The most popular iWalk Cornwall walks from last week

This week the crowds went looking for water. Three of the five most-walked routes trace a river or a creek, one is chasing the last of the June poppies before they fade, and the walk that tops the whole list only had its riverside path reopened after being shut for repairs.

iWalk Cornwall has shared its most popular walks from the past week. The mix runs from the wildflower fields above Crantock to the wooded creeks of the Helford and a set of concrete pleasure gardens that have been slowly vanishing back into the trees since the 1960s.

Every route below comes from the iWalk Cornwall app, which we rate highly. It is not a paid partnership. We just think it is the best way to follow a Cornish route, with hand-written directions, GPS guidance and a wealth of local history packed into each walk. Distances and grades are a guide rather than a promise, and the practical notes come from iWalk Cornwall’s own route pages.

1. Hayle Valley from St Erth

• Location: St Erth, near Hayle, West Cornwall
• Parking: In St Erth village, near the start (confirm postcode)
• Dog-Friendly: Yes. Only one stile, which most dogs should manage easily. Free-range chickens are possible, but other livestock is unlikely as the couple of fields the route crosses are normally used for crops
• Café: None flagged on the route itself. St Erth village sits at the start and finish
• iWalk Cornwall Route: Hayle Valley from St Erth
• Distance: 3.5 miles / 5.6 km
• Difficulty: Easy-moderate
• Highlights: Wildlife along the Hayle river including dragonflies, damselflies and herons, views over the valley from Porthcollum, the church and historic village of St Erth

Walk Description: A circular walk from St Erth along the River Hayle, lined with wildflowers through spring and summer and returning with views over the Hayle valley, which was once a lagoon that separated an island of West Penwith from the Cornish mainland. It reached the top of this week’s list not long after its riverside path was brought back into use, having been closed while the eroded riverbank was repaired. That path is still narrow in places where the river has cut into it, so watch your footing. There is one stile on the route and the fields are usually down to crops rather than grazing.

2. West Pentire and Polly Joke

• Location: West Pentire, near Crantock and Newquay, Mid Cornwall
• Parking: Pay-and-display parking in West Pentire (confirm postcode)
• Dog-Friendly: Yes. No stiles and usually no livestock. Dogs are allowed all year on Crantock and Porth Joke beaches. They are not allowed inside the pub but are welcome in the outside seating area
• Café: The Bowgie Inn at the start and end
• iWalk Cornwall Route: West Pentire and Polly Joke
• Distance: 2.2 miles / 3.6 km
• Difficulty: Easy-moderate
• Highlights: Poppies and corn marigolds, panoramic coastal views across Crantock and East Pentire to Trevose Head, the golden sands of Porth Joke and Crantock, the views from the Bowgie Inn

Walk Description: A short circular walk through the poppy fields of West Pentire down to Polly Joke beach, returning over the headland to a pub that was a cowshed until the mid-20th century. The poppies flower from the end of May through June, with some of the other wildflowers hanging on into July, so anyone hoping to catch the red-and-gold fields has only a narrow window left. The paths run close to unfenced cliffs in places, as most coastal routes in Cornwall do.

3. Helford and Frenchman’s Creek

• Location: Helford, near Helston, West Cornwall
• Parking: Helford village car park, above the village (confirm postcode)
• Dog-Friendly: Yes, with one stile, a flight of wooden steps, reported as tricky for larger dogs. Just after Penarvon Beach, keep dogs on a lead until the loop by the chapel, where there may be free-range chickens
• Café: A pub and café options in Helford village
• iWalk Cornwall Route: Helford and Frenchman’s Creek
• Distance: 3.8 miles / 6.1 km
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Highlights: Frenchman’s Creek, the creekside woods of the Helford River, Penarvon Cove, Pengwedhen, Kestle Barton

Walk Description: A walk through the wooded valleys of the Helford River, taking in the most famous of them all, Frenchman’s Creek. The creek is still as pristine as it was when it inspired the Daphne du Maurier novel of the same name. The short woodland loop at Pengwedhen includes a narrow path cut into a fairly steep bank, and the route passes Penarvon Cove and the old farmstead at Kestle Barton along the way.

4. Helford to Dennis Head

• Location: Helford, near Helston, West Cornwall
• Parking: Helford village car park, above the village (confirm postcode)
• Dog-Friendly: Yes. Dogs should manage the stiles without much trouble. Seasonal dog restrictions apply at St Anthony beach
• Café: Yes, plus two pubs. The Shipwrights Arms in Helford and The New Inn at Manaccan
• iWalk Cornwall Route: Helford to Dennis Head
• Distance: 5.1 miles / 8.2 km
• Difficulty: Easy-moderate
• Highlights: The historic villages of Helford, Manaccan and St Anthony, views over Gillan Creek and the Helford River, small sheltered beaches along the way, St Anthony Church

Walk Description: The longest walk on this week’s list, a circular route around the creeks of the Helford River and the small villages settled by Celtic monks who came across from Brittany. It links Helford, Manaccan and St Anthony-in-Meneage, rounding Dennis Head with the Helford River on one side and Gillan Creek on the other. In spring the woodland stretches fill with wild garlic and bluebells. The coast path runs close to unfenced edges in places, and the ground underfoot is worth a pair of boots.

5. Lerryn River and Tivoli lost gardens

• Location: Lerryn, near Lostwithiel, Southeast Cornwall
• Parking: Creek-side car park at Lerryn, which floods on a high tide (confirm postcode)
• Dog-Friendly: Yes. Only one stile, a very low stone one that dogs are unlikely to find any trouble
• Café: Yes, and The Ship Inn in the village
• iWalk Cornwall Route: Lerryn River and Tivoli lost gardens
• Distance: 3.7 miles / 5.9 km
• Difficulty: Easy-moderate
• Highlights: Views over the creeks, mature broadleaf woodland with ancient oaks, the lost gardens of Tivoli Park

Walk Description: A woodland and riverside walk at Lerryn, a village thought to have inspired The Wind in the Willows, taking in the lost pleasure gardens of Tivoli Park. The gardens were landscaped in the 1920s by a china clay magnate from the village and hosted the Lerryn Regatta until 1968, when they were abandoned and left to the woods. What remains is built from crude 1920s concrete studded with quartz and broken granite. There was a cascading water feature and a bandstand, later ripped out and planted with roses when it proved impractical, along with a 200-yard running track and changing rooms so visitors could put on swimwear and paddle in the fountain. The route crosses a single low stone stile and runs through the ancient oaks of Ethy Wood.

Plan your walk

By following the routes on the iWalk Cornwall app you get hand-written directions, GPS guidance that warns you if you wander off-route, and a wealth of local history along the way. Once a walk is downloaded it keeps working with no phone or wifi signal, which matters on the creek-side stretches and wooded valleys where the bars on your phone tend to disappear.

As we said, this is not a paid partnership. We just rate it. The app is free to download from the App Store and Google Play, and you buy the individual walks you want.

The full set now runs to 315 routes across the county, so wherever you are, there is almost certainly one within reach.