The Camel Trail is a permissive cycleway in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, that provides a recreational route for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. The trail is flat (and suitable for disabled access); running from Padstow to Wenford Bridge via Wadebridge and Bodmin, it is 17.3 miles (27.8 km) long and used by an estimated 400,000 users each year generating an income of approximately £3 million a year.^[1][2]

The trail is managed and maintained by Cornwall Council.

The trail follows the route of two historic rail lines—a section of the North Cornwall Railway between Padstow and Wadebridge, in addition to most of the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway between Wadebridge and Wenford Bridge, along with a short branch from the BWR line to Bodmin North station.

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was originally built at a cost of £35,000 following a study commissioned in 1831 by local landowner Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow. The line was intended to carry sand from the Camel estuary to inland farms for use as fertiliser.^[3][4] In the 1840s, England's railway network expanded towards Bodmin. The London and South Western Railway purchased the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway in 1846 and intended to connect it to the rest of the system by a new line through North Cornwall.^[4] The line from Halwill reached Wadebridge in June 1895 and then Padstow in March 1899.

Later the railway was used to ship slate and china clay from inland quarries to ships in Padstow and also transport fish landed in Padstow inland to London and other cities. When both quarrying and fishing died off, the railway lost most of its traffic. The last passenger train was in 1967, freight finally ceased in 1983, when a need to invest in new track forced closure of the line.^[3][4]

This section does not cite any sources. (May 2009)

The railway was built so that the trains would not have any steep inclines or sharp turns. It is these characteristics which make it suitable as a cycle trail. The first bike hire in Cornwall was set up here in 1983. The trail is now owned by Cornwall Council who bought it for £1 and the bike hire shops operating along it pay an annual fee to help with its maintenance. Only a small part of the trail, through Wadebridge, is on roads and shared with normal traffic.

Car parking at Padstow, Wadebridge and Poley's Bridge allow the trail to be broken into 5-mile (8 km) sections for shorter rides.

In 2006 two extensions to the trail were completed. The first was from Scarlett’s Well car park in Bodmin up into the town. The second was from Poley's Bridge near St Breward to Wenfordbridge through the old clay dries, which was made possible by Imerys donating the land.

The then newly created Bodmin and Wenford Railway saught to reopen the Wenford branch to allow for china clay to again be moved from Wenfordbridge by way of rail. A separate company, Bodmin and Wenford Rail Freight Limited, was set up in 1992^[5] but the line was not reopened. There were objections from cyclists as at this point the rail bed had been used for the Camel Trail^[6][7] and the china clay drier closed in 2002.^[8]

Following the closure, attempts at potential expansion has since changed to the route from Boscarne Junction towards Wadebridge, although this route also follows the Camel Trail. The Bodmin and Wenford Rail Freight company was renamed as the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway Company Limited in 2004 to facilitate this scheme.^[5] Initially referred to as 'The Wadebridge Trailway'^[9] it became the 'RailTrail' project in 2008. It was supported by the North Cornwall District Council but only by a single casting vote. There were objections from cyclists, environmentalists and some residents of Wadebridge. A bid for government funding was made in 2020.^[10]

In 2020, Scott Mann, Conservative MP for North Cornwall, put forward a concept to link up the Camel Trail with the Tarka Trail, arguing it would increase the economic benefits brought in by the Camel Trail.^[2]

• Disused railway stations (Bodmin to Wadebridge line)
• Rail Trail
• List of rail trails
• Tarka Trail