Short answer: The Tarka Trail is the best accessible route in north Devon — flat, surfaced and traffic-free, running right through the village. Saunton Sands is firm and level once you are on it. Braunton Burrows is the opposite: soft dune sand that defeats wheels entirely.
A flat, surfaced, traffic-free path on the trackbed of the old railway, running through Braunton and on towards Barnstaple. There is no gradient worth the name, the surface is consistent, and there is no traffic to negotiate. For a wheelchair or a buggy this is the best thing in north Devon by a clear distance.
Three miles of firm flat sand, and firm matters — this is not soft beach that swallows a wheel. Dogs are allowed all year. The car park takes contactless. Getting from the car park down onto the sand is the part to check in advance, as it varies with the tide and the season.
The National Trust circular is 2.5 miles, and crucially there is a flatter inland option as well as the clifftop route. Free for members. The inland version is the one to take if the exposed cliff path is not realistic.
Northam Burrows Country Park has a visitor centre, ranger events and a beach toy lending library, which is a genuinely useful thing. Its car park floods at high tide, so check the tide before leaving a vehicle there.
The Beachside Grill sits next to Saunton Sands and is dog friendly — book at busy times. The Williams Arms does a daily carvery and is dog friendly. The Duck Dive in the village opens at 8.30am and runs late.
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