Croyde is one of those North Devon villages that people fall for and then quietly return to for the next twenty years. A wide golden bay, dunes rolling back from the shoreline, thatched roofs in the village and the South West Coast Path climbing away over Baggy Point. It is beautiful in August. It is arguably better in October, when the crowds have gone, the light turns low and gold, and the beach opens up to dogs again.
That last part matters more than anything else if you are planning a trip here with a dog, and it is the thing most visitors find out too late.
Rachel Collins runs Croyde Beach Breaks, and two of her properties – The Watershed and Amana – are part of our collection. She walks these paths in every season and every weather. So we asked her to give us the version of Croyde you only get from someone who lives here: the walk to do first, where to go when the beach is closed to dogs, and the pub worth booking a table at.
First, the honest bit: Croyde Beach and the May to September rule
We asked Rachel whether there was anywhere she would actively steer a dog owner away from. Her answer was one line long.
“Croyde Beach May to September.”
Croyde has a seasonal dog restriction across the main beach through the summer months, and there is no way around it. It is worth knowing before you book rather than after you arrive. The Watershed now takes dogs all year round apart from the peak summer weeks between mid July and the end of August, and Amana takes them from October to April, when the beach is handed back to you and your dog.
Autumn and winter in Croyde are the dog owner’s season. Empty sand, big skies, a coast path you can walk without standing aside every thirty seconds, and a fire waiting in the pub afterwards.
The one walk everybody has to do
Ask Rachel for the walk and she gives you a route, not a name.
“Start at Downend – park in the car park if you’re not actually staying in Croyde – walk across Croyde beach and off the other side onto Moor Lane. Turn left and walk towards Baggy Point. We like to walk the lower path out and the top path back.”
That lower-path-out, top-path-back detail is the local knowledge in the whole answer. Baggy Point is National Trust land, and there are two ways round it. The lower path hugs the coastline, close to the water, with the rock and the swell right beside you. The top path climbs up over the headland and gives you the long view back across the bay. Most people pick one and miss the other. Do the loop the way Rachel does it and you get both.
Allow around an hour and a half back to where you started. Or rather, allow an hour and a half plus however long you end up sitting still.
“Walking time an hour and a half back to where you started, if you’re not tempted to stop for coffee or a meal at Cafe Croyde on the way back.”
You will be tempted. The National Trust keep water bowls at the welcome hut and along the path at Baggy, and there are bins at the entrance to the beach and the car parks, so it is an easy one to do without carrying much. Dogs need to be on leads along the coast path itself – it is narrow in places, it borders steep cliffs, and there is ground-nesting bird habitat up there.
Where to go when Croyde Beach is closed to dogs
If you are visiting between May and September, or you simply want sand your dog can run on, Rachel does not hesitate.
“Putsborough beach every time.”
Putsborough sits at the far end of the same stretch of coast, round the other side of Baggy Point. It is quieter than Croyde and quieter than Woolacombe, and it is the local answer to the summer restriction. Dog access at Putsborough is zoned rather than closed outright, so check the signs at the access point when you arrive and walk the stretch that is open.
It is also the start of one of the best long walks in North Devon, if you have the legs for it.
“If you and your dog are keen walkers, walk the length of the beach to Woolacombe. You can either return on the beach or walk up above the dunes and return on Marine Drive.”
That is the best part of three miles of open sand in one direction. And there is, inevitably, a stop built into it.
“You have to stop for coffee and cake – have you noticed the food theme here? – at The Porthole cafe. Or even lunch.”
The Porthole sits above the beach on Marine Drive and is exactly the sort of place that has a water bowl out before you have asked. Take the Marine Drive route back rather than retracing your steps along the sand.
“Walking Marine Drive gives you a fantastic view down over the beach and the sea and back to Woolacombe itself.“
The pub
There is only one answer to this in Croyde, and Rachel gives it without qualification.
“The Thatch in the centre of Croyde. Perfect for dogs and humans, especially in the winter.”
The Thatch is the old thatched pub in the middle of the village, and it is the social centre of Croyde in a way that few village pubs still manage. Dogs are simply part of the furniture. In summer it spills outside and fills up with surfers. In winter it does the thing you actually want a Devon pub to do, which is a fire, a pint, a wet dog steaming gently underneath the table and no one minding in the slightest.
For the day the weather turns
It will, at some point, rain. Rachel’s answer to that is a fifteen-minute drive inland.
“Heartbreak Cafe in Braunton always welcomes dogs and has great coffee.”
Heartbreak Hotel Coffee, to give it its full name, started life as a converted horsebox in Woolacombe before settling into a permanent home on Caen Street in Braunton. Dogs are welcome inside, on a lead and on the floor, and the coffee is genuinely good rather than merely available. Braunton itself is worth an hour of pottering when the sky is doing its worst.
The hidden gem: the footpaths nobody uses
We asked Rachel for the thing most visitors miss. Her answer was not a place at all.
“The many, many footpaths around Croyde. Beautiful at any time of year, for short half-hour walks or half a day.”
Almost everyone who comes to Croyde walks the beach and walks Baggy Point, and then goes home. Meanwhile there is an entire network of inland paths threading through the fields and lanes behind the village that stays quiet all year round.
“You can walk from the centre of the village and up over Saunton Down and back round to Croyde, or over from the village towards Putsborough in the other direction.”
Two things to know before you go. The first is Rachel’s own caveat, and it is not optional: “Always keep your dog on a lead when it’s farmland.” This is working land with livestock on it, and the access is a privilege rather than a right.
The second is how to find them at all.
“Find the footpaths on your phone map, or buy local maps from Croyde Post Office.”
The paper map from the Post Office is the better option. Phone signal is patchy once you are up on the down, and half the pleasure of these paths is not knowing exactly where you will come out.
Rachel’s perfect autumn day in Croyde
We gave Rachel one day, one dog and an autumn forecast, and asked her to plan it start to finish. Here is the day, in her order.
Breakfast at Blue Groove in the centre of the village – the laid-back cafe and restaurant on Hobbs Hill that does a proper breakfast rather than a token one.
Then the long way round: out of Croyde, round Baggy Point, and keep going. Do not turn back at the point. Carry on to Putsborough beach and walk two thirds of its length, then cut up through the dunes for coffee and cake at The Porthole.
Home along Marine Drive and the road back into Croyde, with the bay opening up beside you and a dog who has entirely run out of opinions.
And then, because there was only ever going to be one ending to this day:
“Dinner? It has to be with a pint in front of the fire in The Thatch.”
Where to stay in Croyde with your dog
Rachel’s two properties in our collection sit at either end of the village. The Watershed takes dogs all year round apart from the peak summer weeks between mid July and the end of August. Amana takes them from October to April.
The Watershed is a beautifully refurbished 1960s beach cabin in Leadengate Fields, sleeping four across two bedrooms, with one dog welcome. There is a sunny wraparound garden that is fully enclosed, and a hot outdoor shower by the door, which is the single most useful thing anyone has ever installed at a beach house with a dog in it.
Amana sits behind the dunes at West Croyde and sleeps six across three bedrooms, with two dogs welcome. The beach path runs from the garden gate, so the first walk of the day starts before you have found your shoes. There are two enclosed gardens, a wood burner for the evenings, and a hot tub available as an optional extra.
Both are a short walk from The Thatch, which – having read everything above – you will understand is the point.
More places to take your dog in the South West on our dog friendly Devon page.
