Hiking, backpacking, trekking, mountaineering...

England sucks.
why have long distance routes, which only have extremely limited and expensive accommodation.
was looking at two moors way, but there's basically nothing once you get out of Dartmoor, think I'll just stomp around Dartmoor and wild camp instead.

anyone must see pubs, eats, landmarks?

oh and internet maps sucks in general.
nice interactive wild camping map. but no clear overlay of firing ranges on it.
and why not have a list of walks you can select and see path.
 
Just get an OS Outdoor Leisure map, it's only £9 and has all the "danger" areas etc. They are rarely shut so not really worth worrying about as you'd be very unlucky if you got there and they were!

Wistmans wood, Sheeps Tor and Burrator (tor and reservoir) are nice. There's also a myriad of stone circles and rows to have a look at, one just west of Burrator is really good. Never really done the northern half but I'm of the impression it's much more "desolate" - flatter and less interesting stuff/smaller tors etc.

http://www.dartmoorwalks.org.uk/sites.php is a good resource for interesting locations.

If you're coming in by train from Bristol(?) then one option is to stop off at Ivybridge which is on the extreme south of the moor and hike north. The station is only 5 minutes from the edge. Three lazy/sightseeing days will see you from Ivybridge to Princetown and then to Plymouth (by bus, for the train back). There are also some disused mine workings all over as well that you may pass.

How long are you thinking of going for? 3 whole days is good for a quick sight seeing of the southern half but a week would be best if you want to do both south and north. Alternatively you could probably yomp from top to bottom in a day or two if you weren't bothered in anything but getting from one end to the other.

Also there are lots of random bits and pieces on the edges but again I generally headed into the centre as there are less people/no roads. Even on an august bank holiday if you stay clear of princetown and the road through the middle you'll quite easily see no one else all day.

Loads of fresh water but take tablets or a filter as there are lots of sheep...

Alternatively if you want to do a longer hike do the South West Coast Path. My recommendation if you have a week is to start at St Ives/Hayle and head counterclockwise down to Penzance/The Lizard. It's the most rugged/beautiful part and other than the occasional village you'll generally not see anyone. You can camp on beaches (if you can find them), wild camp on the cliff somewhere (if you can find somewhere flat) or there is usually a village B&B or campsite somewhere nearby, possibly slightly inland. The positive over Dartmoor is you don't have to carry much food/water as you will usually go through at least one village a day with pub/restaurant/shop. I'd advise against doing this trip during a school/summer holiday though as it will be rammed! Outside of that May/June is a great time to wander around there, lots of wildlife and the flowers are out.
 
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Already got OS maps, but prefer planning on computer, also they don't show wild camping areas although most areas pribly don't matter as it's not very built up.
All this tech available and yet online/app map situation is absolutely dire.

Yeah hopping off at Ivybridge.
Thought day one short day, follow two moors way and go to the pub at scorriton, before back tracking about a mile or two and camping there. Try and get some star pictures.
Day two follow two moors way up to Changford, visit pub and then again back track a mile or so for camping. Then not so sure.

Only okehampton range isn't in use, the other two will be.
Princetown has the jail.
Castle dorogo is meant to be good.
Lustleigh is meant to be a pretty old fashioned village.
Hound tor for the view.

Trouble is dartmoor isn't really big enough especially with the two ranges being used. Want to do at least 20miles a day ideally, or i'll end up spending a fortune in pubs killing time.
Would like to do ~4days, although have 7days of work


Any decent waterfalls?
I carry the sawyer mini and some chlorine dioxide tablets.
Do like the idea of Plymouth, could pop in and see some mates
 
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I assume my SWCP edit was after you read the post?

Looks like you're aiming for the eastern edge then? Never really done that much of that either (was usually coming in by bike/bus from Plymouth and sticking to the moor). When you say in use do you mean "may-september" type use or xyz days on the abc weekend of cde? If the former they will usually be open most of the time during that period but just shut on the occasional day. Just unlucky if you get there and they are shut!

What I usually do is look at the map/previous website and just zigzagged backwards and forwards in the moor area looking for interesting stuff, trying to steer away from any habitation/roads. You're right though, it's not exactly big unfortunately. Better than most other areas in the UK (with the exception of northern Scotland) though!
 
