This is a long and arduous route across the open moorland of the North Moor of Dartmoor. Whilst relatively easy in terms of height gain, the distance and the conditions underfoot combine to make this an extremely challenging day out. In fact some people may wish to take a tent and stay the night out. The route was inspired by the Ten Tors training I did when I was a youth, travelling up from Bournemouth for weekend training before the actual event. At a guess this is probably similar in the distance that the easiest Ten Tors category has to cover in a day when on the event.
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Height Profile
metres / Distance
miles
Detailed description
1
SX5892273493 From the car park head out the NW corner and follow a path that heads towards North Hessary Tor. The path turns to tarmac briefly before it heads up a well used path along a fence line over North Hessary Tor
2
SX5787274196 Carry on straight down the footpath towards the B3357, and at the road turn left and take the first right after 20m or so. This public footpath leads through some fields and back onto the open moorland by Little Mis Tor. Don't head down to this tor but carry on along the broad ridge towards Great Mis Tor.
3
SX5627976922 From the summit of Great Mis Tor head North-East down steeply at first to more of a plateau before descending steeply to reach a small river/steam at an intersection with a public right of way. Here you need to cross the stream, there is no bridge, and then head northwest up a broad ridge to reach the 501m spot height of Cocks Hill.
4
SX5685378953 From Cocks Hill, head north to a vague col and track that cuts across it left to right. Carry more or less straight on to pick up the rounded ridge that leads up to Lynch Tor.
5
SX5655380562 From Lynch Tor you need to essentially stay on top of a plateau/broad ridge line that bends round to the right from NNE to SE, before finally heading pretty much due east to reach the 563m spot height.
6
SX5976680583 From the spot height head south along the top of the hill towards Devil's Tor.
7
SX5962579576 From Devil's Tor it is possible to head out and back again to get to Rough Tor, via rounded ridge that links the two. You can then backtrack and contour round just below the summit of Devil's Tor to gain the main ridge that heads south from the tor.
8
SX5965079394 Head SSE down the spur to reach Lydford Tor.
9
SX5988578176 A few hundred metres to the SW is a col that links this spur with Beardown Tors. Head over the col and then up towards Beardown Tor.
10
SX6034777280 From the Summit of Beardown Tors, head south towards a forested area which has a track running down through it and past Beardown Farm to eventually reach the B3357.
11
SX6028375067 At the road turn right and walk 300m along the road until you see the public footpath lead off the opposite side of the road over a small hill. Head up this and down the other side to the B3212. Head left down the road for 100m to a gate into a field. Cross the field via the public right of way towards the bottom corner of the field. 50m above the bottom corner follow the path across the wall and through another field to its bottom corner. The path becomes more obvious here and you head straight down to the Blackbrook River and a small footbridge. Turn right and follow the river for 500m or so to the next bridge and turn left here onto a track that leads to Bachelor's Hall.
12
SX6006673598 From just past the building take the right fork in the track and follow this back towards Princetown and the B3212. Turn left and walk back into the town centre and back to the car. This is usually done via the Plume of Feathers pub for some well deserved refreshments.
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Difficulty: SevereDistance: 15.22 miles (24.50 km)
Total ascent: 471m
Time: 7 – 9 hours (Walking)
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Summits
North Hessary Tor 509 mRundlestone Tor 480 m
Devils Tor 549 m
Lydford Tor 507 m
Great and Little Mis Tor -1 m
Lynch Tor 517 m
Additional Information
Start/Finish:Main car park in the centre of Princetown, SX588736
Nearest town:
Tavistock
Terrain:
Frequent off path navigation across rugged open moorland, which is often masquerading as a bog. The grass terrain can be challenging to walk on due to both the dampness and the clumps of turf that constantly threaten to turn your ankles.
Seasonal variations:
Occasional wintry conditions would make this much more of a challenge, although the moor is quite low which means that the snow won't often lie around for too long.
Public transport:
There is a reasonable public bus service to Princetown.
Maps:
OS Explorer OL28 (1:25,000), OS Landranger 191 (1:50,000) Directory Listings:
Find more Listings near this route Tourist info:
Dartmoor (01822 890 414); Tavistock (01822 612 938); Buckfastleigh (01364 644 522)
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by Mark Reeves
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