Dartmoor

Dartmoor Looks Featureless in Cloud. That Is Not a Metaphor. Do Not Underestimate Navigation.

Dartmoor covers 954 square kilometres of upland moorland in Devon, most of it above 300 metres. The landscape is bleaker than most of Devon and that is the point. Granite tors emerge from bog, wild ponies graze among them, fog arrives without warning in summer, and the military uses parts of the northern moor for live firing exercises. People who expect Cotswolds prettiness are sometimes wrong-footed. People who want space, wind, and a sense of proper wilderness in southern England usually find what they came for.

The Right to Roam designation means you can walk anywhere on the open moor (not enclosed fields) without keeping to a path. This means you need either a 1:25000 OS Explorer map (OL28 covers most of the national park) or a reliable GPS. In cloud, tors that were landmarks when you set out become invisible and directions become guesswork. Check the DTA (Defence Training Estate) website for live firing dates before heading onto Ringmoor Down or Okehampton Range.

What to See

Haytor Rocks is the most accessible tor: 7km west of Bovey Tracey, 15 minutes’ walk from the B3387 car park to the summit. On clear days you see across the moor to the south Devon coast. The Haytor Granite Tramway (1820) below the tor used granite rails cut from the rock to carry stone to the Stover Canal; some sections are still visible.

Wistman’s Wood is one of the oldest woodlands in Britain – a relict of ancient upland oakwood, ancient stunted trees covered in moss, boulders between them slippery year-round. 45-minute walk from the Two Bridges car park.

Grimspound is a Bronze Age settlement enclosure on the open moor above Widecombe, with the remains of around 24 roundhouse foundations inside a granite boundary wall, dated to around 3,500 years ago. Conan Doyle used it in The Hound of the Baskervilles. You can walk freely into and around it.

Eating and Sleeping

The Warren House Inn on the B3212 between Postbridge and Moretonhampstead sits at 434 metres and claims a fire burning continuously since 1845. Bar meals are good – venison burger, local beef – at around GBP 14 to 18. One of the most isolated pubs in England, which is its own recommendation.

The Rugglestone Inn in Widecombe-in-the-Moor: small, unspoiled, no mobile signal, draught ales at sensible prices. Does a proper ploughman’s lunch.

Gidleigh Park Hotel near Chagford (two Michelin stars, from GBP 450 per night) is exceptional if budget is not a concern. Bellever Youth Hostel near Postbridge charges around GBP 20 to 25 per night for a dorm bed with direct access to river swimming.

Dartmoor in October is underrated: the bracken turns copper, the mist is atmospheric rather than dangerous, and the moor is noticeably quieter than in August.