Tel: (0300) 1234 202
Email: countryside@cormacltd.co.uk
Web: www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment/countryside/cycle-routes-and-trails/the-mineral-tramways
Web: www.visitcornwall.com/things-to-do/walking/the-great-flat-lode-trail
Paths and trails here there and everywhere
Discover the old mineral tramways, the mines and their terminal ports,. Explore what remains of them today as part of the Mineral Tramways Trails. Ride a bike or horse or simply walk, following nearly 30 miles of signed routes.
Enter into the area's mining past as the trails leads you along old tramroads and disused railways to engine houses, buddle floors, vanner houses and a miner's dry. Enjoy the superb mining landscape.
The Mineral Tramways Heritage Project was a £6 million Regeneration Project.
The Coast to Coast Trail - 11 miles
Links the historic mining harbours of Portreath on the North coast and Devoran on the South coast, both so important in the transportation of Cornish copper to Swansea for smelting, and Welsh coal, Scandinavian timber and many other supplies for use in Cornish mines. Mostly traffic free, the trail passes through ancient woodland, heathland important for wildlife and historic mining sites now transformed by nature. This trail provides the user with a unique opportunity to walk across Cornwall in a day. It takes about five hours to walk at a steady pace on mostly level ground.
The Great Flat Lode Trail - 7.5 miles
A circular route which takes about 3-4 hours to walk on land which has some steep sections. It is mostly traffic free, taking you through a mixture of farmland, heathland and industrial areas, and you can deviate up onto Carn Brea to enjoy the views or continue to Land's End or Bude along the Cornish Way if you're keen on cycle routes. The trail also follows part of the line of the Basset Mine Tramway, built to carry tin ore for processing at Wheal Basset Stamps and West Basset Stamps.
The Tresavean Trail - 1.1 miles
Follows the Tresavean branch of the Hayle Railway from the top of Buller Hill. It offers an abundance of wildlife and great views as far as the clay tips at St. Austell. Opened as part of the Hayle Railway, the branch originally hauled Welsh coal and Tresavean copper along its entirely horse-drawn section from the top of Buller Hill. A series of granite setts for its 4 feet 8.5 inch gauge rails can still be seen in places along the former track bed. The line closed in 1936.
The Portreath Branchline Trail - 5.5 miles
This connects the coastal village of Portreath with Illogan and Pool along the historically important Portreath Incline and former Portreath railway bed. It will offer a safe traffic free route, also linking Cornwall College at Camborne and Tuckingmill Valley Park with the popular Great Flat Lode Trail or follow the Red River Valley to Brea.
The Redruth and Chasewater Railway Trail - 7.7 miles
This route starts at Twelveheads, connecting with the existing Coast to Coast Trail. It follows a route south bypassing the villages of Carharrack and Lanner, to connect with the Great Flat Lode Trail and Tresavean Trail at Butler Hill and the centre of Redruth, following as closely as possible the original railway route. Gwennap Pit is close by and Carn Marth can be accessed from the trail.
The Tolgus Trail - 1 mile
This trail follows the floor of the Portreath Valley will connect the centre of Redruth and its rail station with the important Tolgus calciner heritage site and the Coast to Coast Trail at Cambrose. At its most northerly point you will cross farm land before reaching the former Tolgus streams site, an English Nature Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). From here you can easily visit Tolgus Tin before continuing along a quiet rural lane to the Tolgus calciner site. From the centre of Redruth, you can join the Redruth & Chasewater Railway Trail and visit the central mining villages of Lanner, Carharrack and St. Day.
The Tehidy Trail - 2.5 miles
This is based on the existing network of tracks and trails through Tehidy Country Park, former home of Sir Francis Basset whose De Dunstanville memorial crowns Carn Brea. This new multi-use trail will link with the Portreath Branchline Trail and The Coast to Coast Trail.
Camborne Carn Brea Cornish Engines King Edward Mine Museum Redruth Tolgus Tin Cornish Cafes
The Clay Trails Cycling in Cornwall Walks and Walking in Cornwall Wheal Peevor Multi-use Trail
The Cornish Way Cornwall's Railways Heartlands Moseley Museum Tuckingmill Valley Park