St David's Head walk - Wales Coast path

Route: St David’s Head

Area: Wales, Pembrokeshire

Date of walk: 11th September 2019

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4.2 miles

Ascent: 700 feet

Weather: Mostly sunny

The weather was miserable today, exactly as forecast, and we’d given up all hope of a walk. Later in the afternoon breaks started to appear in the grey skies and so we set off for St David’s Head more in hope than expectation. As we approached the start of the walk from the car park at Whitesands Bay patches of blue appeared, the clouds gradually lifted, and so did our spirits

We set off along a path from the car park which rises above the cliff face, with steep drops to the side. As we’d done so often during the last few days, we followed the course of the Wales Coast Path, an 870 mile footpath which hugs the entire Welsh coastline

After about 15 minutes we arrived at the deserted sandy cove of Porth Melgan, and made a minor detour to the tiny beach. We then retraced our steps and followed a path to St David’s Head, which is forged of ancient volcanic rock, some of it dating back 500 million years. After reaching the tip of the headland we followed the path along the coastline. Along the way we encountered several wild Welsh Mountain Ponies, whose grazing is important in conserving the heathland and supporting the area’s other wildlife. They also enhanced the wonderful scenery

There are various ways in which this walk could be extended, but we’d made a late start and it was time to leave the coastal path and turn back to the start. We followed an easy path below Carn Llidi and arrived back at Porth Melgan. From here we retraced our steps along the cliff top path back to Whitesands Bay to end another superb walk on the Pembrokeshire coast

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)

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Earlier in the day we visited St David's, the smallest city in the UK, and better described as a village

We visited the ancient cathedral, but the weather outside was miserable - pouring rain and leaden skies caused us to abandon thoughts of a walk

During the late afternoon conditions improved and we drove to St David's Head - this is Whitesands Bay and the unpronounceable promontory of Trwynhwrddyn,