Things To Do near Swincombe Head
Plym Head, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
Walk the South West Coast Path between Plymouth and Bigbury-on-Sea/Bantham and you'll encounter the stunning estuaries of many famous Devon rivers. They all rise on Dartmoor's south plateau relatively close to one another. The headwaters of the River Plym are on Crane Hill near Erme Head and within...
Skir Hill, Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
Skir Hill is up there on the list of the most unlikely places you'll find yourself in Dartmoor National Park. Remote and with few obvious points of interest on it, Skir Hill also isn't on one of the many modern recreation paths or ancient travel routes that criss-cross the moor. If you're walking...
Goldsmith's Cross, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
Goldsmith's Cross is one of a high number of crosses marking the route of the ancient Buckfast to Tavistock Monastic Route as shown on the Harvey British Mountain Map 'Dartmoor' map. Goldsmith's Cross is located just south of the infamous Foxtor Mires that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used as in...
Wheal Emma Leat (Dry Channel), Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
A wheal is a mine. A leat is a man-made waterway used to channel water from, say, a river down to a mine, mill or town/city. Wheal Emma Leat is the now dry channel of a leat built in 1859 that once collected water from near the source of the River Swincombe as it flows past the eastern side of Foxto...
River Swincombe, Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
By Dartmoor standards, this is a short river that rises on the edge of the National Park's south plateau and meets the West Dart River in Dartmoor's central bowl near Hexworthy. The river rises at Swincombe Head above what the Harvey British Mountain Map 'Dartmoor' map refers to as Suns...
Swincombe Headweir Ford, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
The River Swincombe and Strane River (having been fed by Nun's Cross Brook) meet at the eastern end of Foxtor Mires near the beginning of the old Wheal Emma Leat (Dry Channel). Just before they meet, there are two fords spanning each waterway. After a spell of dry weather, the ford across th...
Northmore's Cross/Crane Hill Cross Stone (Harvey/OS maps), Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
A giant chair and stepping stones, a fairy bridge and ancient travel routes have all disappeared from Dartmoor over the years. Sadly, the tiny Northmore's Cross/Crane Hill Cross Stone can now be added to that list. Somebody snapped it off the stone in October 2014. The lump of granite and th...
Foxtor Mires, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
There are some places on Dartmoor that are best avoided. Raybarrow Pool by Cosdon Hill on the north moor is a dangerous place. Down on the edge of the National Park's south plateau, Foxtor Mires is another. Said to have been the inspiration for Grimpen Mire in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of...
Great Gnats Head, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
This is one for the Dartmoor enthusiast. On the edge of Dartmoor's south plateau, there's not much else around the cairn. We've positioned Great Gnats Head on Google maps so zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see its location. To visit, we'd recommend following the footpath marked Abbo...
Ryder's Hill, Dartmeet, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)
Dartmoor National Park consists of two high moorland plateaus separated by a central dip and fringed by stunning wooded valleys. High Willhays is the highest point on the north plateau. Ryder's Hill is the highest point on the south plateau. Ryder's Hill is a shallow dome of moorland near the sou...
Red Lake China Clay Works, South Brent, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 2 miles away)
Drive the A30 through Cornwall and you'll see the impressive sky tips of the Cornish Alps or White Alps created by the local china clay works. Walk the moor above Plymouth and you'll look down on the huge china clay works at, among others, Shaugh Lake, Lee Moor and Whitehill Yeo. Smaller, more...
Ryder's Hill and Huntingdon Warren Circular Walk, Dartmeet, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 2 miles away)
This walk is one for the Dartmoor enthusiast. It crosses remote, boggy moorland on Dartmoor's south moor with Avon Head Mires, Fishlake Mire and Ryder's Mire in the shallow valley to the west. It takes in the highest point on the south moor and the wonderfully named barrow Heap of Sinners. We'd reco...
Swincombe Reservoir, Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 2 miles away)
Most Dartmoor reservoirs are large, impressive and reasonably easily accessible. Swincombe Reservoir is small and fenced off from the public. The moorland around the reservoir is flat, boggy and tussocky. Whilst there's a metal bridge at the eastern end of the reservoir, it's closed to the public so...
Plym Ford, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 2 miles away)
There are many fords on the upper section of the River Plym between Plym Head and Ditsworthy Warren House. Some are marked on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map. Others are visible when you walk the river from source to sea. The most used is Plym Ford near Plym Head connecting the high...
Erme Pits, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 2 miles away)
Follow the path marked Abbot's Way on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map from either the east or west and you'll cross the heart of Dartmoor's south plateau. Where the Abbot's Way crosses Erme Head Ford by Erme Head are a number of very deep pits known as Erme Pits. These are the...