Haytor Vale & Hound Tor Circular

Situated on the eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park and 3 miles from Bovey Tracey is one of Dartmoors most iconic Tors, Haytor Rocks. Massively prominent in the landscape and can be seen for miles and miles, which I personally love when driving into the national park from Exeter direction.

Being so iconic and prominent it is also very busy. (especially during weekends) But with plenty of parking options around the visitor centre (located on the main road south and east of the rocks) and many smaller car parks along the B3387 there should never be a problem in parking. Luckily it doesn’t take too long before the crowds are gone and you will be walking in relative quiet. Postcode of main carpark is TQ13 9XT.

This 7 mile circular route that starts from Haytor Rocks is without doubt my favourite walk in Dartmoor. Ive probably walked around it with different variations up to 10 times so far. For me its got everything that I love about Dartmoor. Dramatic granite tors, a disussed quarry, ruined tramway, wild horses, open moorland, woods, old clapper bridges, ancient ruined villages and fields upon fields of beautiful spring bluebells. (if visiting in May/early June) Theres just so much interesting stuff to see it never gets boring. Combine all of this on a late sunny afternoons walk into sunset hours then it really is a special treat.

Haytor Rocks themselves are massive and also quite easily climbable as you will no doubt notice on arrival as there will be lots of people on the tops. Stone steps and hooks are carved and hammered into the rocks so you can have a bit of climbing fun at the beginning or end of your walk. Most people visiting will just stay around this area and not walk too far so it wont take long before you're into some more quiet territory.

From Haytor rocks you head north east which takes you past/through an old quarry site which has some old quarry relics and machinery dotted about and then onto a long section of old granite tramway. This tramway has had restoration works done the last few years and dates back to 1820 when it was used to convey granite from Haytor 10 miles to Stover canal for distribution around England.

Partway along the tramway you head north up to Smallacombe rocks. (Small formation of rocks) This area is quite open moorland and is pretty quiet. From here you descent downhill and enter an area of ancient woodland. (lots of lovely moss!) As you exit the woods you pass over an old clapper stone bridge which is very iconic of Dartmoor and then up towards one of the highlights of the walk, an old medieval village. Believed to be dated from around 1200AD, the 11 low level remains of stone buildings are fascinating to walk around. The thought of living and farming in this landscape all those years ago would have been extremely tough no doubt.

The village is shadowed by Hound Tor which sits west of the village. Another very popular Tor and will be fairly busy (being served by its own large carpark) as is very popular with familys, hikers and usually lots of people climbing and bouldering.

The car park normally has a refreshment/icecream van if you fancy the downhill walk and back up again! From Houndtor it’s a bit of a quiet south bound cross country walk down towards Emsworthy Rocks and Mire. One thing you cant miss is a good climb around Greater Rocks just south east of Hound Tor as they are just such good fun to scramble around and are quite different from the normal granite formations of the Tors.

If you visit this area in May/early June (which is highly recommended) the area between Houndtor and Emsworthy Mire is absolutely carpeted with bluebells which bloom slightly later of Dartmoor than the rest of the countryside. The views across the moors and the fields of the mire are exceptional. Add a bit of sunset shadow and golden light and its one of the coolest places to be in spring time.

From Emsworthy mire you then head back up towards Haytor rocks to finish the 7 mile loop and will probably the best time to climb the rocks so you can just sit and appreciate the wonderful landscape you’ve enjoyed walking around.

Enjoy!

Any questions please feel free to contact.

GPX files avalable on request.