Carbis Bay’s biggest
Chy-an-Gweal Gardens
Park or garden
0.4 ha (1 acres)0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Carbis Bay
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Andy F · CC BY 3.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Carbis Bay · parks, paths & countryside
Carbis Bay is on the coast, on the South West Coast Path
The sea makes up 36% of the area within 5 km. The Cornwall National Landscape begins 0.3 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Carbis Bay add up to 0.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Carbis Bay grades B+ for the outdoors: #13 of 35 in Cornwall. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
0.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
88%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
36 km
2.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
20%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cornwall National Landscape
The sea
36%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Carbis Bay?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast36% of the area within 5 km is sea; 11 beaches mapped.Countryside close byThe Cornwall National Landscape starts 0.3 mi south-west.On a National TrailThe South West Coast Path passes through.Less park per person0.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Carbis Bay’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the Cornwall National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Carbis Bay grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Carbis Bay, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B+
Better than 73% of UK towns#13 of 35 in Cornwall · 14th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space0.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
4out of
100
100
A park within a walk88%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
64out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape20%of the land within 5 km
78out of
100
100
Footpaths2.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
55out of
100
100
The sea36%of the area within 5 km
94out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Carbis Bay is 14th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,800 to 4,100 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Carbis Bay2.8
Towns its size2.7
Cornwall towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Carbis Bay0.5
Towns its size1.9
Cornwall towns1.6
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Carbis Bay88%
Towns its size82%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
Carbis Bay falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 57 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darley Dale Derbyshire | A+ | 3.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 51% |
| 2 | Batheaston Somerset | A | 3 | 84% | 4.6 | 71% |
| 3 | Cranbrook Kent | A | 5.8 | 82% | 2.9 | 65% |
| 4 | Chickerell Dorset | A | 1.5 | 88% | 3 | 27% |
| 5 | Bisley Surrey | A | 8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 6 | Walter's Ash and Naphill Buckinghamshire | A | 3.7 | 50% | 5.3 | 79% |
| 7 | Holt Norfolk | A | 8.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 40% |
| 8 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | A | 4.6 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 9 | Disley Cheshire | A− | 1.2 | 100% | 4.6 | 22% |
| 10 | Bowerhill Wiltshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 11 | Prestbury Gloucestershire | A− | 1.6 | 80% | 5.3 | 51% |
| 12 | Welwyn Hertfordshire | A− | 2.6 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 13 | Esh Winning County Durham | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 14 | Carbis Bay Cornwall | B+ | 0.5 | 88% | 2.8 | 20% |
| 15 | Long Melford Suffolk | B+ | 6.9 | 87% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Cheddleton Staffordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Chirk Clwyd | B+ | 1.8 | 100% | 2.3 | 15% |
| 18 | Greasbrough South Yorkshire | B | 2.9 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Queenborough Kent | B | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 20 | Tangmere West Sussex | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 21 | Stoke Poges Buckinghamshire | B | 7.7 | 76% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 22 | Pirbright Surrey | B | 2 | 84% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Grange-over-Sands Cumbria | B | 1.5 | 46% | 2.6 | 40% |
| 24 | Calverley West Yorkshire | B | 1.5 | 92% | 6 | 0% |
| 25 | Little Paxton Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.8 | 87% | 3 | 0% |
| 26 | Tumble Dyfed | B− | 19.5 | 93% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Glanaman Dyfed | B− | 3.3 | 83% | 0.8 | 29% |
| 28 | South Cerney Gloucestershire | B− | 2.5 | 77% | 2.4 | 7% |
| 29 | Lower Stondon Bedfordshire | B− | 2.7 | 73% | 2.2 | 5% |
| 30 | New Romney Kent | C+ | 2.5 | 79% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 31 | Ystradgynlais Powys | C+ | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 32 | Chipping Ongar Essex | C+ | 2.5 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 33 | Bar Hill Cambridgeshire | C+ | 1.4 | 93% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Heacham Norfolk | C+ | 1.5 | 53% | 1.1 | 29% |
| 35 | Forest Row East Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 51% | 3.4 | 94% |
| 36 | Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire | C | 3.7 | 43% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Kirkburton West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 86% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 38 | Silver End Essex | C | 2 | 88% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Langley Park County Durham | C | 0.8 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Cubbington Warwickshire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 41 | Tenbury Wells Worcestershire | C | 2.3 | 51% | 2.1 | 3% |
