A Day on Dartmoor

The moor is closer than you think — forty minutes from the seafront puts you somewhere that feels like another world entirely.

The English Riviera sells itself on warmth and shelter, on palm-lined promenades and sheltered coves. Dartmoor is its exact opposite: treeless, wind-scoured, ancient and vast. That contrast is most of the appeal. Drive inland from Torquay through the lanes of Devon and the landscape shifts almost without warning — hedgerow and village giving way to open granite moorland, the sky suddenly doubling in size. You don't need to plan an expedition. A day trip is entirely achievable, and the wildness rewards it.

The moor covers more than 950 square kilometres, most of it within Dartmoor National Park. Its granite tors — the rocky outcrops that punctuate the skyline — are the result of millions of years of erosion exposing the harder rock beneath. Haytor, above the village of Bovey Tracey, is the most visited and for good reason: the path to the summit is straightforward, the views stretch to the coast on a clear day, and you can see Torbay glittering far below. It's a twenty-minute walk from the car park to the top, and the sense of arrival is genuine.

Wilder explorers head for the central moor — Princetown, Two Bridges, Postbridge — where the tors grow more remote and the silence thickens. Postbridge's medieval clapper bridge, a stack of flat granite slabs laid across the East Dart River, is one of the moor's most-photographed landmarks, and the surrounding valley is a good introduction to moorland walking without committing to a full-day traverse. From Princetown, the high moor opens in every direction; the prison that dominates the village skyline gives the place its particular atmosphere, austere and oddly compelling.

A day trip is entirely achievable, and the wildness rewards it.

Dartmoor ponies are a semi-wild native breed that have grazed the moor for centuries. You'll almost certainly encounter them along the road or grazing beside the tracks — admire them, photograph them freely, but don't feed them. The ponies belong to local farmers and feeding makes them bold around traffic, which causes accidents. They are also, despite their rough-and-tumble appearance, surprisingly unmoved by tourists.

Dartmoor's weather is its own category. The moor generates its own cloud, and a morning that starts clear on the coast can turn raw and grey by the time you reach the high ground. This isn't a reason to stay away — the moor in low cloud and mist has an atmosphere all its own — but it is a reason to bring layers, waterproofs and decent footwear regardless of the forecast. In summer the bog cotton is out and the heather turns the hillsides purple; in winter, the moor empties and the light turns extraordinary. Every season delivers something.

For a shorter day or a visit with younger children, Becky Falls — a woodland waterfall near Manaton — and the market town of Ashburton offer gentler entry points. Ashburton is handsome, well-supplied with cafés and independent shops, and sits right on the moor's southern edge. From here you can push onto the open ground as far as energy and appetite allow, then retreat to something hot and restorative.

A car is the practical way to reach Dartmoor from Torbay — public transport options exist but are limited, particularly for the higher moorland. The A380 out of Torquay towards Newton Abbot connects to the roads that run up onto the moor, and the drive takes forty to fifty minutes depending on your starting point. Haytor is well signposted from Bovey Tracey; for the central moor, follow signs to Princetown via Yelverton or Two Bridges.

Pack lunch. Provisions are thin once you leave the main villages, and half the pleasure of a day on the moor is eating on a granite slab with the wind in your ears and nothing but moorland in every direction. There's no beach, no promenade and no palm tree within sight. That, after a few days of coast, is exactly the point.

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