast Path. 

Along the cliffs, this section of the hike provides breathtaking views of the ocean and the stunning coastal scenery. 

We continued along the coastal path with the girls still going full steam ahead. However, as the terrain grew more rugged, our little Gambá faced some challenges navigating certain spots. 

Eventually, we reached an intersection where we could have turned left to head inland and back to St. Ives. Instead, we decided to continue along the coast – a choice that turned out to be a bit of a detour. We ended up going back inland through farmland and then had to follow down the B3306 road for a little while. For a shorter way back to the town, take a left around coordinates 50.21645587554908, -5.50421882900412.

I have marked this detail on the map below.

The trail was what we were looking for, providing a good challenge too. In some sections we had to lift our girls, and a few slippery crossings kept us on our toes. 

It is such a beautiful location for a hike and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cheers,

Ademar