| 42 | Oaklands Hertfordshire | C | 2 | 7% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Wynyard County Durham | C | 10.7 | 64% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Great Glen Leicestershire | C | 1.4 | 91% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 45 | Whiston South Yorkshire | C− | 1 | 75% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Lydd Kent | C− | 1.7 | 66% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Brookmans Park Hertfordshire | C− | 2.5 | 43% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Kingston Bagpuize Oxfordshire | C− | 0.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Swanland East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 50 | Sutton Cambridgeshire | D | 1.9 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Glyn-neath West Glamorgan | D | 1.3 | 57% | 1.1 | 22% |
| 52 | Crowle Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 91% | 1 | 0% |
| 53 | Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire | D | 0.9 | 59% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Doddinghurst Essex | D | 1.6 | 60% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 79% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | North Ferriby East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 33% | 1 | 0% |
| 57 | Gnosall Staffordshire | D | 1.2 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Willingham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 73% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Cricklade Wiltshire | D | 0.3 | 9% | 3 | 0% |
| 60 | Indian Queens, Fraddon and St Columb Road Cornwall | D− | 0.7 | 27% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Carbis Bay’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Carbis Bay
The biggest is Chy-an-Gweal Gardens, 0.4 ha (1 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
9 in 10 Carbis Bay residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (88%)Further (12%)
Carbis Bay88%
Towns its size82%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
About 500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 7 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 567 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Cornwall National Landscape is 0.3 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Cornwall
0.3 mi south-west964 km²since 195920% of the land within 5 km
Official site20% of the land within 5 km of Carbis Bay is National Park or National Landscape, more than 78% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Carbis Bay is on the South West Coast Path
36 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Carbis Bay and the kilometre around it, 2.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
St Michael's Way9.4 km
South West Coast Path (Section 20: Hayle to St Ives)9.1 km
South West Coast Path (Section 19: Portreath to Hayle)1.4 km
South West Coast Path (Section 21: St Ives to Pendeen)0.9 km
The South West Coast Path, a national route, passes Carbis Bay. The regional route here is the St Michael's Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Carbis Bay: June to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.5 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.1 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 129 | 108 | 87 | 74 | 64 | 69 | 77 | 96 | 92 | 130 | 147 | 142 |
May is the driest month (64 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 147 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 7 nights a year. The climate in Carbis Bay →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Carbis Bay
36% of the area within 5 km of Carbis Bay is sea. 11 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 7 with a name.
Carbis Bay Beach0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPorthminster Beach0.2 mi from town
DirectionsHarbour Beach0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPorth Kidney Sands0.5 mi from town
DirectionsBamaluz Beach0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPorthgwidden Beach0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPorthmeor Beach0.7 mi from town
DirectionsThe South West Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
4 viewpoints and 7 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 4
Plus 4 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Trencrom Hill0.9 mi from town
DirectionsTrink Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Tregenna Castle Picnic & BBQ Area0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 7
Ayr Field Playground0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 3
Mount Douglas Campsite0.0 mi from town
DirectionsBalnoon Campsite0.8 mi from town
DirectionsHellesveor Holidays0.9 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 3
Plus 3 slipways without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
St IvesHayleSt ErthCrowlasConnor DownsMarazionCarbis Bay
ABCDOutdoors Grade
St Ives, 1.3 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 89% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Hayle, Crowlas and Marazion have at least twice Carbis Bay’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Carbis Bay
What is the biggest park in Carbis Bay?
Chy-an-Gweal Gardens, 0.4 ha (1 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Carbis Bay near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Cornwall National Landscape, 0.3 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 964 km² and was designated in 1959.
What are the best walks near Carbis Bay?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the St Michael's Way, South West Coast Path (Section 20: Hayle to St Ives) and South West Coast Path (Section 19: Portreath to Hayle).
How many people in Carbis Bay live near a park?
88% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Carbis Bay?
June to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Carbis Bay good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 55% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 4% (0.5 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Carbis Bay’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Carbis Bay’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.