I shall be spending the Easter holiday in Ivybridge, and rather fancy a north-south crossing of the moor as my long run. Anyone here done it or have any advice?
Thinking of something like:
Okehampton - Yes Tor - Hangingstone Hill - Stats House - Postbridge - Bellever Tor - Dartmeet - Ryders Hill - Red Lake - Three Burrows - Butterdon Hill - Ivybridge
Okehampton - Yes Tor - Hangingstone Hill - Stats House - Postbridge - Bellever Tor - Dartmeet - Ryders Hill - Red Lake - Three Burrows - Butterdon Hill - Ivybridge
I don't know the South Moor so well. Marshy bits on Dartmoor are definitely marshy - beware if the ground seems to move under you. It is! Go slow if it does - I've been in up to my shoulders in it before now and you can believe all the stories of people disappearing. If the mist is down nav can be tricky, not too much to take bearings on - the white boulders tend to move! Track between Yes Tor and Hangingstone Hill is rough poorly maintained tarmac but probably preferable to going via West Okement river and Cranmere Pool but the original Letterbox is at Cranmere pool and worth a signature if weather ok. Hangingstone to Postbridge generally good going as is next section to the pub at dartmeet. Generally South Moor is easier going than the North but given the crap weather forecast for next week you may be wise avoiding the low ground near Red Lake - it may be very wet.
Great run though - have thought about it but never done it in one. Your route from Dartmeet to Red Lake takes in part of the old Perambulation of 1240. A circular route from Okehampton - Google it. Have a great time. I may be on the moor sometime next week so will look out for another bedraggled forumite!
Thanks for the advice. I had considered the perambulation but decided its a bit long for me at the moment. The north-south crossing is something I thought of doing years ago but never got round to. