Marloes Peninsula

Marloes Peninsula

Route: Marloes Peninsula

Area: Wales, Pembrokeshire

Date of walk: 8th September 2019

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 7.6 miles

Ascent: 900 feet

Weather: Sunny

The Marloes Peninsula is a rugged promontory in South Pembrokshire. A peninsula is a good place for a circular coastal walk, as it means that the the coastline can be followed for most of the way, with only a short inland section. Today’s route would follow the Wales Coast Path for much of the way

We parked in the National Trust car park near Marloes Mere, a grazing marsh which attracts waders, wildfowl and birds of prey. After following the lane out of the car park we joined a track which took us down to Marloes Sands, a beautiful beach with dramatic sawtoothed rocks pointing out to sea. We’d made an early start and had the place to ourselves. We could have lingered here all day, but it was only the start of the walk. We climbed some steps to rejoin the coast path, and followed the undulating route along the cliff tops, with wonderful views of the dramatic limestone rock formations

Every so often we peered down into the coves hoping to see grey seals, and it wasn’t long before we spotted several, along with their pups. It would be the first of numerous sightings along the way. When we reached Wooltack Point we could have taken a shortcut across the narrow headland, but decided to walk around its circumference. The views from here were magnificent, especially towards nearby Skomer Island, famed for its puffins

Wooltack Point was the western extremity of the walk, and its approximate half way point. From here we headed east along the other side of the Marloes Peninsula. The cliff scenery is not as dramatic as the southern coast, but it was a wonderful section nevertheless, with particularly fine views of Musselwick Sands

A path leads down to the sands, but we resisted the temptation of this diversion and headed away from the sea to complete the short inland section which leads back to the start. It was a memorable walk, one of the best

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)

Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow

Previous walk: « | Next walk: »