Outdoors & Nature in Dartmoor National Park
492, Shaugh Prior, Dartmoor National Park
On the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map, in a remote and featureless section of moorland on Dartmoor's south moor, is a trig point. This is 492. We've positioned 492 on Google maps so zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see its location. There's not much up there but if you have the...
Meldon Reservoir, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park
Beautiful reservoir in the north west section of Dartmoor National Park Meldon Reservoir, or Meldon, is a local Dartmoor beauty spot in the north west section of the National Park. The reservoir sits below Yes Tor and High Willhays which are the only two mountains in southern England....
River Taw, Belstone, Dartmoor National Park
For anyone who loves the poetry of Ted Hughes, the River Taw should be a very special place. Near Taw Head, where the river rises, is a simple granite memorial stone to the Poet Laureate. Sunk into a mound on the west bank of the river, a visit to the memorial stone on a walk from Belstone is a grea...
Hisley Wood, Lustleigh, Dartmoor National Park
The heavily wooded section of the Bovey Valley runs for about 4km, as the crow flies, from Foxworthy in the north west down to Drakeford Bridge in the south east. The upper section of the valley is dominated by the magnificent Lustleigh Cleave. The lower section is a collection of woods called Bovey...
Higher Hartor Tor, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
The Drizzle Combe complex is one of the most important collections of prehistoric sites in Dartmoor and Britain. It's situated on a gentle slope of moorland in the southern section of Dartmoor National Park and is part of the Upper Plym Valley that's managed by, among others, English Heritage.&...
Sourton Tors, Sourton, Dartmoor National Park
Huge sunset views over the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty into Cornwall Sourton is a small village on the A386 road that skirts the western side of Dartmoor National Park's high moors. Sourton Tors are a collection of rocky outcrops that rise on steps of moorland above the villag...
Bovey Valley, Bovey Tracey, Dartmoor National Park
The River Bovey flows, roughly speaking, from the high moor north east of The Warren House Inn down to the River Teign near Stover Country Park. On Dartmoor, the Bovey Valley is usually taken to mean the beautiful wooded valley between Foxworthy Bridge and Drakeford Bridge. You could spend a holiday...
Lower Hartor Tor, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
It's great fun to walk the River Plym from source to sea. As you wander the west bank downstream from Plym Head, having avoided Evil Combe, you come to Lower Hartor Tor. A cluster of outcrops sit at the top of the steep slope that's covered with granite boulders all the way down to the River Plym an...
Wray Valley, Moretonhampstead, Dartmoor National Park
In the north eastern section of Dartmoor National Park, between, roughly speaking, Moretonhampstead and Lustleigh is the Wray Valley. Cut by Wray Brook, today the A382 runs along the valley floor connecting the east of the National Park around Bovey Tracey to the north around Chagford and Whiddon Do...
Ditsworthy Warren, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
Study a map of Dartmoor and you'll see plenty of names with the word 'warren' in them. Perhaps the most well-known example is Headland Warren by The Warren House Inn in the heart of the National Park. Another is Ditsworthy Warren in the Upper Plym Valley in the southern section of Dartmoor. Warre...
Lustleigh Cleave Lookout Rock (1), Lustleigh, Dartmoor National Park
Walk Dartmoor's many wooded valleys and it can be difficult to find a viewpoint. Given how beautiful these places are, this can be an immensely frustrating experience. Thankfully, in Lustleigh Cleave, there is a line of rocky outcrops high up the north valley wall. Some of these outcrops, such as Sh...
Evil Combe, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
The moor around Plym Steps is full of points of interest with evocative names. There's Grim's Grave, Deadman's Bottom, Giant's Hill and Great Gnats' Head. Arguably the best, and appropriately named, is Evil Combe. The upper section of the combe is steep and scarred by the remains of the tin mining i...
Corn Ridge, Sourton, Dartmoor National Park
South of Meldon Reservoir, high above the West Okement River as it flows past the Black-a-Tor Copse National Nature Reserve, is Corn Ridge. It’s an impressive site from High Willhays or Black Tor. To walk Corn Ridge, we’d recommend parking at Meldon Reservoir and heading south west to Sourton...
Trendlebere Down, Manaton, Dartmoor National Park
In the eastern section of Dartmoor National Park, a road rises from the gateway town Bovey Tracey past the National Trust's Parke Estate to Yarner Wood and the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve. The road bends sharply and car parking areas offer stunning views of the Bovey Valley, Lustle...
Steeperton Tor, Belstone, Dartmoor National Park
Some Dartmoor tors, like Hound Tor and Great Staple Tor, attract huge numbers of visitors owing to their extraordinary granite structures. Vast rocky outcrops, these tors are well known, and much photographed, shapes in the landscape. Other equally impressive tors lack the outcrops but occupy sublim...