All walks › Cardiff and the Vale
Cardiff and the ValeRest Bay to Kenfig
North from Porthcawl along the coast and into the great dune system at Kenfig, with a buried town somewhere underneath.
- Distance
- 5.6 mi / 9 km
- Time
- 3 hr
- Ascent
- 80 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 north-west from Rest Bay past Sker Point into the Kenfig dunes. Flat with soft sand in the dunes.
Worth knowing
- Sker House inland inspired the novel The Maid of Sker and has a considerable local reputation.
- Kenfig Pool is the largest natural lake in south Wales.
- Rest Bay is a serious surf beach and the rips are real.
What you’ll see
The coast and Sker Point, the dune system, Kenfig Pool, and the buried castle stump.
Background
Kenfig borough was engulfed by blown sand from the fourteenth century and abandoned; only the castle keep shows above the dunes.