Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Wales's smallest national park is almost all coastline, and its hills supplied stones for Stonehenge, its islands hold puffins, and its cliff path climbs more than Everest.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales
- Designated
- 1952, the second national park in Wales after Snowdonia
- Size
- About 629 square kilometres, the smallest national park in Wales
- Coast Path
- 186 miles (299 km), opened as a National Trail in 1970
- Climb on the path
- Around 35,000 feet of ascent in total, more than the height of Everest
- Islands
- Skomer, Skokholm and Ramsey, famous for seabirds and seals
- Stonehenge link
- Bluestone outcrops in the Preseli Hills
- Smallest city
- St Davids, with its cathedral, lies inside the park
The national park that is mostly edge
Most national parks are about mountains or moorland. Pembrokeshire's is the only one in Britain built mainly around the coast, and it is the smallest in Wales. It follows the shoreline like a ribbon, pinching in at some points and swelling out to take in the Preseli Hills and the estuaries of the Daugleddau. It was designated in 1952, a year after Snowdonia, as part of the first wave of parks created after the war. The aim was to protect landscape that people had always walked, farmed and fished, rather than wilderness. That is why you pass working farms, tiny harbours and ruined chapels as well as sea cliffs.
186 miles with more climbing than Everest
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs from Amroth in the south to St Dogmaels in the north. It opened as a National Trail in 1970. The route is never flat for long, because it keeps dropping into coves and climbing out again. Add it all up and you gain around 35,000 feet, more than Everest stands above sea level. The views repay the effort. Look out for the Green Bridge of Wales, a natural limestone arch, and the nearby Elegug Stacks, where guillemots crowd the ledges in summer. Further along is St Govan's Chapel, a tiny stone building wedged into a cleft in the cliff.
Puffins, shearwaters and a shipwreck of seals
The offshore islands are among the best wildlife sites in Britain. Skomer is famous for its puffins, which nest in burrows in spring and early summer, and for its Manx shearwaters. Skomer and neighbouring Skokholm hold a huge share of the world's population of these seabirds. They come ashore only at night, so the islands fill with eerie calls after dark. Skokholm has a special place in conservation. Ronald Lockley, a naturalist who farmed rabbits there, set up Britain's first bird observatory on the island in 1933. He later wrote about the island and helped press for the national park and the Coast Path. Grey seals haul out on beaches and in sea caves, and pups are born in autumn. Visit the coast then and you may spot a white-coated pup on a hidden beach. Keep your distance, though.
Where Stonehenge began
Inland, the Preseli Hills rise above the northern coast. Many of Stonehenge's smaller bluestones came from the Preseli area, with sources identified at Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin. They were moved about 150 miles to Salisbury Plain around 5,000 years ago. How they travelled is still argued over. There is a twist: research published in 2024 traced the central Altar Stone, also classified as a bluestone, to north-east Scotland rather than Wales. The hills are scattered with older monuments. Pentre Ifan, a Neolithic burial chamber near Nevern, has a huge capstone balanced on three tall uprights. It is one of the most photographed ancient sites in Wales.
Saints, castles and a very odd invasion
St Davids is Britain's smallest city, and it sits inside the park. Its cathedral stands in a hollow, apparently so that Viking raiders sailing past would not see it. It is a pilgrimage site tied to David, patron saint of Wales. The coast was also a stage for war. Carew and Manorbier castles stand in the park, and in 1797 around 1,400 French troops landed at Carregwastad Point near Fishguard. It was the last invasion of mainland Britain, and it fizzled out within days. The invaders surrendered at Goodwick Sands. At Abereiddi, a flooded slate quarry that was breached by the sea has become the Blue Lagoon, now a favourite spot for coasteering and cliff-jumping.
What to look out for
Go to Barafundle Bay for a classic beach, reached by a walk through the Stackpole estate. Try Strumble Head for its lighthouse and for porpoises and dolphins offshore. Boat trips from St Justinians or Martin's Haven are the way to reach the islands. In spring the clifftops are covered with sea campion, thrift and bluebells, and the Atlantic light is often at its best. In any season, bring a waterproof. The weather here changes quickly.
Notable people
- Ronald Lockley
- Saint David
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St Davids Cathedral
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Britain's smallest city is home to a cathedral built in a hollow so it couldn't be seen from the sea, with a nave floor that climbs uphill and walls that lean.