Cornwall walks is a selection of walking routes I have completed in the county of Cornwall. The main areas covered include walks in St Ives, Cape Cornwall, Lands End, South West Coastal Path, Bodmin Moor, Polruan, Polperro, Looe, Fowey, Chun Quoit, Sydney Cove and other areas of the Cornish countryside and coastline. Cornwall walking routes cover farmland, steep valleys, hard hill climbs, coastal walks, ancient moorlands and short woodland walks.
Walking in Cornwall is suitable for most walkers of any ability but there are some very rough tracks and rocky climbs and often requires sensible walking accessories, like walking poles or a full rucksack of outdoor gear, specialist trekking clothes and camping equipment, as you are not always close to public transport and have to wait considerable time for buses and trains.
Cornwall walks, especially the South West Coastal Path, requires quality technical walking clothes and a sensible pair of walking boots or walking shoes are always recommended where there are many threats to a thoroughly enjoyable walk with unsteady surfaces and occasional potholes in the ground or muddy pathways on the cliff edges.
Cornwall was once one of the pivotal mining areas in the whole of Europe up until the 19th Century. This was due to its outstanding granite that intruded over millions of years into the surrounding softer sedimentary rocks resulting in metamorphism and mineralisation of the rocks.Carn Brea and Bodmin Moor are fine examples of metamorphism and mineralisation and the granite intrusion into the surrounding sedimentary rock formations.
The north coast is more exposed to the prevailing winds from the Atlantic Ocean than the south coast which is more rugged, with sheer cliffs and steep valleys. The south coast is more sheltered and is interrupted by many rias providing deep water harbours. Even more interesting is the area known as The Lizard Peninsula. This is an area of rocks which is known as an ophiolite. This is a section of the Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. It's also the place for a fantastic walk along the South West Coastal Path.
What also makes Cornwall such a great place to go walking is its temperate Oceanic climate and has the mildest and sunniest climate in the United Kingdom, as a result of its southerly latitude and the influence of the Gulf Stream. Winters are amongst the warmest in the country due to the southerly latitude and moderating effects of the warm ocean currents, and frost and snow are very rare at the coast and are also rare in the central upland areas as well.
Summers are however not as warm as other areas in southern England. Due to the proximity to the sea also makes Cornwall's weather relatively changeable.
Cornwall is one of the sunniest areas in the UK, with over 1541 hours of sunshine per year. The moist, mild air coming from the south west brings higher amounts of rainfall than eastern Great Britain, however not as much as more northern areas of the west coast.
The Gulf Stream, bringing warm air from the Caribbean north-east toward Europe, makes Cornwall's weather a lot milder than other places in the world at the same latitude. Also due to the Gulf Stream, Cornwall has the UK's only area of sub-tropical climate.