Bude to Crackington Haven: South West Coast Path Day 12 Guide

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I’d been pretty sceptical that a day off would make much difference to the state of my toe, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Turns out that soaking in a bath for hours and walking as little as possible makes all the difference in the world. Who knew?

I mean sure, it still looked terrible, but it felt so much better. Before we’d even left the hotel, I’d commented on it, and by the time we’d not got breakfast at Buffy’s (the opening hours on the door were more of a suggestion than a promise) and grabbed supplies from Sainsbury’s instead, I knew that today was going to be a much better day than the last few.

And that’s not even factoring in the highlight of seeing the biggest tourist attraction in town, right beside Sainsbury’s: the famous Bude Tunnel. What a thrill that was.

Somehow pulling ourselves away from that 70-metre spectacular, we rejoined the path where we’d left it in Summerleaze carpark. Signposts guided us over the river and canal and up onto Efford Down as we headed out of town.

The rain from the day before had disappeared overnight, leaving blue skies and warm sun in its wake. That made for some lovely walking for the next few hours, helped by a long, flat, and easy path along the low cliffs.

We got a wave from a guy in a field who was packing away his tent as we passed, having clearly wild camped there overnight. There hadn’t been many spots that looked good for wild camping in the first week, at least to my untrained eye, but we were starting to see more now.

We’d had no particular need for it so far, with reasonably-priced campsites available where we needed them, but surely that wouldn’t be the case for the whole walk…would it?

As it turned out, even though I expected to need or want to wild camp somewhere along the path, I never did. I came close a few times as campsites started to close for the season in late September, but always managed to find somewhere in the end. It was a surprise, to say the least.

After a couple of hours of scenic strolling beside the ocean, we dropped down off the cliffs into Widemouth Bay. It was very pretty, somewhere we both said we’d like to return to on holiday at some point, and the perfect spot to stop for a break. So we did.

After about three seconds of contemplation, we decided that Black Rock Cafe looked like the ideal place for second breakfast. Does a meal deal even count as first breakfast? I had plenty of time to ponder that question while eating a bacon roll and sipping coffee: sitting in the sun and sheltered from the breeze, we weren’t in any kind of hurry this morning.

Once we did get moving again, the flat paths and ocean views continued for a little while, past some scenic beaches that looked near-impossible to access without a boat or the risk of a broken leg.

We’d had six miles of near-flat walking on soft trails today, surely a record for the South West Coast Path. All good things have to end, however, and this was no exception as we joined the road for a steep climb up to the viewpoint on the Penhalt Cliffs.

We hadn’t even had time to catch our breath before heading back downhill towards the tiny hamlet of Millook at the bottom of the valley. This wasn’t the greatest section of trail I’ve ever been on: very steep, it was also dry, dusty, and made from the kind of light gravel that’s perfect for slipping on. Thank God for hiking poles.

The path again joined the road to climb back up the other side, which I thought was a good sign: surely if it’s meant for cars, it couldn’t be as steep as the dodgy track we’d just come down, right?

Wrong.

Crossing the small river at the bottom and starting up the other side, we passed a sign that let us know the grade on this road was 30%. Thirty percent! The groaning of a van labouring up behind us shortly afterward suggested the sign was accurate, although we could hardly hear it over the groaning from ourselves.

Any hope we’d had that this would be the end of the climbing were dashed when we got to the top at Raven’s Beak: as fantastic as the views were (and they really were), we couldn’t help but notice the tell-tale signs of deep valleys cutting into the ridgeline ahead.

For now, though, the path kept steadily climbing, through fields and a small patch of woodland before emerging back onto the cliff edge. There’d been a bit of a lack of benches on this section, so we made the most of the one at Dizzard Point. “Poole: 500 miles” was cut into one side, just in case we were in any doubt that we still had a very long way to go on this walk.

While the views over the jagged cliffs were stunning in a rugged kind of way, the next two valleys were brutally steep and very slow going. With clouds starting to roll in and the breeze moving from “cooling” to “cold”, our sunny, easy morning was fast becoming a distant memory.

There was a short respite along the ridgeline near Tresmorn, before yet another another steep valley with a long climb out the other side. Finally, though, we could see Crackington Haven from the top, and I could even make out the pub over the road from the beach. It was a very welcome sight.

I’m not sure if it was the steep downhill or the thought of a cold pint at the end of it, but we were both moving at a fair old pace as we trotted down the hill and into the village.

The sun was coming and (mostly) going by this point, but there were still plenty of people swimming, paddleboarding, lying on the beach, and generally having a whale of a time. We added Crackington Haven to our list of places to return to in the future, and not just because of its excellent name.

The pub wasn’t doing food for another few hours, so we consoled ourselves with a drink before heading over to the Cabin Cafe for a meal. Was it lunch? Was it dinner? Who knows, but either way my beef sandwich was exactly what I needed by this point.

