always leave word with someone telling them where you are going and how long you reckon you will be. Better still, leave a written route card with details of your walk and estimated times.
Using the Guide
The walks are grouped into the four large areas of Dartmoor:
South Moor
The South Moor with the road from Ashburton to Tavistock being the northern boundary.
Widecombe Walks
The triangular eastern section with the road from Ashburton to Two Bridges being the southern boundary and the road from Moretonhamstead to Two Bridges the northern edge.
North East Moor
The north-eastern part of the North Moor with the Moretonhamstead to Two Bridges road as the southern limit and approximately the 60 easting grid line as the western edge.
North West Moor
The north-western part of the North Moor with the Two Bridges to Tavistock road as the southern boundary and again approximately the 60 easting grid line as the eastern limit.
Obviously some walks, especially on the North Moor, edge occasionally into the neighbouring area.
As explained there is little or no public transport for much of the year on Dartmoor, though it is possible to use the Dartmoor buses in summer. However, these services may not take you to the areas that I shall be suggesting as the starting places for some of the walks, so I have assumed that most of you will be travelling by car. This means that most of the walks will be circular.
The walks are graded by length: long – 12km (7.5 miles) or more; medium – 4km to 12km (2.5 to 7.5 miles); short – under 4km (2.5 miles).
They are also classed as hard, moderate or easy, depending on the difficulty of the terrain, the climbing involved and the mapreading and navigation skills involved. With this last, however, it is wise to remember that what may be easy on a clear day can become tricky if the mists come down.
I assume that you will be able to find your way to the starting points by car from the six-figure map reference given, but I must admit that the maze of lanes, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor particularly, can be confusing!
I refer to left and rights as if you are following the correct direction of travel. But I refer to the true left and right banks of streams and rivers, that is, as if you are looking downstream.
It is a good idea to read up on the walk and on how to reach the starting point before you set out and refer to the map so that you have a good idea of where you will be going. Do not forget to check the Firing Notices if you are setting off for a walk on the North Moor.
I do not give a length of time for the walks as each of you will need to work it out for yourself depending on the age and fitness of your party, and whether you want to wander gently exploring and looking as you go or put your head down and rush round as fast as you can. I hope it will be the former!
Quite often you will be passing places or objects to which I have referred in the Introduction so you may need to check back to the relevant section, but I hope to add more information wherever possible and indeed introduce some new topics of interest. Please note that place names are occasionally printed incorrectly on the Ordnance Survey maps.
With nearly all the walks, I have made it possible to shorten them by cutting off corners and leading back onto the route at another place. Even if I have not indicated this in the description of the route, by studying the map you will be able to make your own cuts, I am sure, if you wish. Equally, you might well find that you can cut into a walk from a starting place of your own choice different to the one I have suggested. Also it is often quite possible to link into one walk from another and even end up at the starting place of that walk, if you can get someone to drive the car round! What I am really saying is that I hope you will use this Guide as a basis for walks that you can work out for yourselves rather than follow slavishly every route I have described, though I hope you will follow some of my walks as they are all ones that I have enjoyed over the years.
Vixen Tor with King's Tor and the Hessary Tor mast beyond, Walk 18
I cannot begin to cover every inch of the moor and take you to every hidden corner. There are many interesting things to see that would not really make up a full worthwhile walk. I must leave you to find out about these other places yourselves and visit them when you have time.
In this Guide I have not provided detailed, precise descriptions of the routes (not every rock is mentioned, and neither compass bearings nor exact distances are given). I hope that you will use your own maps and compasses yourselves with a sense of exploration, discovery and route finding. The routes and the maps here are only a rough guide to help you work out your own journeys based on my general information.
Finally, I hope that some of you who cannot walk or may not want to walk will also be able to use this Guide so that, with the aid of a map and what I have written, you will be able to come on some of the walks, in your imagination, and find out more about this extraordinary and fascinating place, Dartmoor.
All that remains is for me to wish you safe, enjoyable and interesting walking.
SOUTH MOOR
WALK 1
Bel Tor Corner, Dr Blackall's Drive, New Bridge, Spitchwick, Leusdon
| Start | Large car park, Bel Tor Corner, Map Ref 695732, on the B3357 from Ashburton to Two Bridges. |
| Distance | 10.5km (6.5 miles) |
| Grade | Easy |
There is the Tavistock Inn at Poundsgate or a snack bar and restaurant in Dartmeet in the summer, both within a few kilometres of the start. Bel Tor Corner is a fine though popular viewpoint and it is worth spending a few moments with your map identifying faraway points
You set off along the wall towards Mel Tor leaving Bel Tor on your left on the other side of the enclosure. A left turn between the walls will take you onto the start of Dr Blackhall's Drive, a track that was constructed over a hundred years ago so that this enterprising doctor, who lived at Spitchwick Manor, could drive along it in his carriage and enjoy the view in all weathers.
As soon as the track emerges onto the open moorland again, it is worth diverting slightly right to climb Mel Tor. The view from here is superb and one of the most impressive on the edge of Dartmoor. Below you is the deep, wooded, winding Double Dart Gorge. Look left and you will see the outskirts of Holne on the other side of the valley. Opposite, about 2km (1.5 miles) away, is the Venford Reservoir and lower down and closer, the low, squat shape of Bench Tor, or Benjy Tor to give it the old, correct name. Off to your right you can just make out the top of the rockface called Luckey Tor, which many people call Eagle Rock, almost down beside the river on its left bank nearly 200m (650ft) below you.
If you can drag yourself away go back to the Drive and continue along it to Brake Corner below Aish Tor. Here the track swings left and you leave a quarry on your right. After the quarry you can either make towards the River Dart or better still continue along the Drive until you come to the main road and then turn right along it for about 200m. In fact it is quite possible to cut this corner off and walk directly east from the Drive, across the road to Hannaford Manor and the main road, and onto the track that leads down to Leigh Tor. This is an interesting outcrop of rock and it will be obvious that you are off the true granite of Dartmoor. Here, at Leigh Tor, tourmaline has combined with quartz to produce a very hard rock called schorl. There are a few rock climbs here by the way. It is a good viewpoint and there is a fine feeling of height as you look down to the hairpin bends of the road and the great sweep of the river at Deeper Marsh. Search around in the bracken on your right before the start of the