Coast Path to Rame Head © Andrew Bone CC BY 2.0
Walks
The Mount Edgcumbe Country Park and surrounding area offer exceptional opportunities for walks. Here are a few.
French Garden House © M. Corber 2023
Guided walks
Over the summer MERIT is offering a series of guided walks to explore some of the most important heritage assets Mount Edgcumbe has to offer. These are outside tours of approximately 2 hours duration.
South West Coast Path
Free walk guides with route descriptions and printable maps
Rame Head © Amanda Slater 2013 CC BY-SA 2.0
Rame Head Chapel
2 m / 3.3 km - “Easy - On a good coastal path and quiet lanes, with some short stretches of up and down.”
A circular walk from the Rame Head Car Park which offers a bird’s eye view of the coast in both directions from the spectacular Rame Head promontory, also a choice spot for birdwatching, especially in the winter.
Cremyll Ferry to Kingsand & Cawsand
Twin villages Kingsand & Cawsand © ChrisinPlymouth 2023 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
3.5m / 5.7km - “Moderate - Fairly level but with one steep uphill section about halfway along. The sections around Cremyll, Mount Edgcumbe House and Gardens and the old carriageway at the Kingsand end are suitable for wheelchair users and pushchairs.
The walk traverses the parkland and offers much to explore for children and adults alike. The beaches at Kingsand and Cawsand are popular with both children and dogs, who also appreciate the dog-friendly pub on entering the twin villages.
Whitsand Bay © nicks-2017 CC BY 2.0
Cawsand and Polhawn Forts
6.2m / 10km - ‘Challenging coastal path and inland footpaths, with some quiet roads. There is a lot of ascent and descent, some of it steep.”
From the shelter of Plymouth Sound, this walk takes you around rugged the Rame Head to the vast sandy sweep of Whitsand Bay. The route passes some of the extensive Victorian fortifications built on Plymouth's Western Approaches to protect Plymouth Sound and the Naval Dockyards and will appeal particularly to anyone interested in military history. The Eddystone lighthouse may be visible on a clear day.
IWalkCornwall
Walks from IWalkCornwall are available to buy as PDF directions or as a GPS guided walk on app.
Maker Church and graveyard © Andrew Bone 2023 CC BY 2.0
Cremyll to Maker Church
3m / 4.8km - “moderate steepness grade”
This circular walk through the parkland and the Mount Edgcumbe Estate offers views over the St German estuary through a landscape dotted with gun batteries, positioned to defend against a potential invasion from Napoleon. The walk takes you past the historic Maker Church and its atmospheric graveyard.
The view towards Rame Head from Queen Adelaide’s Grotto at Penlee Point © Graham Tait 2009 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Rame Head and Cawsand
3.6m / 9km - “moderate steepness grade”
A circular walk offering panoramic views across Whitsand Bay and Plymouth Sounds. The headland is a good spot to look for marine mammals. Explore the medieval Chapel on Rame Head and the remains of a huge gun battery, now a nature reserve at Penlee Point. At Penlee Point you will also find Queen Adelaide’s Grotto, a great favourite with children.
Drake Island and Plymouth Sound © Mark Robinson 2007 CC BY-NC 2.0
Mount Edgcumbe to Kingsand
5.7m / 9.1km - “moderate steepness grade”
A circular walk though the Country Park to Kingsand with views over Plymouth Sound and Drake's Island where Drake set sail to circumnavigate the globe, and the breakwater which Napoleon described as an engineering masterpiece as he left England on his prison ship. The walk will take you past the formal gardens at Mount Edgcumbe and through the National Camellia collection before passing the historic Maker Church.
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
The Country |Park website has a number of number of free walks available to download as PDFs. The tree trail below is one of our favourites.
Mount Edgcumbe Tree Trail
2m / 3km - “The entire route is suitable for pushcairs, except for a small section, which can be readily by-passed.”
A trail designed to introduce you to 17 interesting tree species. As this walk was designed by a former park manager Jerry Masters and dates to 2014-15 it is possible one or more trees featured in the trail may no longer exist. The downloadable leaflet offers both historical and botanical information about the featured trees and is illustrated with drawings of foliage and fruit to assist with identification.
A free tree identification app is available to download from the Woodland Trust.