Lulworth Cove is a stunning horseshoe shaped bay formed by erosive actions of the sea and river on the soft limestone cliffs.
Beautiful winding roads cutting through the 20 square miles of rolling countryside will take you to Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre Carpark. At quick glance, it’s rather pricey to park onsite, in the grand scheme of things there is so much beauty, history and geology to be discovered for free, reachable from the car park, it might just be worth it.
The parking is pay and display and only payable by card. The rates are:
- 4 hour parking – £10
- All day parking – £20
- Motorhomes/minibus parking – £30
- Motorcycles – £5
From the carpark to the cove there are scattered ice cream huts, coffee shops, restaurants offering local cuisine and toilets. I passed through the Visitors centre where you can find helpful information such as tide times, maps, and souvenirs. The visitors Centre is free and open every day from 10am – 5pm. There’s also an educational and interactive display panels, photographs, animations, models and film on the geology and history of Purbeck coast for 150 million years. I personally have a love of fossil wood and got to examine a piece. I’d definitely recommend a stop here.
I took the path to the right on exiting the visitor centre instead of going directly to the cove via the left path. This path takes you to the impressive Stair Hole, offering panoramic views off the coastal cliffs and dramatic Stair Hole itself. Stair Hole was formed by small cracks being breached by waves, eventually enlarging into caves that collapse into arches. Stair hole is a natural masterpiece currently offering sights of all the different stages it is currently in. These include a blow hole, a cave, an arch, stacks, beech and small cove. I stood for quite a while absorbing the waves crashing into the rocks and exploding through cracks and holes, truly beautiful and a visual reminder of the power of nature.
Continuing the path past the impressive Stair Hole, you reach the highest cliff point with breathtaking views of the coastline and the seemingly endless crystal blue waters.
As you carry on along the path you enter Lulworth Cove cliff slowly giving view to an incredible sight directly across Lulworth cove from the right side of the bay. It’s a marvel of a scene and you may just forget you’re in the UK.
Lulworth Cove is part of the Lulworth Estate and part of Englands first natural world heritage site. Glacial meltwater cut the gap to the sea 10,000 years ago. The area is rich in 185 million years of geological history, fossil deposits and amazing landforms of five different types of rocks.
As I descended to the cove slowly losing the sun behind imposing cliffs and anticipated a romantic beach stroll in the heart of Dorset. Although the views were extremely stunning and the retreating tides waves adding to the perfect scene, feet sinking into the deep piled pebble beach making walking rather difficult and climbing low fallen rocks to reach the left side of the bay was the actual reality.
Unfortunately losing the sun completely and thought better to extend my adventure further and decided to pin and return in a few months time. I ended the day trip with some much needed food and refreshments at the cozy Lulworth Cove Inn offering local cuisine and cask ales. The pub had the cutest cozy corner and the food was amazing.
If you haven’t visited this stunning location and fancy a winter adventure I’d highly recommend considering Lulworth cove or pin on your maps for the warmer weather. If visiting please note a cliff fall warning and notice of recent falls was released.
📍Lulworth Cove Visitors Centre Main Rd, West Lulworth, Wareham BH20 5RQ.
For regular pin ideas and media of PocketPins adventures come join us on:
