Things To Do near Buckfastleigh
Red Lake Railway (Dismantled)/Puffing Billy Track, Harford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Red Lake Railway transported workers and equipment from Bittaford and the Ivybridge area to Red Lake China Clay Works. It carried back waste material to be used as fertiliser. Built between 1910 and 1912, the remaining trackbed is now a long but solid path that takes you into the heart of Dartmoo...
Holwell Lawn, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Haytor Rocks and Hound Tor are arguably the most famous and frequently visited tors in Dartmoor National Park. Between them are Holwell Tor, the pretty Becka Brook with its recently installed clapper bridge and Holwell Lawn. The latter is covered with horse and pony jumps used by the local pony...
Piles Valley Weir, Harford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
We include Piles Valley Weir as a point of reference. It's at the northern end of a track/road that runs up the wetsern side of the River Erme in Piles Valley. The track/road provides decent walking access to Dartmoor's south moor and is one of the routes you can take to see the longest stone row on...
Stall Moor Stone Row, Cornwood, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Stall Moor Stone Row is said to be the longest stone row in the world. Roughly speaking, it runs north/south in the heart of Dartmoor's south moor. About 3.4 kilometres/2.1 miles long, it's an extraordinary sight. There's an impressive stone circle called The Dancers at the southern e...
Chinkwell Tor, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Chinkwell is a very easily accessible tor overlooking the popular village Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The tor provides spectacular views over the eastern section of Dartmoor National Park including Hound Tor and Haytor Rocks. Hamel Down dominates to the west. Chinkwell Tor is one of four rocky outcrop...
Stall Moor The Dancers Stone Circle, Cornwood, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Travel around the Westcountry and you'll come across plenty of stone circles named after dancers who were turned to stone. For example, the Nine Maidens Stone Circle is up on Dartmoor's north moor close to the village Belstone. Stall Moor The Dancers Stone Circle is on the south moor at the southern...
Sunshine Valley, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
There are lots of old mining works around Foxtor Mires. Whiteworks is to the north west. The wonderfully named Sunshine Valley and nearby Mount Misery are to the south east and east. Marked on the Harvey British Mountain Map 'Dartmoor' map, Sunshine Valley is at the head of the River Swinc...
Houndtor Down, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Houndtor Down is home to Hound Tor, Hound Tor Abandoned Medieval Settlement (English Heritage) and Holwell Lawn. The latter has one of the best bluebell showings in Dartmoor National Park. Houndtor Down was used for crops and livestock during the medieval period when the abovementioned settl...
River Erme, Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Burgh Island, Bigbury-on-Sea Beach and Bantham Beach are among the most famous natural attractions on the South Devon coast. The River Avon flows into the sea here. Just north west is an equally beautiful but less well-known estuary called the Erme Estuary. The River Erme flows into the sea here....
Smallacombe Rocks, Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Haytor Rocks is arguably Dartmoor's most famous and visited tor. It's located on Haytor Down which is home to a large number of other rocky outcrops. Saddle Tor is close to the B3387 and its car parking areas and always seems to have people wandering over and around it. Holwell Tor is frequently vis...
Haytor Down, Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
This is probably the most popular area of moorland in Dartmoor National Park. In high Summer, or after a good dumping of snow in Winter, its many car parking areas are rammed full with vehicles. Its popularity is partly owing to its location on the eastern side of Dartmoor near the large towns of So...
Ugborough Beacon, Harford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
One of a number of 'beacons' on the southern border of the Park offering stunning views across South Devon. Ugborough Beacon is an impressive collection of granite outcrops to the west of South Brent and east of Harford. To the north east is Brent Hill and to the north the landscape around Avo...
Piles Copse, Harford, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Piles Copse is one of three high altitude oak woodlands in Dartmoor National Park. See also Black-a-Tor Copse National Nature Reserve and Wistman's Wood National Nature Reserve.
Honeybag, Chinkwell & Bell Tors Circular Walk, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
Start at one of the car parking areas by Bonehill Rocks. These are not marked on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map but are clearly visible on Google's satellite imagery. Follow the track that runs around the western flank of Bonehill Down. There are super views back down the East W...
Swincombe Bridge (Swincombe Fairy Bridge/Swincombe Ford Bridge), Hexworthy, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 7 miles away)
The River Swincombe rises on the edge of Dartmoor's south plateau. It flows into Foxtor Mires where it meets Strane River at Headweir Ford. From there, it picks up speed and tumbles through a very pretty valley to a reservoir. Downstream of the reservoir, by the ruined buildings at Swincombe, is the...