All walks › Cardiff and the Vale
Cardiff and the ValeGlamorgan Heritage Coast
Layered limestone cliffs like stacked masonry running for miles above a wave-cut platform, with a walled garden and a lost house at the start.
- Distance
- 5.0 mi / 8 km
- Time
- 2 hr 40
- Ascent
- 180 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Shape
- There and back
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
The coast path runs east from Dunraven Bay towards Nash Point and west towards Ogmore. Both directions are clifftop walking with big drops and no fences.
Worth knowing
- The cliffs are actively eroding and undercut. Do not sit on the edge and take care on the beach below.
- Dunraven’s walled garden survives although the house was demolished in 1963.
- Nash Point lighthouse further east is open on some days and has a foghorn that is sounded occasionally.
What you’ll see
Stratified Liassic cliffs, the wave-cut platform at low tide, and the walled garden at Dunraven.
Background
The Glamorgan Heritage Coast was designated in 1972, the first in Britain. The Lias limestone here is full of fossils and was quarried for building stone.