When it comes to wild swimming, Sharrah Pool is hard to beat. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, it’s as big as an olympic sized swimming pool! And swimming up and down the emerald pool, surrounded by a pretty rock wall, cascades, dense forest and even the odd kingfisher, beats an olympic swimming pool any day!
There are more swimming holes up and downstream too, so you could make a whole day of water hole hopping up the river. The good news is that a lovely well maintained path runs between almost all of them, so you can take your pick depending on how far you want to walk.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Sharrah Pool.
The walk to Sharrah Pool
The stats
Distance: 2.1 miles (3.4km) each way
Elevation gain: 150m
Difficulty: Easy, but not flat
There are a couple of routes to Sharrah Pool, and our guide starts from the most commonly used car park. This offers a well maintained path all the way to the pool. Whilst the majority of the walk is flat, there are a few hills and a couple of very short sections of narrow, or rocky track.
Overall, this is an easy walk and if you do decide you want to cut it short there are many pools along the way which are also fabulous, so you won’t miss out on taking a dip.
The walk is shady throughout, so it’s a good option for a hot day, away from the exposure of being out on the open moors.
Starting the trail
From the parking area (details below) the walk heads over the stone bridge and then right, through the small gate at the second car park (100m from the main car park).
From here you enter the woods and follow the flat dirt track under the shady forest canopy. It’s a really pretty stretch of woodland and you’ll also be following the river for much of the way.
The swimming holes begin very early on and then they just keep on coming. Whilst none looked hard to access, the first one where the trail basically took you right there was after 600m.
From here it was less than a one minute walk to the water’s edge and a large swimming hole.
Following the river
The trail continues through the forest and though there are sometimes some offshoots to the left, the main path generally keeps right, close to the river.
At the 1.3km mark is your first and steepest hill. It only lasts for 150m, so it’s not too taxing, although you do head downhill immediately afterwards which is always disappointing!
From here the path is mainly level, but does have a few undulations before it crosses a small waterfall 2.6km into the walk. There are rocks to use as stepping stones, so it’s easy in all but flooded conditions.
The trail then narrows and heads above the river with nice views down to the cascades between the trees. There are a couple of very short sections of slightly rocky terrain, but it’s generally easy.
Roughly 650m beyond the waterfall (3.2km from the car park) you’ll cross over a stile and you’re now just 150m away from Sharrah Pool.
After crossing the stile, the track will begin descending towards the water. it’s not very steep and though not perfectly manicured, it’s also not too rough.
You’ll arrive at Sharrah Pool at the 3.4km mark.
Swimming at Sharrah Pool
Co-ordinates: 50.5301170, -3.8402752
Sharrah Pool is pretty much the perfect swimming hole. Easy to access, long, deep, and of course, spectacular. The water isn’t even that cold by UK standards. In fact, it’s the warmest pool I swam in in Dartmoor - although if you haven’t been wild swimming in the UK, you still might find it cold!
The water is very clear and takes on a brilliant emerald hue from the surrounding trees. The rock wall extends along half the pool and the cascades at one end all add to the beauty and serenity of the spot.
Although there are a few rock shelves inside the water, if you stick to the middle, you can swim up and down the giant pool unobstructed.
Getting into the water is also easy, it’s a shallow gravel bottom at first, so you can just step in, or slide off the bigger rocks straight into the deeper water.
In terms of depth, it gets deep just beyond the rock shelf, so almost immediately, and then is deep all the way through the middle, and only shallow by the rock shelves on either side of the pool (that I found anyway!).
It’s definitely one of my favourite spots in Dartmoor, as well as one of my favourite UK wild swimming spots.
The only downside is somewhere this special is understandably popular. If you’re visiting on a warm day during the school holidays or on a weekend like we did, you will need to come early or late to avoid the crowds.
We opted for late, 5.30pm, and stayed until after 7pm, and even then we never got it to ourselves - although we only shared it with one or two others. Coming very early, or outside the school summer holidays would no doubt be much quieter.
If you get there and it’s busy, you can head to another fab pool a little further on and then return a little later, which is what we chose to do.
The pools beyond
Co-ordinates: 50.5304947, -3.8427472
We arrived at Sharrah Pool at around 4.30pm and it was packed. So we decided to continue along the trail and try and find a quieter spot.
Just 150m beyond we came to another fabulous pool. The track is less manicured than the one to Sharrah Pool, but it’s not difficult. Just a bit rockier.
Whilst the next pool is not quite as incredible as Sharrah Pool, it’s an unfair comparison because it would still be a destination swimming spot if it wasn’t next door!
It’s a large pool with a pretty cascade at one end and fully surrounded by dense forest.
Accessing the water is pretty easy, you can just walk down to the water’s edge and then you need to go carefully over the rock shelf in the water.
It is a little slippery, but I usually crouch low and then there’s no chance of slipping. After less than a minute you’ll be in the deep water, which was perfect for an unobstructed swim.
The water is a little colder than Sharrah Pool as it must see less sun, but it’s still not too bad at all. Getting it to ourselves was also very special, as not 200m away there were so many people!
Before heading back to the main pool, we did start to climb up the dirt path to the left of the swimming spot to see what pools lay beyond. The path gets narrow and steep quite quickly so we decided to skip it.
If you did continue I am sure there are many more secluded pools further along.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Although there was thankfully no rubbish at Sharrah Pool when we were there, high visitor numbers do mean there is an increased chance of litter.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Getting to Sharrah Pool
There are a couple of routes to Sharrah Pool, but our route starts from the area with the most parking, New Bridge car park, postcode: TQ13 7NT
The car park is £2 for an all day ticket. It’s not huge though so if visiting during peak periods you will need to come early or late to be sure of a spot. There is a very small amount of free parking right by the trail head, less than 100m from the main car park.
This is always busy and though we have been past a dozen times, we’ve never actually seen a space, even on really cold days!
The main car park has a toilet, which is a refreshing change from the majority of other trail heads in the area!
The car park is located 10 minutes from Ashburton, 15 minutes from Widecombe in the Moor and just over 30 minutes from Tavistock.
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