South West Coast Path

South West Coast Path
The starting point at Minehead
Length	1,014 km (630 mi)
Location	England: Somerset, Devon, Cornwall & Dorset
Designation	UK National Trail
Trailheads	Minehead: 51°12′40″N 3°28′26″W / 51.211°N 3.474°W / 51.211; -3.474 (South West Coast Path monument in Minehead) Poole: 50°40′48″N 1°57′00″W / 50.680°N 1.950°W / 50.680; -1.950 (South West Coast Path marker at South Haven Point)
Use	Hiking
Elevation change	total climbed is 114,931 feet (35,031 m)
Highest point	Great Hangman near Combe Martin, 318 m (1,043 ft)
Lowest point	sea level
Season	all year
Sights	Coastal scenery, much of it Heritage Coast World Heritage Sites: Jurassic Coast and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Hazards	Cliff paths, river crossings (ferries with limited availability), closure of Lulworth Ranges

National Trails
Acorn symbol used to guide the route of National Trails
England Cleveland Way Coast to Coast Cotswold Way England Coast Path Hadrian's Wall Path North Downs Way Peddar's Way and Norfolk Coast Path Pennine Bridleway The Ridgeway South Downs Way South West Coast Path (longest) Thames Path Yorkshire Wolds Way (shortest)
Wales Glyndŵr's Way Pembrokeshire Coast Path
Cross-border Offa's Dyke Path (Wales and England) Pennine Way (Scotland and England)
v t e

The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest.^[1] It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route'^[2] twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.^[3]

The final section of the path was designated as a National Trail in 1978.^[4] Many of the landscapes which the South West Coast Path crosses have special status, either as a national park or one of the heritage coasts. The path passes through two World Heritage Sites: the Dorset and East Devon Coast, known as the Jurassic Coast, was designated in 2001,^[5] and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape in 2007.^[6]

In the 1990s it was thought that the path brought £150 million into the area each year,^[7] but new research in 2003 indicated that it generated around £300 million a year in total, which could support more than 7,500 jobs.^[4] This research also recorded that 27.6% of visitors to the region came because of the Path, and they spent £136 million in a year. Local people took 23 million walks on the Path and spent a further £116 million, and other visitors contributed the remainder. A further study in 2005 estimated this figure to have risen to around £300 million.^[8] Following investment through the Rural Development Programme for England, more detailed research was undertaken in 2012, and this found the annual spend by walkers to have risen to £439 million which sustains 9771 full-time equivalent jobs.^[9]