Dawlish Warren’s biggest
Dawlish Countryside Park
Park or garden
27 ha (68 acres)5.2 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.2 km of path
38 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dawlish Warren
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Nilfanion · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Dawlish Warren · parks, paths & countryside
Dawlish Warren is on the coast, on the South West Coast Path
The sea makes up 45% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Dawlish Warren add up to 21.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The East Devon National Landscape begins 1.9 mi from the village’s edge. Dawlish Warren grades A for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
21.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
73%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
27 km
2.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: East Devon National Landscape
The sea
45%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Dawlish Warren?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast45% of the area within 5 km is sea; 14 beaches mapped.Room to roam21.1 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 99% of UK towns.Countryside close byThe East Devon National Landscape starts 1.9 mi east.On a National TrailThe South West Coast Path passes through.
Dawlish Warren’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Dawlish Warren grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Dawlish Warren, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 94% of UK towns5th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space21.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
99out of
100
100
A park within a walk73%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
36out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape1%of the land within 5 km
64out of
100
100
Footpaths2.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
57out of
100
100
The sea45%of the area within 5 km
98out 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.
Villages its size
Dawlish Warren is 5th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,100 to 1,300 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
Dawlish Warren2.9
Villages its size2.0
Devon towns1.8
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Dawlish Warren21.1
Villages its size2.4
Devon towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Dawlish Warren73%
Villages its size76%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Dawlish Warren stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porlock Somerset | A+ | 2.9 | 75% | 5.2 | 71% |
| 2 | Carlin How North Yorkshire | A+ | 3.1 | 100% | 2.3 | 13% |
| 3 | Sundridge Kent | A+ | 9.1 | 100% | 2.3 | 73% |
| 4 | Shamley Green Surrey | A | 2.9 | 100% | 3 | 69% |
| 5 | Dawlish Warren Devon | A | 21.1 | 73% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 6 | Niton Isle of Wight | A | 2.6 | 76% | 3.1 | 37% |
| 7 | Donisthorpe Leicestershire | A | 38.4 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Egloshayle Cornwall | A | 7.3 | 100% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 9 | Bures Suffolk | A | 5.4 | 100% | 2.5 | 14% |
| 10 | Ruardean Gloucestershire | A | 4.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 29% |
| 11 | Great Bedwyn Wiltshire | A | 3 | 76% | 3.7 | 100% |
| 12 | Brighstone Isle of Wight | A | 2.2 | 55% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 13 | Low Bradley North Yorkshire | A− | 1.2 | 100% | 6.2 | 2% |
| 14 | Hurst Green East Sussex | B+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.1 | 100% |
| 15 | Oxspring South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.7 | 77% | 4 | 1% |
| 16 | Stallingborough Lincolnshire | B+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 17 | King's Somborne Hampshire | B+ | 5.2 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 18 | St Bees Cumbria | B | 8.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Clyst St Mary Devon | B | 5.8 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Bodedern Gwynedd | B | 1.2 | 100% | 0 | 16% |
| 21 | Woodchurch Kent | B | 2.3 | 78% | 2.8 | 12% |
| 22 | Moresby Parks Cumbria | B− | 1.2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 23 | Stradbroke Suffolk | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 24 | Trawden Lancashire | B− | 4 | 0% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 25 | Stretton-on-Dunsmore Warwickshire | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 26 | Welford Northamptonshire | B− | 3.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Rushwick Worcestershire | B− | 5 | 71% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Datchworth Hertfordshire | C+ | 10.8 | 76% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Lyne Surrey | C+ | 4 | 71% | 3 | 0% |
| 30 | Tansley Derbyshire | C+ | 1.6 | 73% | 3.4 | 4% |
| 31 | Coldeast Devon | C+ | 1.6 | 47% | 3.6 | 30% |
| 32 | Haswell County Durham | C+ | 3.2 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 33 | Chesterton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.8 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Bottom Boat West Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 35 | Stalmine Lancashire | C | 3.1 | 67% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Rearsby Leicestershire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 37 | Barrington Cambridgeshire | C | 3.6 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Croughton Northamptonshire | C | 3.6 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 39 | Hill Brow and Rake Hampshire | C− | 0 | 0% | 2.9 | 97% |
| 40 | Raglan Gwent | C− | 3.9 | 0% | 1.2 | 1% |
