Croyde Weekender - Day 2 - A sort of Exmoor coast figure of 8

This is a sort of figure of 8 walk that starts out from Heddon Valley car park, next to the Hunter's Inn. The main walk is a strenuous 15.5 miles, however there are options to extend this or make this a 9 mile or 12 mile walk (note there are some hills on this walk and even the 9 mile walk still demands some sort of walking fitness).

The early part of the walk sees us walking through woods and along the Ladies mile path before reaching the open moorland. We then walk to the top of Holdstone Down before re-joining the South West Coast Path, which we follow back around to the bottom of Heddon Valley close to where we started from.

From here, there is a short walk along the valley floor to Heddon's Mouth beach, which offers the chance of a swim. We then walk back to moreorless where we started from and at this point say goodbye to anyone choosing the shorter option.

The next part of the walk sees us doing the second loop of the figure of eight. We start with a walk uphill before the path levels out and we enjoy views out towards the Valley of the Rocks and Foreland Point. We continue along here until we reach Woody Bay. At this point we have the option of extending the walk by 1.5 mile with a excursion to Woody Bay beach. Woody Bay beach is a good beach with a neat tidal pool and waterfall, and is well worth a visit. However, the beach is at its best at low tide and it may not be worth it by the time we get round there. Plus, we will only extend the walk with the agreement of all walkers. Lastly, we complete the loop by re-joining the coast path and following it back to the start.