Top 5 Walks in the Isle of Purbeck

Get out and about in the Isle of Purbeck and try out some of our favourite Dorset walks. The local area surrounding Cumulus Outdoors outdoor adventure activity camp boasts a variety of routes, whether you’re looking for a leisurely afternoon stroll or a challenging route for avid hikers. Whichever walk you choose, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views over the Dorset countryside and coast.

The Commoners’ Way  5.5 miles – Kingston to Corfe Castle

This walk starts in the village of Kingston and winds through Corfe Castle and can take up to 4 hours. There’s a lot to see in the village of Corfe Castle including the ruins of its hilltop fortress, a survivor of the English Civil War, and you can also watch the steam trains on the Swanage Railway at the station.

 

Corfe Castle to Swanage  12 miles (take the steam train home)

See the best of the Isle of Purbeck with this 12-mile walk which takes in the stunning landscape of Corfe Castle, the Purbeck Hills, the Jurassic Coast, ancient quarries, wonderful cliff top beauty spots and the seaside town of Swanage.

 

Dancing Ledge and Langton Matravers 4.5 miles

This is a wonderfully scenic walk along the Jurassic coast, limestone quarries and cliffs that tower above the sea. Dancing Ledge is a former quarry with a ledge that overhangs the sea and was a platform from which to load limestone shipments on to merchant ships. Some say that it earnt its name because of the way the waves cast shadows on the rock face, others that it’s the way the waves ‘dance’ as the fall across the ledge.

 

Studland Village to Old Harry  4 miles

This walk featured on TV’s ‘Britain’s Best Walks with Julia Bradbury’ and is at the north-eastern corner of the peninsula. Another leisurely scenic walk that views Old Harry Rocks and the chalk clifftops overlooking Swanage. As with all good walks, it begins and ends at a pub!

 

The Lawrence of Arabia Trail  6.75 miles

The Lawrence of Arabia Trail begins and ends near The Tank Museum in Bovington, close to the site where the explorer TE Lawrence was killed in a motorcycle accident in May 1935. The path takes in his former home at Cloud’s Hill and his final resting place in Moreton. The walk can be walked in sections and for the most part it is level with few inclines and no stiles.