Things To Do near Sparkwell
Manga Hill, Chagford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Walking Manga Hill is one of the quickest, safest ways to get from the eastern side of Dartmoor's north moor to its high plateau around Hangingstone Hill. The wider area is crossed by rivers, streams, brooks and extensive sections of boggy land and mires. After wet weather, it's always a relief to w...
Chat Tor, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
An isolated granite outcrop on Rattlebrook Hill, Chat Tor is part of a chain of tors running down the western flank of Dartmoor National Park. Chat Tor is small in comparison to many of its neighbouring outcrops. It's also one of the furthest west of that chain so it takes a little extra effort to v...
Fernworthy Picnic Area, Chagford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
South west of Chagford, Fernworthy Forest wraps around the beautiful Fernworthy Reservoir. A road rises from Chagford to a car park at the entrance to Fernworthy Forest. There are information boards, public toilets and a picnic area that runs down to the edge of the water. The views across...
Black Ridge Peat Pass, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Dartmoor’s north and south moors are home to a high number of peat passes. These passes were cut through the thick layer of peat to provide safe and easy passage. The most impressive is the deep pass on Whitehorse Hill. The biggest and most dramatic is on the remote Black Ridge by Black Hill. This...
Shapley Common, Moretonhampstead, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
The B3212 rises gently from Moretonhampstead past the Miniature Pony Centre and the luxury Bovey Castle Hotel to the high moors. Where the road meets moor, above Lettaford, is a popular viewpoint. There's a spacious car park, ice cream van in the holiday season and you can usually find ponies in the...
Hayne Down, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Hayne Down is one of a number of small islands of moorland towards the east of the National Park just off the main mass of Dartmoor's high ground. Home to the famous and much photographed Dartmoor landmark Bowerman's Nose, Hayne Down is near Manaton and the Kestor Inn and provides exquisite...
Black Ridge, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
This is one of the strangest places in Dartmoor National Park. Huge peat hags and channels have been cut from the high moorland. Piles of white rocks have been placed on the black peat to guide visitors along the old peat pass. Walking along Black Ridge is quite easy. Getting there is much more diff...
Bowerman's Nose, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
On the western side of Hayne Down, near the moorland village Manaton, is a tall stack of granite called Bowerman's Nose. When viewed from various angles, the stack of granite takes on the form of a human being with a big nose. Local legend suggests that Bowerman was a Norman hunter who was turned in...
East Dart Head, Belstone, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
On Dartmoor's north plateau, in a bowl of moorland below some of the National Park's highest hills, are the headwaters of the East Dart River. It's a remote, strangely intoxicating area far away from villages and towns. After periods of wet weather, the land is boggy and unpleasant to walk across. I...
North-South (Track) Ancient Travel Route, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
This is one of the most difficult long distance routes we’ve walked in Dartmoor National Park. It’s marked on the Harvey British Mountain Map ‘Dartmoor’ map as an ancient travel route across Dartmoor. We’ve split it into two sections running north to south. Section 1. North...
Rattlebrook Hill, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Rattle Brook is a relatively small waterway flowing from high moor down to the River Tavy. Amicombe Hill curves east of Rattle Brook. Rattlebrook Hill rises steeply to the west of the brook. It's topped by a small granite outcrop called Chat Tor. It's fringed by much larger and more impressive...
Fernworthy Reservoir Potter's Walk, Chagford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
There's a large public car park by Fernworthy Reservoir at the entrance to Fernworthy Forest. Fernworthy Reservoir Potter's Walk starts, and ends, at the car park. A local information board we photographed back in January 2010 reads: 'Potter's Walk. Footpath suitable for disable...
Battle of Lydford Memorial, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Near English Heritage's Lydford Castle (English Heritage), across the road from Lydford St Petroc's Church, is a distinctive memorial topped by a Viking axe crossing a Saxon shield. This marks the 'SITE OF DANISH SAXON CONFLICT. 997 AD'. The following is taken from 'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' edi...
Fernworthy Hut Circles, Chagford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
Fernworthy Forest and the surrounding moorland are home to a high number of prehistoric sites. Highlights include Fernworthy Stone Circle and Hurston Ridge/Chagford Common Stone Row. The most common prehistoric sites you'll see are hut circles. There's a particularly good example just off...
Battle of Lydford Battlefield, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 17 miles away)
In 997 AD, as recorded in the 'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', a Viking army sailed up the River Tamar 'until they came to Lydford, and burned and killed everything that they met, and burned down Ordwulf's monastery at Tavistock, and brought indescribable war-booty with them to the ships.' The...