The great outdoors awaits in Cornwall, with an incredible selection of walking opportunities available! While Cornwall is often renowned for its beaches, there are also a number of woodland areas perfect for enjoying a stroll through as a family.
When looking for places to walk as a family, it can be difficult to decide to go, especially if you are not familiar with the local area. Hesitations can arise from the uncertainty of whether or not the terrain will be suitable for your little ones and if they would cope with the length of trek or any hills or obstacles on the journey.
To help you out if you are enjoying a luxury family holiday in Cornwall, we have compiled a selection of walks that should be perfectly suited to all types of family!
The perfect walk for families of all ages, the Tehidy Country Park covers 250 acres of woodland, offering plenty of opportunities to find a walk to suit the abilities of your little ones.
Surrounding the lake within the country park is a circular walk, which is flat, off-road and signposted, making it the ideal route for little legs. It will take around 30 minutes to walk, or a little more if you want to stop to watch the ducks splashing about in the water!
The country park also has its own café, allowing hungry tums to be refuelled after a nice afternoon walk.
Just outside of Truro, you’ll find Idless Woods, a stretch of woodland almost three miles long. The path follows between an assortment of trees – many of which are perfect for climbing, if adventurers amongst your group are keen to try!
Managed by Forestry England, the woods have a number of routes set up to follow, as well as seven orienteering courses established to test out your navigational skills!
Heligan is an incredible attraction in itself, offering fantastic formal gardens, farm animals and a ‘jungle’. But a little further into the estate and you’ll find a wonderful woodland area, complete with wildlife ponds!
The woodland is sheltered within a valley, keeping the leaves on the trees for longer, and offering a less windy walk. If you love the tranquillity of walking through a woodland, then it is definitely worth exploring the woodland at Heligan if you visit the attraction.
Cardinham Woods near Bodmin offers four walking trails with different lengths and gradients, depending on your ability. For families, the Lady Vale Walk is the best bet, as it is flat, so you don’t have to worry as much about little ones tripping up.
Follow the stream through the river for a tranquil stroll. Afterwards, enjoy a freshly baked slice of cake from Woods Café.
Trelissick, run by the National Trust, is an estate along the Fal estuary, comprising of a house, gardens and woodland. The woodland walk offers a three-mile circuit that follows down to the river, offering incredible views of the surrounding area.
Although dogs cannot go in the main gardens, they are allowed to be walked in the parkland and woodland that surrounds, meaning that your pup can come along on a family trek too!
We hope you’ll find a walk here that you and your family love! If you’d rather swap the land for sea, then you could also take a look at these beaches to visit near Truro!
THE VALLEY is proud to be the only 5 Star Gold Self Catering holiday village of its size in the whole of Cornwall
