Dartmoor National Park Authority
Walking Routes Safety for the Walker Walking for Health Walking for People with Special Needs Walking With Your Dog Family WalksEnjoying Dartmoor’s special qualities
Dartmoor’s varied landscape offers great opportunities for many activities, particularly walking. Whether going on a family stroll, following a woodland or reservoir trail, joining a guided walk, or heading off into remote open country, walking is one of the best ways to discover and experience Dartmoor‘s beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage interest.
Dartmoor National Park - a great place for walking
Dartmoor is a lived in, working landscape.The land is in the hands of many landowners and occupiers including farmers, the Duchy of Cornwall, Forestry Commission, South West Lakes Trust, National Trust and the MoD. Dartmoor is a great place for exploration because of its landscape beauty and variety including:
open moorland steep sided river valleys, some covered with ancient deciduous woodland forests and reservoirs farmland picturesque villages and towns and because of its: wealth of wildlife rich legacy of the past.
Walking opportunities
over 47,000 hectares of open access (representing 50% of the National Park) 450 miles (730 km) of public rights of way permitted access opportunities.
Walks for all tastes
long hikes or gentle strolls that you can plan for yourselves routes planned for you in leaflets and booklets (even routes planned for families which are designed to put the children in charge) ranging from 1 hour,1/2 day, 1 day easy going walks if you have a mobility problem guided walks with the benefit of a local guide with a wealth of local knowledge to share.
Walking for health
Walking is not only a great way of exploring Dartmoor’s special qualities - it can also be good for you! For prevention or treatment, contact with the outdoors can make a difference to people’s health and well- being through opportunities to be active, relax and enjoy the views, spend time with friends and family, and meet new people. It can also raise spirits and stimulate the senses and, of course, it can be enjoyable and fun.
Did you know that …. regular walking can improve your
Walking can bring added benefits
Led walks are a chance to meet people and make friends.They can offer a gentle exercise and be suitable if you are recovering from heart trouble, a stroke or other illness.
For suggested walks from Dartmoor area settlements, pick up a Walking for
Health pack from Information Centres and local doctors’ surgeries.
For more information
on walking for health please contact:
Walking the Way to Health
Initiative Team
The Countryside Agency John Dower House Crescent Place Cheltenham GL50 3RA
Tel: 01242 533258 www.whi.org.uk (external link opens in new window)
Access for all
The countryside is not always easy to get around on foot, let alone with a wheelchair or buggy! The Dartmoor National Park Authority and Dartmoor for All have produced Easy-Going Dartmoor.
This publication can help and encourage those persons who are disabled, less mobileor who have young children, to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside within the Dartmoor area.It will help you to make the right choice for your day out and includes suggested easy going and more adventurous walks. Easy-Going Dartmoor is available from Information Centres or viewable on-line
Where you can walk
Open access In areas where there is open access, generally you do not have to stay on footpaths, bridleways or other rights of way. The public has legal open access to approximately 47,400 hectares of Dartmoor. Of this total, public access on foot (and horseback) to the Dartmoor commons, extending for some 35,200 hectares, was secured under the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985. A further 5,200 hectares is access on foot made by agreement between the National Park Authority and a number of landowners/ occupiers.
New walking rights on Dartmoor specifically arising from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, as from 28 August 2005, extend to approximately 7,000 hectares.Generally, accessing Dartmoor’s open country is relatively straightforward. However, because of the Dartmoor Commons Act, the open access situation on Dartmoor is differentfrom that for the rest of the country. Understanding your rights and responsibilities associated with the different types of open access on Dartmoor is important for your enjoyment, for land and livestock management reasons, and for wildlife conservation.And, by following the Countryside Code and Moor Care guidelines you will be helping to look after these outstanding areas.
The Dartmoor Commons Most of Dartmoor’s open moorland is common land, which is all owned and subject to the rights of commoners. The most important right of common is the grazing of cattle, sheep and ponies.The vast areas of open country on north and south Dartmoor are mainly common land. There are also smaller areas of common land throughout the National Park, especially on the eastern side. The public has had a legal right of access on foot, and horseback,to these areas since 1985.Generally, access to common land is unrestricted in terms of when you can visit. The exceptions to this are the MoD’s Range Danger Areas on north Dartmoor firing times must be checked when planning to walk in these areas (see page
Please follow the Dartmoor National Park Byelaws when visiting the Dartmoor commons. Copies of the Byelaws are available from local Information Centres;or view them on-line
New access opportunities under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW Act) created a new right,in England and Wales, to walk over areas officially mapped as open country and registered common land. Access rights to Dartmoor’s common land had previously been secured in 1985, and some mapped land is also covered by existing access agreements.
What you can do there The CRoW Act rights cover most recreational activities carried out on foot, including walking, sightseeing, bird- watching, climbing and running. Dogs are generally welcome with their owners, but owners must be aware of when they have to keep their animals on leads and when specific exclusions are applied to dogs.The right of open access is only for walkers but does not prevent people carrying out other lawful and customary activities. While you may enjoy a picnic, you may not light or cause a fire, feed any animals, leave litter or do any damage. Camping is not allowed without the express permission of the landowner.
The National Park Authority’s Ranger Service has consulted with land managers to provide appropriate access points and associated signage to such land. For nature conservation and other land management reasons,please heed all signs.
