A medium length walk which packs in a lot of tors in a short distance. 11 in total in 7 miles, the main tor area is the ridge up from Crockern Tor as once you reach Little Bee Tor, there are 8 in a 2 mile section. It a fine walk, especially the area out the back of Longaford Tor, where you will do well to see anybody else. On the way back you will pick up plenty of people visiting Wistmans Wood, there is a slightly higher path running parallel to the main route out of Two Bridges to the wood, if you want to avoid the crowds. I hadn’t been to Wistmans Wood for quite a while, as I normally walk out over Longaford Tor but return over Beardown Tor and miss Wistmans Wood altogether. This was something I wanted to put right as it’s a great place, the mosses, lichen and gnarled trees are great to look at and you get some great shadows, greens and light in there. The other part of this walk which stood out was how dry the ground was, almost crispy to walk on. Looks like we might be on for some more warm weather in May, bring it on!
| Start – Two Bridges parking |
| Route – Crockern Tor – Little Bee Tor – Littaford Tor – Little Longaford Tor – Longaford Tor – Higher White Tor – Little Whiten Tor – Lower White Tor – Cherrybrook Rocks – Tom Brown’s House – Rough Tor – Crow Tor – West Dart Weir – Wistmans Wood – Two Bridges parking |
| Distance – 7 miles Start time – 11am Time taken – 4hrs Highest Point – Rough Tor 547 metres |
| Weather – Sunny and white clouds |
© Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey FL 2019 SF
My car in just over the wall there, with Ryders Hill the high point in the distance
The Parliament Rock on Crockern Tor where the Stannary parishes would meet between the 14th century and the 18th century to discuss the tin trade on Dartmoor. Sir Walter Raleigh sat here in 1600 as the Lord Warden of the stannaries of Plympton, Tavistock, Chagford and Ashburton. Princetown mast in the distance, with the road to Two Bridges wriggling below
The top part of Crockern Tor and the route I’m taking beyond
Longaford Tor starts to emerge as I near the wall. Higher White Tor is in the sun behind right of that, also in the sun is Beardown Tor to the left
The West Dart is down to the right. I’ve just crossed that wall and Little Bee Tor is behind me
Bellever Forest from Little Bee Tor
Now on Littaford Tor, all the views along here are very similar on the 4 tors that are separated by no more than 500-600 metres
Cows and their young by Little Longaford Tor
Looking back along the ridge to Littaford Tor from Little Longaford Tor
Longaford Tor
From Longaford Tor I look down to the West Dart River and Weir, with Beardown Tor above
Expansive views to the south east, over Bellever Forest to Rippon Tor and Corndon Tor with Ryders Hill back right
Along the ridge
Out the back of Longaford Tor you can see Crow Tor and the submarine shape of Rough Tor. I’ll be on both of those later.
Higher White Tor now and a glorious view back from where I have been. Great spot for a brew.
The flat Hameldown ridge can be seen easily from here
I’m heading over the wall and then following it left for a few hundred metres to the next tor
The main outcrop of Little Whiten Tor is just out of shot on the left, but there’s not much to it, so I made haste for Lower White Tor
This one is a bit better, looking across to Broadown Tor from Lower White Tor
Between the two tors on the last photo is the Cherrybrook and the rocks next to it. Bellever Forest in the distance
This is a bleak spot. Tom Brown’s House with Beardown Tor in the distance
It a short climb up to Rough Tor and you get these views back to Longaford Tor on the left and Beardown Tor over the top of Crow Tor
Military huts and flagpoles galore up here, this is what makes the submarine shape when viewed from a distance. Whitehorse Hill is away on the horizon
Hameldown and Rippon Tor in view to the east
Follow the boundary markers to get to Beardown Tor
Looking across to Higher White Tor you can see the small outcrop of Little Whiten Tor below
Man on Crow Tor. Devils Tor is behind
Dropping down from Crow Tor to head around the West Dart River to get to the weir
Looking back to Crow Tor
West Dart Weir, not much water over here today.
Gnarly Wistmans Wood
Moss, lichen and wriggly branches everywhere
I’m picking up the higher path now which means I avoid the procession of people between Two Bridges and the wood below.
Wistmans Wood is on the slope centre of photo, with Beardown Tor above to the left, Longaford Tor is far right
Rounding Crockern Tor again and back to the car. A great walk this one. Finally a tip of the hat to Man City for winning the league by a point from my team, Liverpool. Yes I’m gutted but onwards to Madrid and the European Cup final, which I’m sure Man City would swap their league title for a crack at winning.
treksandtors 
I like that mossy woodland. Almost as much as my team winning the treble! 😀
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Oi, no need for that. Still I’m pretty sure you would swap places with us and that league title for a chance to win the big European one. That’s the one you want.
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Sorry, couldn’t resist 😀. Been an amazing season, two sides so astonishingly consistent and close. Big one still to come for you and at least we are together in delighting at trials and failures of the other side of Manchester!
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Such a good season, feels strange from this end that we can’t point to anything and say we lost it there. More of a shrug of the shoulders and hope that we play the same again next year.
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