Two Moors Way Dartmoor section self-guided walk in four walking days with luggage transfer
This is a classic Two Moors Way self-guided walk with luggage transfer and stays in small hotels, pubs and B&Bs. This classic walk immerses you into the dramatic National Park of Dartmoor and its surrounding countryside: fields of grazing sheep and cattle, rich red soils of farming land, densely wooded valleys, running streams and rivers tumbling over boulders, archaeological sites from the bronze and iron age including remains of settlements and menhirs, mediaeval stone bridges, crosses and churches. The days are varied, with the walking being on a variety of terrains, including earthy leafy paths, wide springy moorland tracks, grassy fields, stone paths, some wooden walkways, and some tarmac stretches of road. The variety also applies to the gradient: some stretches are steep down and up again and others allow for a steady march along a ridge line, where you can pick up speed and relax in the breeze whilst soaking up the vistas. This walk offers some of the most superb landscapes of the south-west of England and there is time to visit and explore some of the well-known places, both historic and folkloric, along the route, such as Widecombe, Grimspound, Hurston Ridge standing stones, Chagford, and Castle Drogo. The colours change with the seasons: in spring you’ll see carpets of bluebells and in late summer and autumn swathes of purple heather and yellow gorse. We offer you a choice of accommodation that includes B&Bs, country inns and pubs.
Highlights
River Dart • Dartmoor • Widecombe in the Moor • Grimspound bronze age settlement • 49 standing stones • Chagford • Castle Drogo
Walking information
Average just over 9 miles/14 kms per walking day • Average of just under 5 hours’ walking per day • Moderate • Moorland, wooded valleys, pastureland, fields • Recommended March to end October
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 10 nights.
From about
£520 Upgraded accommodation
Holiday Code CW004
Additional nights can be added before, after or during the tour.
Call us on 01392 441266
Two Moors Way Dartmoor section self-guided walk in four walking days with luggage transfer
You reach your first overnight stop today after your own travel arrangements, perhaps by train to Ivybridge and then taking a taxi. Remember to pre-book a table if you want to dine in. Allow time to check your kit, pack your rucksack and study your guides and maps.
This is the first stage of the Two Moors Way and you are thrust quickly into the wide and barren expanse that is much of Dartmoor. The route starts off by following a disused tramway and this starts to introduce the visitor to the complex uses and workings of the moor over many thousands of years. This area on Harford Moor is rich in evidence of prehistoric settlements with is stone rows, cairns, tin workings and blowing houses (a building used for smelting tin), pounds and clapper bridges, the latter being a prominent feature of Dartmoor. To your left there is the Erme Valley containing Piles Copse, one of three areas of upland oak woodland, where stunted oaks rise out of a bed of granite boulders. At times today there is little signage and the route traverses open moorland. You cross the river Avon by a clapper bridge. Near here, at Huntingdon Warren, you can see the signs of local rabbit farming which took place on the moor from the 13th century until the 1950s. Warrens were set up often to provide the workers of the tin mines with food and skins. At a point near Pupers Rock you will be able to view the tower of Buckfast Abbey to your right. Shortly before Scorriton you meet a lane that leads down to the village.
Distance: About 13 miles
Time: About 6.5 hrs
Today you meet with some glorious Dartmoor landscape and panoramic views, although there are some relatively steep up and downs, ending with a picturesque climb from the West Webburn river to the southern edge of Hamel Down, above Widecombe. After a start through fields you drop after Holne to a wooded track along the banks of the River Dart to New Bridge, a narrow stone bridge dating from the 15th Century. You pass under the bridge and follow the river towards Deeper Marsh, a popular spot for bathers in good weather. Soon there is a steep climb through woods and bracken passing the rocky outcrops of Leigh Tor. Then you will soon join Dr Blackall’s Drive which affords panoramic views across the steeply wooded and steeply sloped valley of the River Dart to Bench Tor and Combestone Tor. From here you descend across Sherberton Common and a single-track road to Ponsworthy. Rest for a moment or two alongside the ford and then follow the West Webburn river along a wooded track to reach the hamlet of Jordan. Then it’s uphill passing farms and just off from the route is the abandoned, mediaeval settlement of Hutholes. Shortly afterwards you reach the edge of Dunstone Down, at the southern end of Hamel Down. There is a carpark here at the end of today’s walk where we can arrange for a car to meet you or you can walk down Southcombe Hill into the village of Widecombe, to explore the Church of St Pancras, the old pig house, the National Trust’s The Church House, the village green and perhaps enjoy a cup of tea in the tea room.
Distance: About 9 miles
Time: About 4.5 hrs
This is another fine Dartmoor day combining open expanses of moorland with tremendous views, a bronze age settlement and prehistoric standing stones, perhaps a detour to the highest pub on Dartmoor, and then more open commonland, followed by shady and sometimes damp woodland tracks, fields and green lanes before reaching the banks of the River Teign near Chagford. You start today’s walk back at Dunstone Down and follow the wide track as it bears uphill towards Hamel Down affording views across Widecombe to Bonehill Rocks and to the Warren House Inn in the other direction. At Broad Barrow the track veers downhill quite steeply to the bronze age settlement of Grimspound sheltering in a hollow beneath Hookney Tor to which the track ascends. You reach Bennett’s Cross and here, if you have time and inclination, you can divert to the Warren House Inn, along the B3212. Otherwise you continue along a narrow moorland track until you spot the 49 Standing Stones. The track broadens out and allows a very pleasant stroll across common land, with opportunities to rest on boulders before you reach the single-track road that leads to Fernworthy. From here it’s a mixture of road, farm track, field, wooded path, often damp under foot or on boards passing secluded farms, houses and hamlets before you descend and ascend and descend along narrow, green lanes to reach Leigh Bridge over the River Teign. A road along the river leads you to Chagford Bridge and it’s then about half a mile on a single-track road up into the centre of Chagford.