Coxford Meadow Campsite is the only one in the area, and hadn’t looked all that far away on the map. Apparently I wasn’t looking very hard. It was over a mile inland, and as I was quickly learning on this walk, if you’re going inland, you’re going uphill.

Hint: even though it seems like the worse option, I’d suggest staying on the road rather than taking the footpath labelled as “Lover’s Lane” that runs alongside. The path is quite scenic, but not only does it add extra distance, there’s a very steep section at the end that you’ll likely hate as much as we did.

Or, if you’re more sensible than me, take note of the 95 bus timetable, then sit in the cafe with a coffee until it arrives: the stop is directly over the road, and you’ll be dropped just up the road from the campsite. The bus runs roughly once every couple of hours.

In any case, once we did finally make it to the campsite, it turned out to be a great little spot. There’s nowhere nearby to get food, so we made do with Jelly Tots healthy and nutritious snacks, and generally just lazed around in the evening sunshine until it was time for bed.

Have I mentioned lately how nice it was that my toe had finally healed?

Planning

Started at:  An Mor (0.1 miles/0.2km off-trail)

Finished at: Coxford Meadow Campsite (1.3 miles/2.1 km off-trail uphill)

Just like the campsite in Woolacombe, the worst thing about Coxford Meadow for walkers is its location, well over a mile uphill from Crackington Haven. If I was doing it again, I’d take the bus as mentioned above.

The campsite itself, however, was great. It’s a small site, with only a few hard stands for campervans and caravans, and the rest grassed areas for tents. Pricing was a bit cheaper than some of the other sites we’d stayed at recently, at £10 per person for a sheltered pitch beside a hedge and in a small hollow out of the wind.

Ours also came with a new friend, although I can’t promise yours will.

Toilets and showers were spotlessly clean: I think I saw the owner in there with a mop and bucket three times in the 16 hours or so we spent onsite! There was also a useful little common room with armchairs, a microwave, and power sockets, a washing machine, and Wi-Fi that worked well (there was very little phone service).

There’s nowhere nearby to get food, so bring it with you or eat back in Crackington Haven before you head up to the campsite.

Transport and Parking

The 95 bus runs every two hours or so between Bude and Crackington Haven in both directions until early evening. The service operates Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday and public holidays in the warmer months. It also stops in Widemouth Bay, and as I mentioned earlier, very close to Coxford Meadows campsite.

Free parking is in short supply in Bude, so try one of the paid long-stay carparks instead. Summerleaze is the largest, but there are a few others. There’s also paid parking in Widemouth Bay, and a coin-only parking lot opposite the pub in Crackington Haven.

Waymarking and Navigation

Once we were out of Bude, navigation was pretty straightforward on this section. At least when we were right beside the coast, there was generally only one path to follow. Just keep an eye out for signposts, especially on the road sections as they’ll often take you onto adjoining footpaths for safety reasons.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it worked well throughout. You can find the Bude to Crackington Haven route here: it’s free to use, although I pay a couple of pounds a month for a subscription so I can download maps to my phone in advance.

Phone Service

We had service with O2 in Bude, and fairly often along the coast for the first half of the day. Once we got further from a major centre, and especially in the valleys towards the end, service became more patchy or disappeared entirely. We had little to no service in Crackington Haven or at the campsite.

As a backup, I’d also paid a few pounds for a data eSIM from Instabridge that let me swap between all three UK networks, EE, O2, and Vodafone/Three.

It worked really well as a fallback option throughout my time on the Coast Path: whenever I needed data service but couldn’t get it on my usual SIM, I’d switch to the eSIM and choose a different network. If there was any signal to be had in the area at all, I’d pick it up.

Facilities

You’ll have no problem with getting breakfast in Bude if you’re leaving later in the morning than we did (or if Buffy’s is sticking to its posted 8 a.m. opening time that day), but otherwise you can grab supplies from Sainsbury’s or the Co-op.

After that, Widemouth Bay is the only place for food or drink until Crackington Haven, so I’d recommend stopping there. There’s a pub on the way into the village and a couple of cafes beside the beach,

There are three places to get food in Crackington Haven: the pub and two cafes. If you’re not staying in the village, check the opening and food service hours to make sure they line up with when you’ll be there.

Accommodation

There are campsites at Efford Downs and Upper Lynstone, but both are too close to Bude to be useful for people walking this section unless you’re going in the opposite direction.

If you don’t feel like walking all the way to Crackington Haven, you’ve got the choice of Sandparks Camping in Widemouth Bay or Penhalt Farm Camping, a little further on and half a mile off the trail. Otherwise, it’s Coxford Meadows as above.

For other accommodation options, the pub in Widemouth Bay has a few nice-looking rooms, and there’s a great little apartment just off the path in Tresmorn. The pub in Crackington Haven also has rooms and there’s a B&B about 800 yards up the road, in the same direction as the campsite but not as far.