Golden Cap: The Highest Point on the South Coast (and Why Every Dog Should Climb It)
At 191 metres, Golden Cap is the highest point on the entire South Coast of England. The view from the summit encompasses the Jurassic Coast in both directions — west to Start Point in Devon, east to Portland Bill — and on a clear day it is one of the finest coastal panoramas in the country. It is also, as it happens, one of the best walks in Dorset for dogs — if you know how to approach it.
The name comes from the distinctive golden sandstone cap that crowns the summit, contrasting with the dark grey shales and blue lias of the cliffs below. The National Trust owns much of the headland, and the footpaths are well-maintained and clearly signed.
**The best approach for dogs**
The most popular approach is from Charmouth Beach car park, heading west along the beach to the coast path. This is also the best approach for dogs, because Charmouth Beach is dog-friendly year-round and provides an excellent warm-up walk along the fossil beach before the ascent.
Charmouth Beach deserves a mention in its own right. The Blue Lias cliffs above the beach are one of the richest fossil sites in England — ammonites and ichthyosaur fragments wash out of the cliffs regularly, and the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre runs guided fossil walks. Dogs find the beach irresistible for different reasons: the smell of the clay cliffs, the seaweed, and the particular quality of a beach that has been washing things up for 200 million years.
The ascent from the beach to the summit is steep — approximately 191 metres in about a mile — and the path can be slippery in wet weather. The clay soil holds water, and the descent is harder on the knees (and paws) than the ascent. Bring paw wax for the shale sections near the summit.
**At the top**
The summit is marked by a National Trust trig point and a memorial to the St Barbe family, who gave the headland to the Trust. The view is everything it promises: the full sweep of the Jurassic Coast, the sea below in whatever colour the light is making it today, and the particular silence of a high point with no buildings and no roads in sight.
The Stonebarrow Hill approach (from the National Trust car park on the B3165) is shorter and less steep, but misses the fossil beach. For a full day walk, the circuit via Seatown — descending to the beach and walking east to The Anchor Inn — is one of the finest half-day walks in West Dorset.
**The Anchor Inn at Seatown**
The Anchor Inn sits directly on the beach below Golden Cap — one of the most dramatically situated pubs in Dorset. Dogs are genuinely welcome (towels available for wet dogs), the food is excellent with local fish a speciality, and the view of Golden Cap from the beer garden is spectacular. If you time the walk to arrive at Seatown around lunchtime, you will have earned your meal.
**Practical notes**
Distance: approximately 7 miles for the full circuit from Charmouth via Golden Cap to Seatown and back inland. Allow 4 hours. Difficulty: challenging — steep ascent and descent on clay paths. Dogs: welcome year-round on Charmouth Beach and the coast path. Check cliff stability notices — erosion is active on this section of the Jurassic Coast.