The Wild Days guide
With 250m high cliffs surrounding this beautiful location, you’d be hard pressed to find a more secluded stretch of coastline in the UK with such an abundant offering.
Geologically it’s fascinating, it has historic value also. The beach includes Victorian era bathing pools, still used today. It’s not the easiest beach to get onto, due to the surrounding steep hills, so be prepared for a pretty tough walk. You’ll not want to be lugging lots of beach items down with you from the car park.
Be aware that the roads are narrow and some have 100m drops straight into the ocean should you put a foot wrong. So please don’t take your 10ft wide camper-van to the beach. If you don’t frighten everyone passing you, you will almost certainly turn the traffic into grid-lock.
Access is easier for larger vehicles from the South approach rather than through Lynton and Lynmouth. If you aren’t frightened by driving on a road that teeters on the edge of the wooded clifftop, this route in is for you! Passing through the famous Valley of the Rocks, (you’ll probably want to stop there) the road continues up the valley and into the trees. With the trees and clear blue water just beneath the drivers mirror, this isn’t a road to get distracted on.
There are two parts to the beach at Woody Bay, the northern part gets cut off at high tide, whereas the more popular southern part is fine at high tide. You generally access at the South side unless you want to abseil the ropes that the locals have fitted to the cliffside. Be-aware that these don’t get checked by anyone but you and that it’s risky business! Take a look at the gallery to see the ropes, it was steeper than the photos make it look!
Recommended Walk/Hike
Our recommended walk takes you South around the Exmoor coastline to Heddons Mouth and eventually to The Hunters Inn. This is a spectacular walk with stunning scenery and you can get a refreshing drink at the Inn. We chose the Devon Cider.
There are two main routes, a higher one towards the top of the clifftop and a lower one that take you on some narrow paths with the sea at a stones throw. We left on the higher one and returned on the lower one. Each are as beautiful as the other.
In wet whether you will need to cross a waterfall on the lower path which can be quite slippery and get the shoes wet. In the summer it gets very hot in this area, so please take lots of water with you, especially of you’re taking younger ones.
