Worbarrow Bay Hike in Dorset, England
Worbarrow Bay is a beautiful location on the Jurassic Coast of England. Follow along on my adventures as I go on a Worbarrow Bay Hike, and discover the itinerary for this hike.
Back in April 2018, my girlfriend and I went on a 3 days road trip on the Jurassic Coast. Because we both have a full-time day job, it’s hard to travel anywhere for extended periods of time. We took advantage of the Easter weekend, where Monday was a National day off in France, to travel for 3 days.
Right after work on Friday, we hurried to the airport in Paris for our flight: it’s always a rush when flying away for the weekend, as going to the airport from our home takes a good 1h30, and we’re always really short on time. We arrived in Bristol at 8:15pm, and made our way to the car rental company to get our car for the weekend. They had an issue, and we ended up waiting for more than 2 hours to get our car… what a way to start the trip!
After getting the car, we drove down from Bristol to Dorchester, one of the best places to stay in Dorset but also the county’s capital. We’ve chosen to stay there in an Airbnb for the 3 days. After settling in, we went to sleep at around 1am, exhausted from the flight, the wait, and the drive in the dark.
Adventures in Worbarrow Bay, Dorset
In the morning, we headed to Lulworth Cove, and spent most of the day there. Read more about the adventure in Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove here.
The plan was to head to the Worbarrow Bay hike for sunset, to watch the sun dip into the sea from the top of the cliffs. We left Lulworth Cove at 5pm, and drove to Tyneham, a short 20 minutes drive.
Before leaving for the Jurassic Coast road trip, I had done some research, and planned out our itinerary.
The Plan
Tyneham Village, Tyneham Beach and Worbarrow Bay are managed by the Ministry of Defence, and they are used as military firing ranges. Thus, the access is limited, and it’s closed off to the public for most of the time.
I was a bit worried, and wondering if we could actually get to explore these places. After doing some more research online, I found out that the places are open to the public during the weekends, from Saturday morning to Monday morning.
As we’re driving to Warbarrow Bay, on a small, winding, uphill road, I notice there’s absolutely no one on the road. I don’t think much of it, as there wasn’t that much traffic on the road for the day, and keep going.
We finally arrive to the area right before Tyneham village, where you turn right on the road to go down Worbarrow Bay. We see a big gate, used to close the road, but it’s open. All good, I thought. As we drive by, I see on the gate a sign that reads « Open from 8 am to 7pm ». I look at the car clock: it was 6:50pm. However the gate is still open, and I had seen online that the place stays open for the weekend: happy that the gate is still open, I start driving down the road, ready to go on a night hike.
Disappointment of the day
Not even 2 minutes on the road and we see a car in the middle of the road. As we get closer, we can see it’s a ranger pickup truck. We slowly drive past him, then he stops us and says: « the place is closed, you need to leave ».
Oh man I was bummed! I was so disappointed that they would close the place at 7pm, meaning you couldn’t even stay there for sunset. The ranger was about to close the gate, and we didn’t want to be stuck there for the night, so we reluctantly turned around, and left.
Make the best of the situation
When we were driving to Worbarrow Bay, we noticed a big open space next to the road, near the cliffs, so we decided to head back there and see what we could find. We stop on what seems to be a huge parking lot, but there’s absolutely no one there.
At this moment, the sun was already setting, and the sky was getting amazing colors.
We ended up just chilling in this place for the sunset, watching the beautiful sky with sheeps around
After the sun had set, and the night was starting to creep in, we got back in the car and drove back to Dorchester, to get some sleep before the next day of adventures.
Worbarrow Bay Hike
The following day, we headed out to Worbarrow Bay again, well determined to do the Worbarrow Bay hike and see this part of the Jurassic Coast with our own eyes.
We drove to Tyneham Village, parked the car there, and hiked to Tyneham Beach. The hike from Tyneham Village to Tyneham Beach is an easy hike, on even ground, and takes about 20 minutes.
We got to Tyneham beach, and stayed there for a few minutes, sat on a bench, enjoying the view. After a quick rest, we got back on our feet and got back on the SW Coast Path, to the top of the cliffs.
The Climb
The goal was to hike all the way up to Flower’s Barrow, a nice vantage point high up on the cliffs where you have the best view of Worbarrow Bay, with a nice stone hut at the top. I had seen the location on Adam Partridge’s Instagram and asked him where it was.
It had rained the previous days, and the path was turning to mud in some places; we were not correctly equipped for hiking in the mud, wearing only sneakers. The first part of the Worbarrow Bay hike was easy, the elevation was low and though slippery at times the path was well-maintained.
The second part of the hike was already harder: there was mud everywhere, our feet were completely covered in mud and wet, and the elevation started to increase. After the climb, we crossed a fence, and all around the fence was mud. We hesitated for a bit, then we said « screw it » and just went straight into it; we had mud up to our ankles, our feet got stuck, but we kept moving forward and finally got back to normal ground.
The third and last part of the hike was exhausting: the path was so steep, and I remember my girlfriend saying « we aren’t going to go all the way up there, are we? ». Well sorry love but we are indeed ?
The path was so steep that we climbed on all fours, using arms and legs together to reach to top, all the while trying to avoid slipping on muddy ground.
The View
We finally reached the top, and looked back to see how much we had climbed. The view was simply outstanding.
It was very windy up there, exposed on the side of the cliffs, but the view itself was so amazing that I wasn’t even bothered by the cold and the wind.
Up top stands a stone hut, that was once part of the coastguard station. You know me, I just had to climb it.
After a while standing up there, we got back down to find shelter from the winds, and had lunch on the cliffs, while I was flying the drone around.
Map to the Worbarrow Bay Hike
If you’d like to go explore this location, you can find below the map for the hike:
All in all, the Worbarrow Bay hike is a fun hike, that doesn’t take too long, and you have an incredible view over Worbarrow Bay and Tyneham Beach. If you have more time to spend at this location, you can explore more of the area, and go on top of the southern part.
If you’re looking for other places to see on the Jurassic Coast, or if you are still hesitating to book your trip and need inspiration, check out these articles below:
What to see in Dorset
Exploring Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove
More photos for inspiration
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