Falmouth: Waterfront, Pendennis Head, Gilly Beach

This is a lovely in the port town of Falmouth, including a nice section along the harbour, and a loop around Pendennis Head, including the landmark hilltop Pendennis Castle. Start at the Falmouth Marina and head south for 1.3 miles along the Harbor, following the main road, alternating between waterfront path and sidewalk. There are some nice water views. Continue on Castle Rd., which is wooded in sections and has a decent sidewalk (option: can run in S W Coast Path instead), doing a loop around Pendennis Head, including the hilltop Pendennis Castle. It’s a ~100 foot climb over 1 mile.

Complete the loop of the point and continue along Cliff Rd. for nearly 1 mile south to Gyllyngvase (‘Gilly’) Beach. There ‘s a sidewalk and nice water views. For the return, there’s a shortcut using Gyllyngvase Rd./Avenue Rd., making this a 5.6 mile run. To make it longer, you can do an out and back, which would make it 7.6 miles including repeating the Pendennis loop, or save 1.5 miles by eliminating Pendennis.

Add-Ons: Easier section of coast path between Gyllyngvase Beach and Swanpool Beach. South of Swanpool Beach, more of a trail running situation on the S W Coast Path.