Charton Undercliff

The cliffs at Charton drop away with a geological drama that hits you before you've even worked out what you're looking at. This is a landslip landscape - the kind of place where the ground has literally broken and shifted, leaving you to wade through dense woodland and scrambled earth that's still visibly unstable in patches. It's part of the Axmouth-Lyme Regis Undercliff, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and honestly, it feels like walking through something half-wild.

You get a proper sense of geological time here, which sounds dull until you're actually standing in it. The path winds through trees with roots wrestling out of tilted soil, and the sea views through the canopy are decent without being postcard-perfect. Allow a couple of hours if you're going to do it properly - it's not a quick stroll, and the terrain demands attention.

This is mainly for walkers with decent boots and a bit of patience. Kids might find the scrambling interesting for thirty minutes, then lose interest. It's absolutely worth the effort if you're staying at Seadown Holiday Park or Beer Head - both a short drive away - and you want something that feels genuinely wild rather than manicured. Free to access, no facilities on-site. Go on a dry day; when wet, it's treacherous. The nearest town is Seaton, just a few miles north, which handles the practical bits like coffee and ice cream.