Cemaes Head walk near Cardigan on the Pembrokeshire coast
View towards Cemaes Head from Ceibwr Bay
The Cemaes Head walk near Poppit Sands is lovely to do in springtime: you'll see fulmars, cormorants and guillemots nesting on the highest cliffs (550ft) in the National Park. More seals breed here than anywhere else in Wales from mid-summer. And year round you’re likely to spot chough, ravens, kestrels and buzzards, you may even see bottlenose dolphins in the bay.
DISTANCE/DURATION: 5.0 miles (8.0 km) 3 hours.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service bus Poppit Sands 407/409, *Poppit Rocket 405 (*seasonal, hail & ride).
CHARACTER: Rugged coast, fields and livestock.
LOOK OUT FOR: Reintroduction of coastal grazing, highest cliffs in National Park (550ft) spectacular rock folding.
A walk along dramatic cliffs with spectacular views.
Look out for: Reintroduction of coastal grazing, highest cliffs in National Park (550ft), spectacular rock folding.
The highest sea cliffs in the Park are between Cemaes Head and Pen-yr-Afr, where you’ll see dramatic folding and contorting of the rocks (the effects of powerful earth movements orogenies over millions of years), which reveal the structure and strata of the earths crust.
This walk is ideal for seeing sea-birds, particularly gulls such as the greater black-backed gull. Fulmars, cormorants, and guillemots nest on the cliffs through spring and early summer. Keep an eye out for chough (rare crows with vivid red beaks and legs that perform spectacular aerobatics), ravens, kestrels, buzzards, stonechats and the ubiquitous jackdaw.
The recent reintroduction of coastal grazing by ponies has improved the quality of cliff-top heath and grassland habitat for chough at Pwynt-y-Bar. Thrift and spring squill are prevalent on the slopes to the west and heather, bell heather, bracken and gorse cover the heath.
Out in the bay bottlenose dolphins can sometimes be seen and seals breed on the beach from August to October. There are spectacular views over Cardigan Bay you may even see Snowdonia on a clear day.
Geraint Harries, North Sector Senior Ranger for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, says: “Keep your eyes open. If you want to see dolphins or porpoises then Cemaes Head is one of the best spots along this coast.”
