UKC

Hi All,

Does anyone have any suggestions of crags in west cornwall that would be young family (2 year old) friendly for them to hang around/picnic/wander while adults and older kids (5/9/13) climb.  Our usual go to spots locally are Hound Tor, Sheeps Tor and similar but having a few days away next week.

TIA

Ash

Roche rock is worth a look though more East Cornwall

Polstoc point and Logan's rock if you don't mind nudity

You are quite limited for areas where a two year old could wander round safely

Trewavas

Sennen not too bad as the gang can stay at the top, wander to get an icecream, etc. though bottom of the crag is tidal.

Bouldering at the lighthouse end of the beach at Gwithian?

Pedn Voundner

That is a really tricky ask…. Nearly all of west Cornwall is either abseil in or steep dangerous ground not far away. 

some good suggestions already with Pedn vounder though you might need to carry the 2 year old down the path which would be a challenge… my dog couldn’t do it and I had to carry it (though it is pretty hopeless) 

Theres a few idyllic  places like Sennen and Bosigran where one adult can play at the top or nearby beach with a two year old whilst another adult climbs with the older kids ( assuming they can belay independently…) but you wouldn’t want a 2 year old wandering round without someone hands on and fully focusing on them. 

maybe … Rosemergy Towers maybe

it’s non tidal and just off the coast path.. got to hold my hands up and say I’ve not actually climbed there myself yet though..

best of luck. 

I would go to Roche rock with that team , or split the team….

I don’t think either of these would be suitable for a 2 year old. Have you considered the Culm? There are a number of crags where you can climb from a sandy beach.  Maer Cliff (aka Northcott Mouth)  Sandymouth  Menachurch Point. 

Rosemergy Towers area is neck high bracken, bramble and gorse off the paths. I would recommend chainsaw trousers and gauntlets for any movement in the area. I still have the scars from our trip to Sunset Slabs last summer. A two year old could be swallowed by the undergrowth!

Ha! 
Fair one, my bad for recommending a cliff I’d never climbed at. Still at least if the 2 year old is trapped in brambles they can’t get far….

I think Mark has the best suggestion 

Just to add to the posts below, noting your profile and profile pic and throwing in my own recent experience of two year olds and earlier experience of kids at crags in Cornwall from the age of 4 upwards.

Short answer is I can't think of any roped climbing place in the west of Cornwall that would work if you've got a two year old. Trewavas, Sennen and Rosemergy in particular just don't work and Roche, which isn't in the west,  is dull apart from the rock itself. 

Hence my suggestion of bouldering at Godrevy rocks, at the extreme right hand end of the long beach I think of as Gwithian (I am at terrible at names). There are lovely canyons between the rocks where you can boulder while the tots pootle about at the bottom with rock pools and a sandy beach to amuse them. The car park is adjacent and there are nice cafes and also an impressive haul-out of seals nearby.

When we had a clutch of kids from 8 upwards we used to camp near Porthguarnon cove and one time took them scrambling there for an adventure, out along the bottom of the crag and then up, somehow. We also did a roped climb there, a diff I think. A photo of that is on my profile.

Take the two year old (and one adult) out of the picture then lots more comes into the frame especially if there are still two adults left over. Just getting the kids along the base of Bosigran and then scrambling up out at the end is wonderful fr them, and if there are two grown-ups, doing the first pitch of Alison Rib with the kids is fun.

Another thing you can do, that I did when my daughters were 4 and 7 or so, is just to go boulder hopping on beaches. It is a lot of fun to do that between Trevellas and Trevaunance coves at St Agnes, for example. You can also have an adventure a little bit further along by going at low tide along the sandy beach from Chapel Porth towards Porthtowan and then, just before you get there, escaping upwards the coast path.

Around St Agnes Head you can also descend from the coast path onto Tubby's Head, scramble around and get really quite close to the sea. It feels like a wild old place (see another of my profile photos) that I think would thrill kids inclined to be thrilled. In that vein, it is also quite a fun thing to walk out all the way past Right Angle, right to the end of Gurnard's Head and then back.

Anyway, have fun!

Another vote for godrevy  ….several online guides if you Google. Or possibly porthgwarra area …cafe / grassy tops.

Thanks all! I knew it was a if ask with a 2 year old. Will see how we get on, and hopefully the dads can get out for some actual climbing. Thanks again for taking the time to reply! 

The Godrevey bouldering area also has some short routes that can be climbed with a rope. 150 m beyond the popular bouldering at the Twin Inlets area, across the next bay. A flat wall with numerous obvious crack lines and a good seaward-facing corner near left-hand end. Can be accessed for about 3 hours either side of low tide. You can climb about 10 routes that are each about 7 m high. Climb directly off the beach. Top-out on a flat rock platform with decent belays. Grades are from Moderate to VS. This is a good venue for introducing kids to leading because the gear placements on the crack lines are easy to spot. Also good for convenient easy top roping. The bouldering in the next narrow zawn 20 m beyond this wall is also good for bouldering.