| 41 | Methley West Yorkshire | C− | 0.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Abbotskerswell Devon | C− | 4.2 | 49% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Kirby-le-Soken Essex | C− | 0.7 | 0% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Spofforth North Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Parson Drove Cambridgeshire | D | 3.5 | 60% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Shardlow Derbyshire | D | 1.5 | 73% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Kingswood Warwickshire | D | 1.7 | 42% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Coup Green Lancashire | D | 0.6 | 70% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Puddletown Dorset | D | 0.2 | 0% | 2.1 | 15% |
| 50 | Llanybydder Dyfed | D | 2.2 | 60% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 51 | Melton Constable Norfolk | D | 1.6 | 76% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Beckingham Nottinghamshire | D | 2.6 | 28% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Stoke Ferry Norfolk | D | 1.1 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Ifold West Sussex | D | 0 | 0% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 55 | Bretforton Worcestershire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 1.4 | 9% |
| 56 | Standlake Oxfordshire | D− | 1.7 | 42% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Rillington North Yorkshire | D− | 1 | 75% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 58 | Wrawby Lincolnshire | D− | 1.8 | 26% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Darrington West Yorkshire | D− | 0.5 | 72% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Fiskerton Lincolnshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.9 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dawlish Warren’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 Dawlish Warren
The biggest is Dawlish Countryside Park, 27 ha (68 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Dawlish Warren 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 (73%)Further (27%)
Dawlish Warren73%
Villages its size76%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 13 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 92 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The East Devon National Landscape is 1.9 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
1% of the land within 5 km of Dawlish Warren is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. Dartmoor National Park covers 956 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Dawlish Warren is on the South West Coast Path
27 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Dawlish Warren and the kilometre around it, 2.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalLocalOther waymarked
South West Coast Path (Section 43: Babbacombe to Exmouth)8.9 km
Red Trail2.2 km
Teignmouth & Dawlish Way2.2 km
Dawlish Ale Trail1.9 km
Exmouth Town Trail0.5 km
The South West Coast Path, a national route, passes Dawlish Warren.
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 Dawlish Warren: May to September
The village’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) | 8.4 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 93 | 77 | 74 | 63 | 56 | 61 | 48 | 68 | 64 | 109 | 105 | 110 |
July is the driest month (48 mm) and the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 110 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 15 nights a year. The climate in Dawlish Warren →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Dawlish Warren
45% of the area within 5 km of Dawlish Warren is sea. 14 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 5 with a name.
Red Rock Beach0.4 mi from town
DirectionsDawlish Town Beach1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPirate Cove1.2 mi from town
DirectionsCoryton's Cove Beach1.3 mi from town
DirectionsExmouth Beach1.5 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
5 viewpoints and 13 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 5
Plus 5 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve153 ha · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsExmouth Nature Reserve213 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 13
Little Week Gardens Play Area0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 4
Plus 4 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.
DawlishStarcrossExmouthLympstoneTeignmouthExtonDawlish Warren
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Dawlish Warren grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Dawlish Warren
What is the biggest park in Dawlish Warren?
Dawlish Countryside Park, 27 ha (68 acres), with 5.2 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Dawlish Warren near a National Park?
Yes. Dartmoor National Park begins 7.7 mi west of the village’s edge. It covers 956 km² and has been a National Park since 1951. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the East Devon National Landscape, 1.9 mi away.
What are the best walks near Dawlish Warren?
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the South West Coast Path (Section 43: Babbacombe to Exmouth), Red Trail and Teignmouth & Dawlish Way. Dawlish Countryside Park alone has 5.2 km of path.
How many people in Dawlish Warren live near a park?
73% 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 Dawlish Warren?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Dawlish Warren good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 57% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 99% (21.1 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 Dawlish Warren’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dawlish Warren’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.