Camhel two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

This is a very pleasant and very direct route between Camborne and Helston and, for the most part, is very well marked and sign-posted.

As other reviewers have noted, the section just south of Blue Pool farm is the poor part of this route. There is no sign and the OS map takes you directly through the farm yard which, on my January morning, was “guarded” by a very docile farm dog. Once through the farm yard the direct farm road was extremely muddy for about .5km and then leads to a set of fields that I can imagine would normally be full of cattle and given the state of the ground and the general upkeep of these farms, I don’t believe the farmer(s) have any intention of making this a safe and welcoming path when the livestock are around and I would expect that at a different time of year that livestock might make this impassable.

It’s a real shame as the rest of this route is very well maintained and every other farmer has created a safe footpath space. And, unfortunately, there really isn’t another footpath running in this direction for quite a ways.

Overall I would recommend this journey but, as always, one small section is all it takes to turn a 4-hour walk into a 6-hour adventure.

I submitted this route as a followup to the disappointing time I had trying CamHel One. I'm pleased to say that my experience was the polar opposite and I had no trouble walking the full 17 km. Every footpath marked was accessible and in most cases well maintained (thank you landowners/councils!). I walked this route from Camborne to Helston on an August evening - it has been very dry too.

Road walking out of Camborne felt safe and pleasant enough with pavements on every road to Barripper. The short section on the B3303 is probably the least pleasant section of the whole walk, althogh there is a wide verge on the left hand side to utilise for most of this stretch.

The route does dip into Praze-an-Beeble as an option for a stop/supplies, but can easily be circumnavigated if not required. This village has a couple of shops and public toilets.

As mentioned in the previous review (walked the same time), Blue Pool Farm is the only place where a lack of signage caused any concern. The gate was free to open into the stable yard, and then onto the lane where the footpath continues.

A bonus at the end of the walk was the walk following the River Cober from Lowertown to the outskirts of Helston. This is a pleasant wooded valley with several entry/exit points into the town. The one chosen on this route is well maintained, but very steep. It plonks you out onto a quiet well kept estate in Helston, and brings you in through a network of historic roads flanked by interesting architecture, into the centre of the town.

Overall a very enjoyable walk, that looks like it is well trodden in many places and maintained on the whole throughout. There are many stone and wooden styles and kissing gates, which makes wheeling a no-go on this slow way.

Walked on a sunny and warm August evening from Camborne to Helston. Very enjoyable route taking in some varied and picturesque scenery whilst also being direct and easily navigable. Highlights included a satisfyingly chunky set of stepping stones near Lowertown and some moorland heather in full bloom on Polcrebo Downs. Footpaths were well maintained and mostly well signed, there were an array of different styles to cross so not accessible for anyone with mobility issues, a few fields contained cows and a couple of friendly dogs were encountered but nothing out of the ordinary. Only navigational point that caused any issue was an unsigned gate at Blue Moon farm which gave momentary pause but a check of the OS map gave confidence the route did pass through the yard. All the inclines were pretty gentle other than a particularly steep section up from the River Cober in to Helston, but this could potentially be avoided by carrying on down the river to the roundabout near Lidl. Both Camborne and Helston make great start/finish points and have all the necessary facilities, though options in-between the two are pretty limited. Overall this is a route worthy of walking just for enjoyment but equally can’t be faulted from a practical travel standpoint either.

Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.

Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.

You can add up to 15 photos.