The West Devon Way runs for 37 leisurely miles from Okehampton in the north to Hooe Lake in Plymouth to the south. As it suggests it skirts the western edge of Dartmoor, passing through places such as Lydford, Mary Tavy, Peter Tavy, Tavistock and Yelverton. When I did this walk I split it into 3 separate days, walking from Okehampton to Lydford (where there is a good pub to stay in!!). Then Lydford to Yelverton (this was the long day of 16 miles) and finally from Yelverton to Plymouth. The walking isn’t too tough and the hills are fairly gentle on the edge of Dartmoor. The official West Devon Way booklet splits the walk into 8 parts and when looking at them it might be better to go as far as Mary Tavy on the first day, to even out days one and two a bit.

A guide can be found below, where you can download a pdf

https://www.visitdartmoor.co.uk/get-active/the-best-dartmoor-walks/west-devon-way

There are some fantastic parts to this walk, to start with the part across the moor around Meldon reservoir and then the section through Lydford and its gorge all the way to Mary Tavy is brilliant. I loved the walk down to Doublewaters and the final long section alongside the River Plym and across the viaducts was also memorable.

This is a simple long distance walk that can be split into sections easily to make it more manageable, and can be done using public transport as well. Importantly this trail also links a couple of trails in the north of Devon (Tarka Trail and Two Castles Way) to the South West Coastal path at Plymouth. Making it possible to extend a walk on another trail.