Dartmoor Way Circular Walk 3 - Neadon to Water via Manaton, Sharpitor, and Hunter’s Tor (10.3 miles)

My kids are never going to forgive me for this one. 

Buoyed up by our previous two successes, and getting a bit slapdash in my estimation of distance (and completely ignoring the contour lines), I allowed myself to get carried away with how many other landmarks we could include in our walk and came up with a figure-of-eight route that was considerably longer and steeper than I had intended. 

If you are a more responsible parent than I am, I would suggest turning west from Water to follow the lanes back to Manaton. That would probably come in at around 4 miles. 

Parking by the church in Manaton (opposite a nice little cake stall, though we didn’t investigate it this time), we cut through the churchyard and out onto the footpath up to Manaton Rocks. This is a very satisfying scrambly bit with fabulous views from the top. 

After that, we kept on the public footpaths to get up to Langstone. When we did this bit (in April), it was VERY boggy in places, but there were a couple of streams to wash off our boots, and then some grassy fields to brush off the worst of it. Once on the Dartmoor Way, it was as simple as usual to follow it through very atmospheric woodland dripping with moss and heaving with wildlife. Birds were spotted, caterpillars admired, plants identified, and there was generally a lot to keep the interest up.  

At Water, we left the DW and followed the footpath (which at times seemed to be having a love affair with a stream) into Lustleigh Cleave. The boys were very entertained by the footbridge, which gave two options: the new bridge and the old. The old one looked like this and Ben felt I was being deeply unreasonable not letting him try it. 

There followed a very steep, winding bit of path that was seriously challenging. When we got to the Sharpitor Nut Crackers we weren’t even entirely sure that was what it was (worth Googling it beforehand so you recognise it) and we were too out of puff to care very much, though the nearby hut circles were a good rest-and-snack spot. Once up past it, though, we got onto the ridge and what felt like the first bit of proper Dartmoor we’d seen so far. The views were spectacular and the walk to Hunter’s Tor was probably my favourite part of the day. 

At Hunter’s Tor, we sat down for a snack and took in the view. We had a friend with us (who is considerably better at maps than I am) and she and I eyed the sinking sun with some apprehension. We headed steeply downhill towards Peck Farm, then along a good track to Foxworthy. 

After that, things got complicated. We had planned to follow the path through the woods to a river crossing that seemed to be clearly shown on the OS map. However, after following all the right signposts, the track suddenly fizzled out. It was far too late in the day to risk getting lost, so we doubled back and crossed at Foxworthy Bridge, appreciating the evening light. 

At this point, if you had time, there are various paths that would make a nice return to Manaton. We were a bit shaken by the disappearing path and apprehensive about the boys’ reserves of energy, so we opted for the safer road route. This bit was a trudge, steeply uphill and seemingly endless. I was deeply grateful for adult company as we shared the boys between us, holding their hands, distracting them with conversation, and offering endless encouragement. Daniel and Adam spent the final couple of miles trying to guess how far we had walked and deciding what penalty I should pay for torturing them in this way. 

We finally got back to the cars at 8.30pm, as the last of the light faded. Final bets on distance were placed, and we checked our route tracker apps to discover that we had walked a little over 10 miles, with a total ascent of 2,481 feet. All three boys, including 3 year old Ben, had walked every step by themselves. 

Funnily enough, Ben passed out within a minute of us setting off for home. He slept for the whole 40 minute journey and then woke up, happily demolished a large plate of fish fingers, chips and peas (DH had timed it perfectly to go on the table the second we got back), and went back to sleep. The older two demanded payment of 800 Robux each (£7.99) and banned me from taking them on any new walks for a week, though declared that known routes were fine as they would know what I was getting them into. I thought they let me off rather lightly! 

A week or two later I was discussing the possibility of a 6-mile walk with them. They both assumed looks of lofty disdain and declared “That’s nothing. We’ve walked TEN miles!” I think they were almost as proud of themselves as I was of them. 

Having a rest on a cosy rock