Discover Hayle for your Cornwall Holiday

Hayle is on Cornwall’s north coast, five miles from the holiday resort of St Ives and seventeen miles from Land’s End.

Left & page header image: Gwithian Beach copyright Adam Gibbard. Right: St Ives copyright Matt Jessop. All photos courtesy of Visit Cornwall

The town name ‘Hayle’ derives from the Cornish heyl, meaning estuary.

Hayle’s position by the sea and its 3 miles of golden sandy beaches make it an ideal holiday destination. The sand dunes or Towans are the favoured location for a number of holiday villages and caravan and camping sites. Gwithian beach near Godrevy is picturesque and a popular area for water sports including surfing, windsurfing and body-boarding. The whole coast can be walked using the South West Coast Path, from St Ives to Hayle and on to Portreath via the cliffs known as Hell’s Mouth.

NATURE AND WILDLIFE

Hayle estuary view from next to our Scarlet Ibis aviary

The estuary in Hayle is called the ‘Saltings’, and it can be viewed from afar while you are at Paradise Park. It is home to a wide variety of wetland birds and is especially famous for winter migrants, you can read more and find out how to get to the bird hid at RSPB which manages it as a nature reserve.

The Towans sand dunes are home to many butterfly species, glow worms and orchids, and they are one of 57 nature reserves in Cornwall managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Lots of information on Hayle is available from the Hayle Town Council website including a list of recommended walks.

HISTORY AND WORLD HERITAGE

Hayle has a rich social and industrial history which can be explored on the Harvey’s Foundry Trust website which includes a wonderful archive of oral history about the town.

The townscape of Hayle and its historic harbour were part of the submission of the Cornwall and West Devon historic mining landscape World Heritage bid. In 2006 it was announced that the bid had been successful and these historic mining landscapes are now on the World Heritage list.

LANDMARKS

A famous landmark is Godrevy Lighthouse, situated at the eastern end of Hayle Towans. Godrevy beach is popular for surfers, families, walkers, nature watchers and those who simply want to sit and admire the view. Photograph  of Hayle Towans Copyright Matthew Jessop coutesy of Visit Cornwall.

HOW TO FIND US

Paradise Park is situated on the outskirts of Hayle – How To Find Us including travel, TIC and Map location details.

VISIT CORNWALL

The Official Tourist Board online visitor guide to Cornwall, UK. Everything you need to know; What’s on, Where to stay, Things to do, Cornwall maps, guide to beaches … and much more www.VisitCornwall.com and their page on Hayle is here.

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

We are just a 10 minute walk from the South West Coast Path INFO HERE.
Where else can you walk along 630 miles of such superb coastline which makes up the longest National Trail in the UK. The heritage, wildlife, geology and scenery along the way are truly inspirational and every day walking it brings stunning new experiences. Visit nationaltrail.co.uk

OTHER LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

Tate St Ives
St Michael’s Mount
Trengwainton Garden (National Trust)
Land’s End

Visit www.BestDaysOutCornwall.co.uk for more great attractions throughout Cornwall

LOCAL ACCOMMODATION and GUIDES

For a list of local accommodation, please see our ‘links’ page here

Much of the information on this page was sourced from WIKIPEDIA – Hayle and associated pages.