Dartmoor & Exmoor

Dartmoor and Exmoor offer two quite different versions of the West Country wilderness. Dartmoor is the harsher of the pair: a high granite plateau scattered with weathered tors, peat bogs, rushing rivers and the remains of settlements built thousands of years ago. Its best-known landmarks are easily reached, but walk beyond them and the moor quickly becomes quieter, rougher and considerably less forgiving.

Exmoor feels softer at first, with rounded heather hills, wooded combes and old paths descending towards sheltered villages. Then the land reaches the Bristol Channel and drops away dramatically, creating some of the highest coastal ground in England. Walks here can combine open moorland, ancient woodland and sea cliffs within a single day.

Together, the two national parks provide everything from short tor walks and riverside rambles to long, committing crossings. The Two Moors Way links them through the Devon countryside, while countless lesser paths lead towards stone circles, clapper bridges, hidden valleys and isolated summits.

Neither moor is particularly high by British standards, but mist, boggy ground and fast-changing weather can make navigation surprisingly serious. That is part of their appeal: these are landscapes that still feel properly untamed.