Restrictions
Unlike the Dartmoor Commons and access agreement areas, access to land defined asCRoW Act ‘open country’may be restricted. There is no right of access at any time to ‘excepted land’, which includes buildings and private gardens, land within20 metres from a dwelling or a building used for housing livestock (even though they may appear as access land on the Ordnance Survey and open access website maps). Most land mapped as ‘open country‘ is not ‘excepted land’, but access may be restricted in other ways. There are restrictions on the right of access which apply to all land, at all times.For example, you are not allowed to ride a bicycle or horse or to bring any animal other than a dog onto the access land. Throughout the months of March, April, May, June and July any dog must be kept on a short lead, and all times when in the vicinity of livestock.
Access may be further restricted to safeguard heritage or wildlife interests, or for reasons of public safety. These and similar restrictions might limit walkers to linear routes at certain times of the year, or temporarily exclude access with dogs from a field used for lambing. In exceptional circumstances walkers may even be excluded altogether. However, such restrictions, will be rare, and information will be made widely available. Landowners also have the right to close their land for up to 28 days each year, without reason. The law does not require landowners to give more than severaldays’ notice of such a closure. In some circumstances as little as 2 hours’ notice is allowed. Whilst landowners are not expected to make widespread use of these restrictions, walkers must be aware that access may legitimately be denied, and at short notice. Anybody planning to walk on CRoW Act land will need to check the most up to date information, to make sure that there has not been a last minute closure.
How do restrictions affect Rights of Way?
How can you find out about restrictions and closures? Information will be available on the national website www.open access.gov.uk ‘view access land maps’ section.
Phone the
Open Access Contact Centre
(Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm)
on 0845 100 3298
Visit a Dartmoor National Park Authority Information Centre.
Access Agreement areas By agreement with landowners, the National Park Authority has secured public access to other areas of land, many of which have been mapped as ‘open country’. Over the next few years, as the opportunity arises to terminate these agreements, access will gradually change from being ‘permissive’ to being a statutory right. This is likely to make little or no difference to walkers, but please heed any notices and remember to abide by the Dartmoor National Park Byelaws which apply to most access agreement areas.Permitted open country access There are other areas in the National Park where the public has open access, for example Forestry Commission woodlands and some National Trust land. Local on the ground information is usually provided to help you identify and explore such areas.
Linear access
Public Rights of Way
There is a legal right to walk on footpaths, bridleways and byways (of which there are over 450 miles (730 km) within the National Park).
There are several types of public right of way:
Rights of way are recorded on the ‘definitive map’ kept by the highway authority, Devon County Council. They are also shown on Ordnance Survey Explorer and Landranger maps.
Permissive paths
Land managers may let you use some paths and tracks that are not public rights of way. These are called ‘permissive paths’. You don’t have a statutory right to use them and they are not covered by rights of way legislation. Often there will be a notice and/or waymarking at key access points. Many permitted paths will cross farmland - please heed appropriate signage. Public access on Dartmoor Dartmoor National Park Authority’s role On Dartmoor, the National Park Authority is largely responsible for managing access to open country and the rights of way network.It aims to help you make the most of your visit, and to ensure the landscape is protected, by providing signs, gates, stiles and information. It works closely with land managers and farmers, and in partnership with organisations making specialist use of the moorland, such as education and conservation groups. It also promotes the use of public transport andopportunities for access for all. The Dartmoor Local Access Forum This is a statutory and independent forum set up by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.It brings together the views of landowners, recreation users and other special interests. The Dartmoor Local Access Forum (LAF) provides advice to the National Park Authority, and also to the local highway authority and government agencies, on all access and countrysiderec reation issues. The Forum comprises people drawn from a range of backgrounds including walking, climbing, cycling, riding, land owning, farming, conservation, education, rural businesses, and specialist or minority interests.
For information about the LAF contact localaccessforum@ dartmoor-npa.gov.uk
Knowing where to go and what you can do
Dartmoor - a great place not just for walking, but also cycling, horse riding, canoeing, climbing, camping, picnicking, watching wildlife, and many other activities.
Call in at one of the Dartmoor National Park Authority’s Information Centres: High Moorland Visitor Centre, Princetown(open all year, tel: (01822) 890414), Postbridge, Haytor or Newbridge (minimum opening Easter - end of October). Staff will help you with your access enquiries including where to go, when you can go, what you can do, and how you can help to look after Dartmoor. Information on guided walks, and to help those persons with mobility problems enjoy the countryside, is also available.
Other local Information Centres will also be able to help you.
Reporting problems
If you encounter any problems on access land or public rights of way please report them to the Dartmoor National Park Authority giving as much information as possible about what was wrong, where and when. Finding your way On the ground On Dartmoor, this symbol is currently being used to inform you that you are entering CRoW Act access land.
Maps
With a dedicated, large-scale map you can plan and follow a route through the countryside. The most useful Ordnance Survey map to help you enjoy Dartmoor is the 1:25,000 Explorer series. The scale is 2.5 inches to 1 mile, (4cm to 1km). All public rights of way are shown in green and are based on information from the highway authority’s definitive map. New Explorer maps also show land that has area wide access on foot.
However, please note:
all access land, whether common land, CRoW Act land or other, is shown in the same colour (a yellow colour wash on post July Footpath to Postbridge
Look out for 2005 published maps);public rights of way signposts, and waymarks where appropriate. In addition to waymarking, there are some routes for walkers that are marked with their own distinctive symbols to identify the route and help people to follow it. no access points are shown; Dartmoor National Park Authority Information Centres will be able to help you identify where these are.
Page updated 5 April 2006
