The best walks and hikes around St. Ives

Easy walks with huge views

The walks around St Ives’ lanes and beaches are perfect for lazy summer ambles, with the butterfly-blue of the ocean ever present. To the east, the coastal trails promise invigorating walking with huge views across the bay and beyond. If you’re an early bird, you can catch the sun rising behind the iconic lighthouse on Godrevy Island – an evocative sight.

Delightfully long linear routes are possible, with the option of jumping on the train to get back to St Ives from Lelant or Carbis Bay. The magical saltings and mudflats of the Hayle Estuary shift with the tides, as oystercatchers, egrets and purple sandpipers scour the shores for worms and crustaceans. Meanwhile, the trails wind through woodlands that, come spring, are rich in wild garlic and seas of bluebells. There’s ample delight to be found to the east.

Experience the wild west

Take a compass bearing west however, and the trails will place you on some of the more challenging hikes around St Ives. The coast here offers routes where a strong constitution and a sturdy heart are pre-requisite. This is Cornwall at its most rugged, where the sea assaults the craggy coastlines with thunderous breaking waves and the trails often demand rock scrambling. Shipwrecks and deserted engine houses of long-forgotten mines serve as reminders of Cornwall’s industrial heritage.

There’s plenty of interest inland too, so circular walks are certainly an option. Having explored the spectacular cliffs and dynamic coves of the coast, a patchwork of small stone-hedged fields gives way to desolate upland moor. Archaeological treasures, such as the ancient village ruins of Chysauster, await discovery. After all, this region contains the highest concentration of Iron Age remnants in Europe.

A romantic, rugged and brooding landscape

Quite what the best hiking trails around St Ives are is debatable, there’s so many superb options in this romantic landscape. It is even possible to set out from the north coast and arrive at the south coast in a single walk, arriving at Marazion and the iconic St Michael’s Mount, an ancient castle connected to the land by a tidal causeway. From sublime sunset spots, rugged countryside, vibrant estuaries and truly breathtaking coast, St Ives really does have something for everyone.