Woolacombe to Braunton: South West Coast Path Day 5 Guide

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We somehow managed to sleep in for a bit this morning, a rare occurrence indeed. A later start seemed like a wonderful idea at the time, and perhaps somewhat less of one as I was still slogging my way towards the campsite 10+ hours later.

I’d been unreasonably excited when I’d looked at the guidebook and it had used words like “moderate” and “easy” to describe this section. I presume that was based on the lack of up and down compared to most days on the Coast Path, but I also presume it wasn’t written with a cloudless 32^ºC day in mind.

As tough as the day ended up being, the first half was an absolute delight. After grabbing coffee and sausage rolls from the onsite shop, we were on the move by 9:00a.m., heading back down Challacombe Hill to rejoin the path beside the National Trust carpark just outside Woolacombe.

There’s a mishmash of sandy trails in this area, but they all end up at the same place: Woolacombe Beach. This stretch of golden sand runs for the better part of three miles, and although I’d seen it under cloudy skies on the way into town the day before, it looked about a million times better in the morning sunshine.

I’d never been to this part of North Devon before, so this was all new to me. As someone who generally believed that UK beaches are cold, grey, and stony, I was being forced to change my opinion in a hell of a hurry.

We followed the official path through the dunes for a while, but it didn’t take long before the call of the beach became too loud to ignore. There’d been a few early sunbathers around close to Woolacombe, but we soon left them behind and had only several Very Good Boys and their owners for company. If I was a dog, this is exactly where I’d have wanted to be. It was perfect for this human as well.

We had a lovely time walking along the sand for a mile or so, until we realised that we were going to run out of beach and need to swim around the headland if we didn’t get back up onto the path shortly. The dunes become more like small cliffs at that end of the beach, so you can’t just walk back up to the path wherever you feel like it, but thankfully there were a few obvious access points.

The track then continued through a section of woodland before coming out at a large carpark at the end of the beach at Putsborough. Traffic was already starting to queue down the narrow country lane, but we immediately left it behind and headed up onto Baggy Point, the headland we’d been looking at for the previous hour.

The sun was already starting to get concerningly warm given it was only mid-morning, but it was doing wonders for the views back over the beach and town. They were nothing short of stunning, as my two-dozen near-identical photos from that part of the trail attest.

We strolled along the trail towards the tip of the headland for the next hour, stopping briefly to chat to a father and young son who were walking a week-long section of the trail. The man’s backpack looked substantially larger and heavier than his son, and I admired his ability to carry it given the heat. I’m not sure I’d have been as stoic about it as he was!

Taking a quick break above the rugged cliffs, we gazed out towards Lundy Island on the horizon: little did we know how much a part of our walk it would remain for the next couple of weeks. Whenever we thought we’d finally left it behind, the angle of the land would change slightly or the sea haze would clear a bit, and there it was again, sitting flat and proud in the distance.

We’d made pretty good time to this point, and if anything our pace picked up as we made our way down off the headland towards Croyde. Going downhill played some part in that, of course, but the promise of lunch and a cold drink played a bigger one.

Nabbing the last table at the bustling Cafe Croyde Bay on the way into town, we spent much of the next hour eating, drinking, and discussing how we should definitely get moving again and then not doing so. The food was decent without standing out, but the staff and ambiance were great, and honestly, it was just nice to be in the shade for a while.

Both of us were eyeing up the campsite that we passed after finally managing to drag ourselves out of the cafe: we’d only walked seven miles (11km) by this point, which definitely didn’t feel like enough, but man, was it tempting to stop for the day and just go to the beach instead.

It felt like everyone else in the country had done exactly that, something we got to confirm up close as the path skirted the edge of the sand and then took us directly across it. Picking our way through sandcastles, towels, and the UK’s favourite beach accessory, the windbreak, we felt more than a little out of place with our hiking clothes and backpacks.

With the faint smell of sunscreen still lingering in the air, we climbed up a short staircase at the end of the beach, crossed the busy B3231, and then followed the road from a safe distance above it as we rounded Saunton Down.

If I’d thought Woolacombe’s beach was impressive earlier in the day, Saunton Sands took things to a whole new level. It’s a similar length, but with the tide all the way out and no development beyond the carpark and a few buildings at the northern end, it seemed like the sand just never ended.

Apparently the beach is cordoned off a few times a year to let the RAF practice landing its Hercules transporters on it, but with no enormous planes on the horizon, it felt safe to continue. Well, until we got to the hotel at the start of the beach, anyway.

