Dartmoor National Park

Dartmoor National Park (1951), 954 Square Km Of Granite Moorland With Wild Ponies, Bronze Age Stone Rows And Hut Circles, Clapper Bridges And The Dartmoor Prison Museum. High Willhays, 621 M, Is The Highest Point In Southern England. Part Of It Is A Military Training Area. · Princetown, England

Dartmoor, a national park since 1951, is 954 square km of open granite moorland in Devon. It is a high, bleak and beautiful upland with weathered granite tors, boggy valleys, Bronze Age stone rows and hut circles, medieval clapper bridges and herds of wild ponies. High Willhays, 621 m, is the highest point in southern England. It suits walkers, families who like river picnics, history lovers and photographers. Be honest about the risks: fog and low cloud arrive quickly and the moor has few landmarks, so people get lost every year. The bogs are real, the weather is wetter and colder than the coast, and the north moor includes military firing ranges at Okehampton, Merrivale and Willsworthy, which are closed to walkers on firing days. Summer weekend traffic around Haytor and Postbridge is heavy. Give it a full day; two or three days to see several areas, and always check the weather and range times first.

Granite upland of open moor, tors and river valleys in Devon, with Princetown and Postbridge near its centre, Okehampton and Ashburton on the edges, and military firing ranges on the north moor, Princetown, England, United Kingdom

The moor is open access land, with no gates and no closing hours, but it is unlit and easy to lose in fog, so plan to be off the high ground before dusk. The military firing ranges are different: they are open on non-firing days and closed on firing days, which are published by the Ministry of Defence and shown on red flags and warning signs at the boundary. Check the published range times before you go and confirm again on the day, since they change. High Moorland Visitor Centre at Princetown, Postbridge and Haytor information points keep seasonal hours, shorter in winter. Car parks are open daily, with many charging. Towns such as Tavistock, Ashburton and Moretonhampstead keep normal shop hours.

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