Distance: About 10 miles
Time: About 5 hours
The walk today starts off gently as you descend to amble along the charming meadows and wooded paths of the River Teign before you ascend through the grounds of Castle Drogo, traverse around the hillside on a narrowish but flat path high above the Teign Valley, before entering the pastures of the farmland on the edge of the moor and then it’s up and down along lanes and through woodland before reaching your stop for the night. Highlights of today are surely the initial stretch of the route as you follow the banks of the Teign with views behind you to Chagford and Meldon Hill and then the awe-inspiring views from the track by Sharp Tor beneath Castle Drogo. Take some time today to explore the grounds of Castle Drogo, designed and built in the early 20th Century by Sri Edwin Lutyens. There is a lovely garden, with noteworthy rose beds and herbaceous borders that reflect the historic planting plans drawn up in the 1920s by George Dillstone. It’s then through a couple of meadows before descending (and ascending again) through woodland and up a green lane to reach the picturesque village of Drewsteignton.
Distance: About 5 miles
Time: About 2.5 hours
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 10 nights.
From about
£520 Upgraded accommodation
Holiday Code CW004
Additional nights can be added before, after or during the tour.
Our prices include
● Accommodation in a double or twin room on bed and breakfast
● Packed lunch every day except day of arrival
● Luggage transfer between hotels
● Guidebook and our walking notes
Call us on 01392 441266
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 10 nights.
From about
£520 Upgraded accommodation
Holiday Code CW004
Additional nights can be added before, after or during the tour.
Our prices include
• Accommodation in a double or twin room on bed and breakfast
• Packed lunch every day except day of arrival
• Luggage transfer between hotels
• Guidebook and our walking notes
The journey and how you get there There is a railway station at Ivybridge and there is a bus service (173 operated by Dartline coaches) from Drewsteignton to Exeter bus station. We do not include taxis but can provide contact details for taxi companies. Also, if you need a taxi during the walk (which may be required depending on where you stay), your hotel will be able to arrange it for you. Luggage transfer is included from hotel to hotel for you for up to two items of luggage.
Call us on 01392 441266
Two Moors Way Dartmoor section self-guided walk in four walking days with luggage transfer
This is a mill building set in six acres of grounds not far from South Brent and the A38. Comfortable bedrooms and very good restaurant.
Double room
This is a village pub with 4 rooms, all en-suite, enjoying views over Little Combe Valley. Extensive evening menus. Clotted cream from the dairy farm next door.
Double room
An 18th century traditional former coaching inn offering great food, comfortable rooms and a lovely garden, a short distance from Haytor.
Country view double room
This is a part-thatched, 5-star inn at the centre of Chagford, with courtyard garden, 21 bedrooms, a menu of fresh, seasonal and local produce.
Classic double
This is a traditional village fine dining restaurant with three rooms.
Double room
These are examples of the accommodation used - a mixture of B&Bs, pubs and inns, and country hotels. Because some of the accommodation have a limited number of rooms, alternatives may be offered at the time of booking. This may necessitate a slight change to the route and to your requirements for taxis. Sample accommodation Ivybridge: The Turtley Mill, Scorriton: Tradesman’s Arms, Widecombe: The Rock Inn, Chagford: The Three Crowns Inn, Drewsteignton: The Old Inn
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 10 nights.
From about
£520 Upgraded accommodation
Holiday Code CW004
Additional nights can be added before, after or during the tour.
Our prices include
• Accommodation in a double or twin room on bed and breakfast
• Packed lunch every day except day of arrival
• Luggage transfer between hotels
• Guidebook and our walking notes
The journey and how you get there There is a railway station at Ivybridge and there is a bus service (173 operated by Dartline coaches) from Drewsteignton to Exeter bus station. We do not include taxis but can provide contact details for taxi companies. Also, if you need a taxi during the walk (which may be required depending on where you stay), your hotel will be able to arrange it for you. Luggage transfer is included from hotel to hotel for you for up to two items of luggage.
Call us on 01392 441266
Two Moors Way Dartmoor section self-guided walk in four walking days with luggage transfer
About Great Britain
The countries of Great Britain, England, Scotland and Wales, provide a wealth of beautiful and interesting walking terrain. Within a relatively small area there is a richness of diversity of geography and topography, peoples and dialects, local architecture and traditions and a rich history that has been world-facing and world-interacting for thousands of years. The landscape of this small island varies every few miles, with dales and vales, moors and coastline never far away and here and there you find proud post-industrial cities, flourishing cathedral cities, gentle market towns and picturesque villages, perhaps with a village green, pond, cricket pitch and ancient church, as well as the local pub. Traditions of local heritage feature strongly with festivals and pageants, local arts and crafts and artisan produce. There are many National Parks and designated walking paths. There are recognised coast to coast walks such as the Two Moors Way from the English Channel to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Coast to Coast walk in northern England; there are walks that cover historic landmarks such as Hadrian’s Wall; there are walks that introduce the rambler to the awe-inspiring natural landscape of lakes and mountains such as the West Highland Way; there are walks that hug the dramatic coastline of Great Britain such as the South West Coastal Path or the Northumberland Coast Path. Ordnance Survey maps provide support from not just contours and terrain but historic and noteworthy points of interest too. Within many walks of just a few miles, the rambler will experience a delightful variety of terrain, aspect and vegetation.
Facts in brief
Capital LondonAirport London Heathrow, London Gatwick
Size 209,331 sq km
Population 64.55 million
