Things To Do near Kit Steps
Drake's Trail, Tavistock, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Cycling Tavistock is a Dartmoor gateway town on the western border of the National Park. Plymouth is a city with an internationally important maritime history in a stunning location to the south west of the high moors. Sir Francis Drake was born, and lived, in this area and is most famous for his...
Langcombe Brook, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Langcombe Hill is 474 metres above sea level on Dartmoor's south moor. It's a flat and boggy area of remote moorland. Langcombe Brook drops north west to Plym Steps on the River Plym. Langcombe Brook has its headwaters at Langcombe Head. Between Langcombe Head and Plym Steps are many points...
Sheepstor Dam, Yelverton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
According to an information board in Burrator Discovery Centre, 'Sheepstor Dam was built on a dividing ridge between the River Meavy and Sheepstor Brook when it was identified that water would escape over a low watershed from the new reservoir'. The dam was built in 1898 and is 6m/20ft high and...
Drizzle Combe Stone Rows, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
In his superb 'The Field Archaeoogy of Dartmoor', Phil Newman writes: 'The majority of menhirs are associated with stone rows, forming the terminals at one end of the row. These may have existed before the rows were added or were erected as a deliberate element of the row. The three stone rows at...
Bagtor Down, Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
As you climb the B3387 from Bovey Tracey past Haytor Vale to the high moors, Haytor Down runs north of the road and Bagtor Down to the south. Note that the River Sig rises on Bagtor Down from two boggy sections of moorland. The western section is called Bag Tor Marsh and is best avoided. If you...
Erme Head, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Famous South Devon rivers such as the Plym, Avon, Yealm and Erme rise in the heart of Dartmoor's south plateau. The Erme takes the longest and most dramatic route across the moor to Ivybridge and then down to the South Devon coast at Erme Mouth between Wonwell Beach and Meadowsfoot Beach. It's also...
Drizzle Combe Giant's Basin, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
In 'High Dartmoor', Eric Hemery wrote: 'The huge despoiled cairn near the barrow heading the southernmost row is known as Giants Basin [sic]; Bill Pengelly told me that many of its stones were taken by Ditsworthy warreners for constructing their rabbit-buries.'
Burrator Dam, Yelverton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Burrator Dam was built in 1898. According to information boards in the nearby Burrator Discovery Centre, the dam is 23.4m/77ft high and 114m/375ft wide and is built from granite and concrete. Visit Burrator Discovery Centre for more information about the dam's construction. The old pictures and s...
Tavistock Canal, Tavistock, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Visit Tavistock Canal and you'll find plenty of local information boards to read. One at the southern end of the canal at Tavistock Canal Southern Tunnel Portal reads: 'The Tavistock Canal, one of the few canals in Devon and Cornwall, was constructed between 1803 and 1817. This was a ti...
Sheepstor St Leonard Church, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
According to the Devon Historic Churches Trust, 'there has been a church on this site since the early thirteenth century. The present building dates from the 1450s'. Refer to their site for more information. There's also a more detailed PDF outlining the history of the church on the West Dartmo...
Erme Pits, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 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...
Houndtor Wood, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Houndtor Wood is part of the Bovey Valley Woodlands which, in turn, are part of the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve. Houndtor Wood is situated at the bottom of Trendlebere Down near Manaton. The River Bovey and Becka Brook run through the wood. Between them is Houndtor Ridge. Manaton Old Ro...
Anthony Trollope and Dartmoor, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
In his autobiography, Anthony Trollope wrote of Dartmoor: The prettiest scenery in all England is 'on the southern and south-eastern skirts of Dartmoor, where the rivers Dart, and Avon, and Teign form themselves, and where the broken moor is half-cultivated, and the wild-looking fields are half-m...
Drizzle Combe Standing Stones, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Dartmoor National Park is home to the highest point in southern England, the longest stone row in the world and the most remote spot in the Westcountry. It's also where you'll find a high number of standing stones or menhirs. The tallest, at over 3 metres, is at Drizzle Combe. One of three...
Sharpitor (Lustleigh Cleave/East Dartmoor) and Nut Crackers, Lustleigh, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 10 miles away)
Lustleigh Cleave is one of the most beautiful sections of wooded valley in Dartmoor National Park. Its broad ridge is lined with rocky outcrops and tors. At the north west end of the ridge is Hunter's Tor. Towards the south east end are Sharpitor and the logan stone called Nut Crackers. In his 'G...