This circular walk takes you between three of Dartmoor’s most iconic tors, along open moorland and fields of bluebells. You’ll pass a great wild swimming spot, a medieval village and ancient woodland, with plenty of Dartmoor ponies to keep you company.
It’s a varied trail with some hills to climb, but nothing overly strenuous. You can make it more of an adventure by scrambling to the tops of the tors, but the views are stunning regardless.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Haytor to Hound Tor Circular Walk.
The Haytor to Hound Tor Walk
The stats
Distance: 6.2 miles (10km)
Elevation gain: 435m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Trail conditions
This circuit walk does have several hills to climb, but most uphill sections don’t last that long and there is plenty of flat track in-between. The terrain is generally good, even if there is often no set path, it tends to be along open grassland.
There are a couple of muddy/boggy sections but they were very short and in some cases could be avoided entirely, however this was in May. It could well be much worse in the winter, or wetter times in general.
The track is not signposted, so you’ll want to carry an offline map, or screenshot our directions so you know roughly where you’re heading.
The Route
This walk isn’t always obvious to follow and as there are no signposts we’ve provided a rough map below. We’d recommend downloading an offline map to your phone, or having something to help with navigation, as you’ll often find a myriad of trails to choose from!
We have an in-depth description below, but essentially the route is:
Saddle Tor Car Park -> Saddle Tor -> Haytor -> Haytor Quarry -> Smallacombe Rocks -> the Woodland -> Hound Tor -> Emsworthy Mire -> Saddle Tor Car Park.
The trail
Starting the trail at Saddle Tor
As this is a circuit walk you can choose to start at any of the three tors on route. We opted for Saddle Tor, which I think worked well because it’s the least impressive of the three and you get to see the best one last!
You’ll see Saddle Tor right from the car park and it’s just a short 350m climb uphill to reach it.
Saddle Tor is the smallest and easiest to climb of the three along this walk, but the views are still impressive. If you want to climb on top of the rocks, you can scramble up a number of different ways, but the easiest in my opinion is the gully you’ll see on the right side.
Through the moors to Haytor
From Saddle Tor you can see Haytor looming ahead of you in the distance. It’s much bigger and more imposing than Saddle Tor, and though the climb looks steep from afar, it’s actually quite easy when you get there.
The grassy path heads downhill at first before it flattens and begins to climb up to Haytor 750m later.
The path up is relatively steep, but it’s not slippery at all (when dry) and it’s just 250m before you reach a large open grassy area, with an impressive set of rocks on the right and left.
Exploring both sides of Haytor
We chose to climb the left side first, which is just 150m away.
You’ll start walking up shallow steps carved into the rock and then the very last bit has a few metal rungs for hand and footholds, which make it easy to get to the top.
Apparently, they were put in place to help Queen Victoria get to the top, but when it actually came to it, the weather was too wild and she chose not to go up. It definitely makes it a lot easier for the rest of us though!
The views from the top are great, but the wind is even worse up there, so we ended up only being able to stay for a couple of minutes!
The set of rocks on the right side can also be climbed, although you’d never know it from this angle! You need to head around the back of the rocks and look for the very easy to miss stones steps carved into the rock.
They are rudimentary at best, but will get you up there. It’s quite steep and exposed though, so it requires care and would be very hairy in wet weather!
The views over Dartmoor and the south Devon coast are amazing, but if it’s really windy it’s much better to stick to climbing the rocks on the left instead.
On to Haytor Quarry
From the rocks, the walk continues downhill on a grassy path and and veers left when you see the small wooden gate, which was 700m from the top of Haytor Rocks (right side).
You pass through the gate and along a gravel path that descends gently downhill towards the quarry, which is just 100m away.
It’s a surprisingly lovely spot - I don’t usually think of quarries as being scenic! The second pool of water that you come to has become a popular wild swimming spot.
The water is pretty clear and it’s a good spot for a dip, but for the fact the quarry gets quite busy. I had been planning to swim, but there was a constant stream of people, which felt a bit off putting.
If you fancy a secluded dip, then you’d want to avoid weekends unless you come early.
Otherwise, it’s a nice place to sit for a while before continuing along the circuit towards Hound Tor.
Heading across the moors
To continue the trail, you retrace your steps back to the gate and head left through the open grassland.
You’ll soon reach the Haytor Granite Tramway (heading left), which was used to transport granite from Haytor Down to the Stover Canal.
It makes for flat, easy walking and the moorland to the right was full of gorgeous Dartmoor ponies.