You’ve got three choices here: walk the better part of 400 yards along the busy road with no footpath, take the longer, much steeper, but considerably safer alternative route through farmland that avoids the road, or walk 3+ miles along Saunton Sands itself.

We opted for the alternative route: fighting it out on narrow roads with speeding drivers didn’t seem like a whole lot of fun, and with the temperature now well above 30^ºC, wading through soft sand on an unshaded beach for a couple of hours was even less appealing no matter how pretty it was.

The views from up on the hill were spectacular, at least, which almost managed to distract me from the rapidly-forming blister on my little toe. Almost.

If you take a look at the route map up top, you’ll notice that the path does a very long loop around Braunton Burrows, starting west of Braunton and finishing near its eastern edge. It’s at least seven miles, and to make matters worse, the only nearby campsites are back on the western side of town.

For that reason, and frankly because the loop isn’t particularly pretty or enjoyable, many people choose to skip it and just head straight into Braunton. If I was only doing a day or weekend walk, I’d absolutely have given that loop a miss: it’s only because I was walking the entire path and am a ridiculous completionist that I didn’t.

Lauren’s feet were absolutely killing her by the time we got back to the road and rejoined the main path: although she’s just as much of a completionist as me, she’s also more sensible. We’d already walked 10+ miles in the heat that day, and there was no need to destroy her feet for the rest of the walk by adding another seven.

It was about a mile along the main road from where we were to Lobb Fields, the nearest campsite, but traffic was just as heavy as before and there was still no footpath. There’s a bus that runs along that road into Braunton once an hour, but as we soon discovered, no stop for it between the hotel we’d passed half an hour earlier and the edge of town.

With no phone service, calling a taxi was out of the question as well, and things were starting to look a little grim. In desperation, I stuck out my thumb: hitching a ride had worked for us at the end of a hike in Ireland, after all: maybe it might work here as well.

One, then two, then three cars sped by. “There’s no way anybody is going to stop” came the voice of reason from behind me, about three seconds before a van slowed, pulled in, and stopped. A guy leaned over his teenage son in the seat beside him and asked how far we were going. “Only one of us”, I replied, “to the campsite a mile down the road.”

“Jump in!” came the reply, and before you could say “don’t ever get into cars with random strangers”, my girlfriend was in the back of a van and heading towards Braunton. What could possibly go wrong?

(Nothing, as it transpired. The guy drove Lauren straight to the campsite and was apparently lovely, impressed by what we were doing, and mostly amazed that we’d even attempted to hitch a ride. “Nobody does that any more!” he said. Well, apparently two people still do, at least when they’re desperate).

After watching the van disappear into the distance, and with only mild concerns for Lauren’s safety, I crossed the road and started off on what I’d soon be calling The Most Pointless Detour In the World.

It started off well enough, with a winding path through the golf course and low sand dunes, followed by a blessedly-shaded section of woodland that was easily my favourite part of this loop. With a flat and relatively soft path, I was flying along, and briefly held out hope of getting into Braunton before my motivation completely deserted me.

Fat chance.

After a quick pit stop for a drink at a kiosk beside the carpark (unsurprisingly given the heat, they’d apparently had an extremely busy day), I popped out of the woods and onto the American Road. This military road might be great for driving armoured personnel carriers on, but it sucks for anything else: all rock-hard dirt and rough gravel, my feet hated every step of the nearly two miles they had to walk on it.

Finally reaching the end of the road near Crow Point, at the estuary formed by the Taw and Torridge rivers, the path turned east and north back in the direction of Braunton. My blister was starting to complain a lot more loudly by this point, but with over three miles still to go, there wasn’t a lot I could do about it beyond just slogging my way to the end.

And a slog it was, along yet more gravel trail past Horsey Island Wildlife Reserve and then on a raised sea defence wall alongside the small River Caen that felt like it went on forever. The reserve was at least pretty, but after 8+ hours in the sun, by this point I just wanted the day to be over.

Eventually limping into Braunton, I left the trail just after Velator Quay and headed for somewhere, anywhere I could get a pint and a meal. I chose the White Horse because it was the closest place to the campsite for Lauren to meet me, but it wasn’t the most inspired choice: with zero atmosphere and a long wait for very average food, I’d go somewhere else next time.

Apparently my sunglasses were as fed up with the day as I was: taking them off as I entered the pub, one of the stems decided to just fall off in my hand. By that point, all I could do was laugh.

It was still a 20 minute walk to the campsite, and by the time we got there it was already 7:00 p.m. and I was well and truly done. As wonderful as the first half of the day had been, the second half really hadn’t been enjoyable, especially given the heat.

