The best walks and hikes in East Devon

From the Jurassic Coast to the rolling hills

The Jurassic Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and cherished for its unrivalled display of prehistoric geology. Embedded in the rocks along East Devon’s entire coastline are fossils and rocks dating back over 200 million years. You won’t find a T-Rex skeleton here but still, it’s pretty cool. 

Thanks to the curve of Lyme Bay, walks along East Devon’s coastline give you fantastic views of the rest of the Jurassic Coast, South Devon and Dorset. Hiking on this coast has the most dramatic landscape though, with steep sandstone cliffs rising regularly before dropping down into the picturesque seaside villages like Beer, Sidmouth and Seaton. 

Away from the coast, more of the best hiking trails in East Devon can be found in the Blackdown Hills AONB. Like its neighbouring coastline, the Blackdown Hills hark back to the time of dinosaurs and you’ll find yourself wandering along heavily wooded trails, crossing cow-filled fields and ambling deserted country lanes. 

The East Devon AONB links the two landscapes, stretching from the Blackdown Hills to the coastline and is well worth exploring itself. This region has distinct valleys, trails through old copses and far-reaching views of villages, fields and the sea. 

East Devon’s beloved fauna

As such a rural region, it’s perhaps no surprise that hikes in East Devon are always accompanied by rustling in the bushes and squawks from above. Along the River Exe estuary from Topsham to Exmouth, you can see wetland birds like avocets, brent geese and widgeons (nope, we don’t mean pigeons). 

In the Blackdown and East Devon AONBs, you can see buzzards hovering above fields and an abundance of cows. If you play your cards right, you might even spot otters on the Rivers Otter and Culm. A beaver trial has also been in action on the River Otter and while their fate has yet to be decided, you might be able to tick this phenomenal creature off your I-Spy list. 

Wherever you go hiking in East Devon, you’ll experience its unique mix of prehistoric geology, sparsely populated landscape and wealth of wildlife.