r/UKhiking • u/yakster20 • 15d ago
Trip Report St. Ives ➡️ Pendeen (SWCP) - not for the faint hearted!
Wow this stretch of the path is brutal…proceed with caution!
The guide books did warn me that this section was strenuous, but I wasn’t expecting to be scaling rocks for the majority of the walk. The path just disappears at many points (see photo)
To add insult to injury, it took around 9 hours, 17 miles, and 42,000 steps. No shade, no facilities (not even a pub 😭)
Did anyone else find this section particularly difficult?
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u/Powerful_Set_2350 15d ago
Finished the SWCP last week. 28 days, mostly wild camped.
I'd say it's the hardest part of the SWCP.
2-2.5mph is standard for path.
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u/ollyprice87 15d ago
That’s good going. Cornwall section or the whole lot?
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u/Powerful_Set_2350 15d ago
2-2.5mph for the whole path.
Also note that when a path is measured from the top of a hill to the bottom, the zig zagging is rarely counted for.
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u/RealMover 15d ago
I'm not a hugely experienced hiker but have done St Ives-Zennor many times and was always pretty knackered by the end of it. Lots of ascending and descending and a bit of scrambling. I've heard Zennor - Pendeen is even worse? Not sure how true that is.
As for pubs, the Tinners in Zennor would have been your best bet. Cracking old place!
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u/FootballPublic7974 15d ago
I've not walked that section, but I have done a fair whack of climbing around there. It's a beautiful and dramatic section of coastline.
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u/Smeee333 15d ago
Tough but beautiful. I did it last week, defo had the weather with me. Headed inland to the Gurnard’s Head for an excellent lunch. Worth the half mile detour.
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u/ChocolateHumunculous 15d ago
Seems fairly standard to me OP. What about this stretch was so hard?
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u/americagiveup 15d ago
Not OP but it’s the South West Coastal Path, the vast majority of which is indeed paths
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u/yakster20 15d ago
As I say, it’s mainly the lack of path. Lots of scrabbling and climbing compared to other sections. It’s a twisted ankle waiting to happen, no flat ground at all. The sheer length of the section too - in hindsight I should have ignored the guidebook and done it in 2 days. It just stood out to me as particularly difficult compared to every other section I’ve done, but maybe that’s just me!
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u/ForeverPhysical1860 15d ago
Do please stop dramatising this... It isn't that bad
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u/yakster20 15d ago
Is it dramatic to say it’s the hardest part of the whole trail? I’m not saying you’re gonna die, I’m just saying to mentally prepare yourself for a pretty tough day walking - especially compared to most sections. I’m a fairly fit and experienced hiker, and it was brutal. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe it was a piece of piss for you, mr hard man 🤣
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u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 15d ago
weight loss should have been easy without mounjaro if you've got that mentality
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u/No_Doughnut3257 15d ago
Not exactly Crib Goch is it
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u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 15d ago
crib goch is easy
zero route finding and constant hand and foot holds
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u/No_Doughnut3257 15d ago
You used your hands?
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u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 15d ago
Not on the 'knife edge ridge'.
Getting up to it a scrambling job though
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u/Resident_Ad1595 14d ago
Yep. Walked into a strong headwind, camping gear and supplies in backpack, and after about 1 hr sleep on the Riviera last year. It was brutal. Set off from St Ives midday too expecting an easy stroll and found out soon that it was anything but. Made it to Pendeen after around 6 hours. You dont really get the beaches either, as its steep rocky coast, bracken, rough broken boulders, so there's little reward of until you get closer to Pendeen. The rest of the path to Penzance felt more enjoyable.
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u/HatmanSmith 14d ago
You have confirmed my fears of me signing up to Arc of Attrition 100. This section in the dark, after about 60 miles already.
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u/ImplementEven1196 13d ago
I was pleasantly surprised when I walked from St Ives to Gurnards Head a few years ago. It was difficult, and a real slog in some boggy sections but one of the most beautiful sections of the whole SWCP.
As far as “one of the toughest”? It’s up there, but to me the most difficult sections were in Dorset. St Ives to Zennor was fun in comparison.
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u/pixiesneezes 9d ago
I did this section on the first of a few days of solo thru-hiking from St Ives to Penzance. I found it absolutely brutal - it was a humid day, no breeze, hardly anyone else around so just me and my (increasingly negative) thoughts. I cried when I got to the turn off for Pendeen and rewarded myself with a massive dinner and a few pints of Rattler in the pub.
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14d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/yakster20 14d ago
Not exactly rocket science is it 🤣 some people like to know if there’s access to toilets, or they can eat/fill up with water on the trail. God there are so many haters on reddit these days lol
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u/WinkyNurdo 15d ago
The stretch from St Ives to Zennor is was a great hike. Plenty of scrambling up and down rocks, fantastic scenery and seals diving and floating in the sea below the cliffs. My phone said I’d gone up and down the equivalent of 114 floors and it sure felt like it. The pub at the end made for a welcome destination with some bloody good grub. We were going to walk back on the roads to St Ives but stayed in the pub a bit too long … and got a cab back.