Cot Valley is a small wooded valley running down to the sea half a mile south of St Just, ending at Porth Nanven — a beach famous for its extraordinary collection of massive rounded granite boulders. The valley is managed as a nature reserve and is one of the better wildlife areas in the far west: breeding birds in the scrub and woodland, and migrant species in spring and autumn.
The walk from St Just through the valley to the beach takes about 20 minutes on a good path. The beach itself is boulder-strewn and not ideal for swimming — the access is difficult and the Atlantic swells can be powerful — but it is a striking and unusual place to be, with the scale of the boulders dwarfing visitors. The cove is sheltered enough that it can be a reasonable lunch spot on a calm day. The coast path above the valley to the west leads toward Portheras Cove and the Land's End peninsula.