Walking the coast

Durham Coastal Footpath

The Durham Coastal Footpath is an 11 mile walking route from Seaham to Crimdon following the England Coast Path National Trail – discover and explore spectacular grasslands, magical coastal denes and uncover the rich heritage that has shaped this coastline into a unique and fascinating place to be. Our coastline is unique – nowhere else in Britain has such a wonderful display of Magnesian Limestone Coastal Grasslands supporting a vast array of wildflowers and insects. The orchids, sound of skylarks and lapwings in summer are a treat to the senses not to be missed!

The coastal denes created at the end of the last ice age support some of the most natural woodland in North East England and provide a valuable habitat for mammals such as deer, foxes, badgers and bats. Woodland floors are seasonally adorned with wild garlic, bluebells and snowdrops, with birdsong echoing through the mature and elegant oak, ash and yew trees.

After the decline of coal mining on the coast, water quality continues to improve, now matching standards found around the UK. We are seeing a fascinating recovery of life beneath the waves, with kelp beds expanding and large populations of colourful anemones as well as seals and a little further of basking sharks are frequently sighted in the summer months.

Coastal Footpath walk – Hendon to Hartlepool (PDF)

Connecting the Coast

Explore our fabulous Durham Heritage Coast with these short, easy walks from the coastal villages taking in the King Charles III England Coast Path. As well as the 8 walks there is a also a travel guide, giving a some brief information on all of the walks. The walks are all short ones, designed for those new to walking or for those wanting a gentle stroll along our coastline.

Note: to use the GPX files, you will need to download them from this site and import them into your GPS device/app for them to work.

Walk location	PDF of walk	Map file of walk
Travel information	Connecting the Coast - travel information (PDF)
Seaham	Connecting the Coast walk 1 - Seaham (PDF)	Seaham green route (GPX) Seaham red route (GPX) Seaham yellow route (GPX)
Dalton-le-Dale and Dawdon	Connecting the Coast walk 2 - Dalton-le-Dale and Dawdon (PDF)	Dalton-le-Dale and Dawdon red route (GPX) Dalton-le-Dale and Dawdon yellow route (GPX)
Nose's Point	Connecting the Coast walk 3 - Nose's Point (PDF)	Nose's Point route (GPX)
Hawthorn	Connecting the Coast walk 4 - Hawthorn (PDF)	Hawthorn green route (GPX) Hawthorn red route (GPX) Hawthorn yellow route (GPX)
Easington Colliery	Connecting the Coast walk 5 - Easington Colliery (PDF)	Easington dark green route (GPX) Easington light green route (GPX) Easington red route (GPX) Easington yellow route (GPX)
Horden	Connecting the Coast walk 6 - Horden (PDF)	Horden green route from station(GPX) Horden red route from station (GPX) Horden yellow route from station (GPX)
Blackhall	Connecting the Coast walk 7 - Blackhall (PDF)
Crimdon	Connecting the Coast walk 8 - Crimdon (PDF)	Crimdon green route (GPX) Crimdon red route (GPX) Crimdon yellow route (GPX)

Circular coastal walks

As well as the stunning cliff top scenery along the Durham Coastal Path, it also links into coastal settlements with their own unique stories to tell. These circular walks are around coastal villages which link into the Coastal Path route.

Other walks

Getting there

For public transport information visit the Traveline website.