We were only five days in and one thing was already becoming very clear: walking the South West Coast Path wasn’t going to be easy!

Planning

Started at: Little Roadway Farm Camping Park (1.1 miles/1.8km off-trail up a steep hill)

Finished at: Lobb Fields Caravan and Camping Park (1.4 miles/2.3km east or 1.5 miles/2.4km west of the trail)

This was a reasonably large campground that was unsurprisingly popular in mid-August, with a mixture of campervans, caravans, large family tents, and the occasional hiker like us. Despite its popularity, though, it was quiet after dark.

We paid £15.50 per person for a flat, grassy, pitch on one edge of a field that was sheltered by large trees and a short walk to the shower and toilet block. Speaking of the showers, there were plenty of them, and they were clean and functional with plenty of hot water.

There’s free Wi-Fi throughout the campsite that worked pretty well, and a small shop that I didn’t have a need to use. There’s also a laundry room with paid washing machines and dryers (you’ll need to get tokens from reception), but I just washed my clothes in the sink as usual.

Transport and Parking

Buses run between Woolacombe and Braunton in both directions, although you may need to change at Mullacott Cross or Lee Fields. If you’re leaving the trail on the eastern side of Braunton at Quay Cafe like I did, the nearest useful stop is at the nearby Tesco Superstore.

Look for the direct 303 bus if you can, or take the 31 from Woolacombe to Mullacott Cross then change to the 21B to get to Braunton. The 31 route is operated by two different companies depending on the day of the week, so check here for the Sunday timetable, and here for the rest of the week.

The 21C will take you between Croyde and Braunton, with a stop beside the path outside the Saunton Sands Hotel. If you’re not planning to walk the loop around Braunton Burrows, you may want to catch that bus from outside the hotel into Braunton (or back to Croyde) rather than walking along the road into town.

The same bus carries on to Barnstaple if that’s a more useful connection. Note that it doesn’t run on Sundays or bank holidays.

Paid carparks and very limited free on-street parking are available in both Woolacombe and Croyde, and there’s some free on-street parking in Braunton close to the trail on the eastern side. There’s also paid parking at Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows.

Waymarking and Navigation

This was generally one of the more straightforward sections to navigate, and the waymarking was pretty good in most places as well. It’s hard to go wrong leaving Woolacombe, since it doesn’t really matter which path you’re on through the dunes as long as you can see the ocean, and there’s only one path around Baggy Point.

Leaving Croyde, I’d suggest staying on the beach if the tide permits rather than going up into the dunes. From there, the path is obvious into Saunton Sands. The alternative route that we took from the hotel is well-signposted for the most part (although keep an eye out for where you start heading back downhill to the road), and the route around Braunton Burrows was easy to follow if not easy to walk.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it was an ideal backup for the signs and official guide book. You can find the Woolacombe to Braunton 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.

Note that the alternative route from Saunton Sands isn’t marked as such on the AllTrails map, but the footpaths that you’ll use are, so it’s easy enough to follow.

Phone Service

Cell service was good for the first half of this section, less so after that. I had good service with O2 in Woolacombe, Baggy Point, and Croyde, but it was more patchy from Saunton Sands onward. As I mentioned, there was no service to call a taxi just west of Braunton, and there wasn’t much around Braunton Burrows either.

Fortunately I’d 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: whenever I needed data service but couldn’t get it on my usual SIM, I’d switch to the eSIM and choose one of the other networks. If there was any signal to be had in the area at all, I’d pick it up.

Facilities

Woolacombe, Croyde, and Braunton have all of the food, drink, and accommodation options you could ask for. Just note opening times if you plan to start out early and need breakfast beforehand.

There’s also food and drink available at both the hotel and the lifesaving club at Saunton Sands, plus the small kiosk in the carpark at Braunton Burrows.

Accommodation

There are more campsites than usual on this stretch of path. As well as Lobb Fields in Braunton where we stayed, there’s also nearby Fairlinch Camping which has a limited season from late July until the end of August, and Secret Spot Camping a little further south.

If you want a shorter day, Croyde has a remarkable number of campsites. Ocean Pitch and Freshwell Camping are two of the closest ones to the beach, but none are far from the trail.

If you prefer your bed softer and your walls thicker, you’ve got some good choices there as well. Most places in Croyde require at least a two-night stay, but that’s less true in Braunton: Thistledene and Sleep Squires are both great options. There’s also the Saunton Sands Hotel that I’ve mentioned previously.