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Cycling in Cornwall: The Camel Trail, Traffic-Free Routes and Rides for All Abilities

Quick answer: Cornwall’s best cycling for most people is its traffic-free trails — the Camel Trail (Padstow to Bodmin, 18 flat miles along an old railway), the Mineral Tramways around Redruth, the Clay Trails near St Austell, and the Pentewan Valley — plus, for the fit and brave, the coast roads and the moor. Hire bikes at the trail heads, go early in summer, and treat Cornish lanes with respect. Routes by ability, hire, and what to know, below.

Cornwall is not flat, and its lanes were built for carts — which is why the great Cornish cycling stories are its converted railways and tramways: level, car-free, and running through some of the loveliest country in the county to a café at the end. This guide covers those first, because they’re where families and casual riders should start; then the road and off-road options for those with legs; then hire, timing and safety.

Table of Contents

  1. Traffic-free trails for everyone
  2. For fitter riders: roads, moor and mountain bikes
  3. Bike hire and practicalities
  4. Personal insights and experiences
  5. FAQ
  6. References and resources

Traffic-free trails for everyone

The Camel Trail

The one everyone knows and deservedly so: about 18 miles of disused railway from Padstow along the Camel estuary to Wadebridge, then up the wooded river valley to Bodmin and on toward Wenford Bridge. Flat, surfaced, car-free, with hire shops at Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin and cafés along the way. Padstow to Wadebridge (about five miles each way) is the classic family ride — estuary birds, sand banks, boats — and you can turn round whenever the smallest legs say so. It’s busy in August; go early or come in September. Dogs welcome; see our dog-friendly guide.

The Mineral Tramways

Around Redruth and Camborne, the old mining tramways have become a network of trails through the engine-house country of the World Heritage Site — the Coast to Coast trail runs about 11 miles from Portreath on the north coast to Devoran on the south, mostly off-road, past chimneys and spoil heaps reclaimed by heather. History and cycling in one, and Bissoe at the halfway point has hire and a café.

The Clay Trails and Pentewan Valley

Near St Austell, the Clay Trails link the Eden Project to the china-clay country and Wheal Martyn museum on quiet surfaced paths, and the Pentewan Valley Trail runs a gentle few miles from St Austell down the river to Pentewan beach — an easy family loop with a beach at the end.

For fitter riders: roads, moor and mountain bikes

  • Coast roads — the B3306 from St Ives to St Just is a road-cyclist’s pilgrimage: brutal little climbs, Atlantic on one side, moor on the other. The Lizard and Roseland lanes are gentler.
  • Bodmin Moor — open roads, big climbs, wind, and Colliford Lake to circle; the crossing from Bolventor down to Liskeard by way of the moor villages is a fine, hard ride.
  • Mountain biking — Cardinham Woods near Bodmin has waymarked trails from family-friendly to red-graded, plus a café; see our woodland walks guide for the woods themselves. Lanhydrock’s estate trails suit intermediates.
  • The whole peninsula — for tourers, Cornwall’s stretch of the Sustrans National Cycle Network threads the county end to end; expect hills, and reward yourself with a pasty at every harbour.

Bike hire and practicalities

  • Hire is easy at the trail heads — Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin for the Camel Trail, Bissoe for the tramways — with children’s bikes, tag-alongs, trailers and e-bikes widely available. Book ahead in school holidays.
  • E-bikes have transformed Cornish cycling for the not-quite-fit; the hills stop being the story.
  • Lanes — high hedges, blind bends, no verge: ride single file, use lights even by day, and assume every corner hides a tractor.
  • Weather — Cornish wind is the real gradient; check the forecast by coast (our weather guide explains why they differ) and plan to ride into it on the way out.
  • Trains — the branch lines take bikes (space permitting), so a one-way trail ride and a train back is a good day.

Personal insights and experiences

Confession: my cycling was all done a long time ago. As a boy and a teenager I cycled constantly — but only my own patch, on the border, and the big adventure was over the Tamar bridge and down the lanes to Cargreen on the river, which felt like a serious expedition and, on those hills, was. I haven’t cycled properly since school, and never with the family. So the trails above are researched, not ridden — but they’re researched with a specific eye, because a Camel Trail day with the grandchildren is exactly the sort of outing this site exists to plan.

My friends who are proper cycling fanatics ride the Camel Trail regularly and are unanimous: go early, go beyond Wadebridge into the wooded valley if you can, and stop for the café. I’m inclined to trust people who’ve done it a hundred times more than my teenage memories of Cargreen — and I’ll report back when we’ve done it ourselves.

FAQ

Q: What is the best cycle route in Cornwall for families?
A: The Camel Trail, especially Padstow to Wadebridge — flat, traffic-free, five miles each way with hire at both ends and cafés on the route.

Q: How long is the Camel Trail?
A: Around 18 miles from Padstow through Wadebridge and Bodmin toward Wenford Bridge; most people ride a section and turn back.

Q: Can you hire bikes in Cornwall?
A: Yes — at the Camel Trail heads (Padstow, Wadebridge, Bodmin), at Bissoe for the Mineral Tramways, and in most towns; children’s bikes, trailers and e-bikes are widely available.

Q: Is Cornwall hilly for cycling?
A: Very, away from the trails — the old railway and tramway routes are the flat exceptions. E-bikes make the rest manageable.

References and resources