This walk around Crow Point packs in so much gorgeous scenery in less than two hours, great for an afternoon walk. Great for dogs too.

Why it’s on my list

North Devon has lots of ‘points’ – Baggy Point and Morte Point are two that I’ve visited, and Crow Point was one that I had not. I’ve seen pretty photos of the scenery around Crow Point, so I thought it sounded like a good place to visit. And there’s a sort of wreck that has been the subject of many a photographer’s work – interesting!

Walk Information

Location: Start from the car park at the end of the toll road to Crow Point. The toll road costs £2 for a car at any time of the year. It has a gated entrance, so make sure to check the opening hours as you don’t want to get locked in.

Parking: Parking is free in the car park at the end of the toll road

Length of walk: About 3 miles – we took our time and took around 1 hour 45 minutes

Type of walk: Circular walk, miles of sandy beach and a short stretch through dunes

Dog friendly? Absolutely!

Overall verdict

Most of the walks on the Best of North Devon have been quite long and involved some challenging bits, so it’s about time I featured a shorter and more leisurely walk. And this is certainly a good’un! It’s the perfect place for a relaxing walk – good parking, lots of space, fresh sea air and absolutely gorgeous scenery. A great place to take dogs – no restrictions at any time of the year.

The route

Starting in the car park, take one of the paths down to the beach. You can look across the estuary to see Yelland.

Head right along the beach, walking alongside the sand dunes. You’ll see the remains of a wooden boat sitting in the sand, walk past this and to the left of a tall sand dune.

Follow the beach around the dune, you’ll start to see Instow come into view across the water, and as you carry on round you’ll see Appledore.

One of the features on the walk is an unmanned lighthouse, the first I’ve seen.

From here you carry on walking along the beach with dunes on your right and the sea on your left.

Along this bit we saw ships, one very large ship being pulled by a tug boat. A bit further on we could see Lundy Island.

We reached a part where there were remnants of a brick wall. You can go further past this and carry on round the beach to Saunton Sands and extend the walk for as long as you like.

We turned right and headed into the sand dunes not too long after the brick walls. From here we followed paths, crossed a couple of stiles and came on to a boardwalk.

We followed the boardwalk all the way to its end, which comes out very near the car park, where the walk began.

The best

What I really loved about this walk is that at some points I felt like I was looking at a pretty, peaceful cove and then at other points I felt like I was standing at the edge of the world. The scenery around Crow Point is just extraordinary, and you don’t have to walk very far to enjoy it.

Not the best

The toll road is a necessary evil! £2 isn’t too bad a charge, but on a busy day I can imagine that the single track parts of the road get a bit frustrating.

Top tip

Remember to bring exact change for the toll machine.