When the tramway bends slightly left you keep following it, keeping Haytor on your left.
Continue following the ‘path’ (there’s not obvious trail) for another 450m, and you’ll then arrive at another picturesque collection of rocks known as the Smallacombe Rocks.
You bear right here, heading down the rocky eroded path and you’ll get some good views out to Hound Tor in the far distance.
Through ancient woodland to the medieval village
The rocky path gives way to grass and heads into a beautiful patch of woodland. It’s completely unexpected and very different to any other part of the trail.
The trees were mossy, the bird song was soothing and we had a wonderful break from the wind. It can get a bit muddy, but there were rocks to use to navigate around any of the squelchy patches.
The path is easy going and after 250m crosses a small but pretty creek.
From here you have a bit of a climb, probably the longest on the whole track. We were walking in May and were delighted to find the path peppered with bluebells on both sides.
There were many other beautiful wildflowers, but it’s the bluebells that stick out in my mind. If you have the chance to do this walk in May, it really is special.
The path is in good condition as you climb up through woodland towards the medieval village, which you’ll reach after 600m.
You’ll be able to wander the extensive remains of the 13th century village, which is an atmospheric spot, especially with the wildflowers in bloom.
The only downside is there is no information here, so you need to read up in advance if you want to know more about what you’re looking at.
Heading up to Hound Tor
From the village you head back onto the main path and continue up the hill to Hound Tor.
The next 600m are relatively steep, but the terrain is good, and it’s not long before you’re standing at the base of the iconic Hound Tor.
It’s said to be the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and it’s steeped in myth and legend.
Although, we were grateful to have a clear day to make the most of all the views along the walk, I imagine Hound Tor is at its most mysterious on a misty day!
It’s an impressive collection of rocks split into several parts, the same as at Haytor. It’s popular with rock climbers on the right side, but you can scramble up the rocks on the left easily enough if it’s dry.
The views are great and there are lots of spots (which don’t require scrambling) that are great for sitting and relaxing before you finish up the circuit.
We were lucky enough to see a large number of ponies grazing beside the tor, which made for a lovely quintessential Dartmoor scene.
On to Emsworthy Mire
From Hound Tor the walk continues slightly downhill through the moors in a southerly direction (aiming for Emsworthy Mire), keeping the jagged collection of rocks known as Rippator (or Rival Tor) on your left.
After 750m you’ll come to a gate and keep left, heading along a shaded narrow path, which in May was lined with beautiful bluebells.
After 650m you’ll pass through another gate and again keep left. You’ll cross the stream on the small bridge, which you’ll see on the left and then follow the water round to the right.
The track then climbs uphill on a rocky path and after a few hundred metres enters a section of bog. Luckily for us it wasn’t too bad, but I can imagine it could get much worse.
What seemed like the ‘correct’ path heads directly through the bog, which would be a nightmare, so we took higher ground and used rocks and large tufts of grass to avoid most of it.
This may not be possible during wetter times as it could also become boggy higher up. Luckily it’s only a few hundred metres long, but we were glad to be out of it!
It’s not long before the uphill path flattens and then heads downhill towards the gate leading into Emsworthy Mire.
Completing the circuit
Emsworthy Mire would be very pretty at any time of year, but in May it’s simply spectacular. You are basically walking through field after field of bluebells.
I feel like we must have seen hundreds of thousands and it was a wonderful way to finish the walk.
It’s flat for the majority of the way, so it’s nice and leisurely, and you’ll even find a signpost part way along - which was pretty novel after the lack of them to this point!
Sometimes there are a couple of different paths you can use, but they are all heading in the same direction, so you can’t really go wrong until you hit the signpost and then you know to turn left.
The final couple of hundred metres to the car park are uphill but it’s fairly gentle.
Overall, this is a wonderful and varied walk, that offers great views, some fun scrambles and lots of time traversing the moors.
Apart from the bog, it’s generally an easy walk and it’s only really the weather that can make it feel tiring, we were definitely feeling ready for a break after several hours of brutal wind - don’t be fooled by the sunny photos, it was wild!
Getting to the Haytor to Hound Tor Walk
As mentioned you can park at any of the three tors, but our route starts from Saddle Tor. The car park is small, but there’s another overflow car park very close by if necessary. The car park is free and time is unlimited.
It’s just a five minute drive from Widecombe in the Moor, 15 minutes from Ashburton and 40 minutes from Tavistock.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support!
