Craster to Embleton Bay Via Dunstanburgh Castle

This was Georges first real attempt at a longer walk and he absolutely loved it! It covers around 5.5 miles in total and starts at the Quarry Car park in Craster (details at the end of the post). The walk is mostly flat and the route is very clear throughout.

The walk starts by heading right out of the car park and following the path down to the front street where you will see the small, picturesque harbour. As you pass the harbour there will be houses on the left and a gate at the end of the road, pass through the gate and it is a straight walk along the farmland to the Castle which comes in to view as soon as you are through the gate. The farmland is wide, and accessible for most. On the edges there are numerous rockpools to explore. Whilst on the farmland, dogs must be kept on a lead as there is lots of livestock, and there are signs dotted around which do not read well for dogs if they are caught pestering the animals!

As you approach the castle you will pass through another gate which must be closed once you are through, head towards the castle and you will be met by a split in the path, if you head right you will go up to the castle. I took the path left which ends up circling round and below the castle, and ends up at the coastal path. On this route you will have plenty of picture opportunities with the castle in view (see below photos!)

Head left along the coastal path, passing Dunstanburgh Golf Course, and shortly after that the golden sands of Embleton Bay will come in to view. Before you reach the beach, you will pass some concrete bunkers - built during the second world war! Here, you can carry on your walk as long as you desire - we entered the beach and gave George a good run around off the lead, it is very popular with dog walkers.

To return to the car park, simply retrace your steps back along the route, it is very hard to get lost along here. For food options, there is a pub in Craster where the dogs can sit outside, however it was too busy so we went back to the car park. In the car park they have a visitor centre and a food truck outside which serves some delightful burgers and kipper sandwiches. George even tucked into a sausage as a treat. You will also find toilets here.

Parking Information

The car park has 140 spaces, of which fill up very quickly on days with nice weather! We arrived early (09:30AM) to make sure we got a space. The cost is £4 all day.

Craster Quarry Car Park, Craster

Northumberland

NE66 3TW