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yep Scotland was brilliant apart from midgies :( and there access to the wild laws.
yep, will have a look at that site.
one range is days, and the other range is days and night.
 
There aren't paths on most of Dartmoor or insurmountable features so if you want a longer day between 2 points you can just walk in a curve or zigzag a bit between tors.

However make sure your navigation is good. Being a largely featureless moor if the weather comes in and visibility drops then you need to be able to navigate when you can't see very much.
 
Thats true of the north moor but south is considerably more forgiving due to the number of roads / landmarks / terrain. Never underestimate it though!
If you want a proper wild camp experience I'd suggest ignoring the scorriton / chagford side(it is really touristy in the summer and quite hard to feel like your remote!) and start off from tavistock.

Then go up to lane end > up tavy cleave and then on to Fur Tor (camp there if you want to drag it out and enjoy an amazing sunrise / sunset) then down past cut hill > rough tor > wistmans wood (be sure to pop up Longaford tor whilst your there if its a clear day) then down to two bridges for a pint of Jail and grub.

From there walk towards princetown and then veer off down towards whiteworks > nuns cross farm then carry on south either following the river erme past evil combe (incredible place at dusk in the winter) or follow the abbots way down past red lake and then south to ivy bridge.
Bear in mind that a lot of these friendly looking green dotted lines that appear on OS explorer maps arent always quite as path like as the map would suggest (especially beyond nuns cross).
Easily done in two days and then leaves a bit of time to do the "tame" side of the moor if you still fancy it.

btw the tradesmans in scorriton has changed hands recently - very much hope its better than it used to be!
 
Has anyone got any suggestions for a few decent pairs of walking/hiking socks? Just got myself a new pair of walking boots but all my socks are quite thin. I'm pretty hard on them so the tougher the better.
 
Glaucus said:
Already got OS maps, but prefer planning on computer, also they don't show wild camping areas although most areas pribly don't matter as it's not very built up.
All this tech available and yet online/app map situation is absolutely dire.
Click to expand...

Plan it on the online OS Maps service then? This is actually a pretty great online app, especially with the National Parks Path Network layer. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmaps/

You can also sync the routes on OSMaps on Android or iPhone or print to scale and nav off that.

Also, OS maps do show wildcamping areas. You can camp anywhere withing the marked boundary as below for 1 or 2 nights:

tale8k.png
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Also, OS maps do show wildcamping areas. :

http://i66.tinypic.com/tale8k.png][/QUOTE]

Thanks, I did not know that, I already use osmaps and trail Zilla.
It stilt stands though. In this day and age, why can't routes snap to paths like driving navigation. Also click on two points on a route and it gives you the mileage. Major well published routes already loaded in.
Hiking is a relatively big sport, certainly more so in other countries, but yet modern resources aren't great. Wish I was good at programming, I feel it's a very untapped market, with half arsed efforts by a few companies, but all feels disjointed.
Click to expand...
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Plan it on the online OS Maps service then? This is actually a pretty great online app, especially with the National Parks Path Network layer. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmaps/

You can also sync the routes on OSMaps on Android or iPhone or print to scale and nav off that.

Also, OS maps do show wildcamping areas. You can camp anywhere withing the marked boundary as below for 1 or 2 nights:

http://i66.tinypic.com/tale8k.png[IMG][/QUOTE]

That's just the open access boundary isn't it? Nothing to do with being able to camp there. Unless I'm missing something...


e: Reading above, I assume it's to do with Dartmoor laws then
Click to expand...
 
Skillmister said:
That's just the open access boundary isn't it? Nothing to do with being able to camp there. Unless I'm missing something...


e: Reading above, I assume it's to do with Dartmoor laws then
Click to expand...

Yes, you can camp anywhere in the open access boundary in Dartmoor for 1-2 nights except for certain areas, such as Cadover, Haytor, Holne Moor, Roborough and Spitchwick Common which are prohibited at all times, as are Dartmoor’s military ranges when in use.

Exmoor is similar in that generally you can wildcamp for a single night in the open access land.
 
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