Mortehoe and North Devon's Deadly Coast - Walk

Distance: 6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Start/End point: Mortehoe.

Mortehoe is a small hilltop village on Devon's northernmost coast. Despite its proximity to the holiday settlement of Woolacombe, it retains an old-world charm and a feeling of remoteness, accentuated by its location high behind the rocky headland of Morte Point.

This walk starts at Mortehoe and cuts across country inland to the former smuggling village of Lee Bay, before returning along the Coast Path (here also the Tarka Trail) by way of Bull Point and Morte Point back to Mortehoe.

This is not an easy stretch of coast, although the views are rewarding; the path here includes several climbs and you will need plenty of time (and energy) to complete the walk. However, there are a number of cut-out points which allow for short cuts back to the village.

Theme: Coast,
Special Interest: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Nature,
Area: North Devon.

Relevant maps/guides: Landranger (1:50,000 scale) 180 Barnstaple and Iifracombe. Explorer (1: 25,000 scale) 139 Bideford, IIfracombe and Barnstaple.
Facilities along route: Mortehoe - pubs, refreshments, shops, toilets, buses, Heritage Centre; Lee Bay - hotel/bar, toilets, buses; Lee Village - pub, shop.
There are 8 stiles along the route (3 of which are adjacent to gates usually unlocked); 5 climbs of average 50m/160ft. The route can be shortened to 9km/5.5 miles by missing Lee Bay and Lee Village and to 7km/4.5 miles by missing Morte Point.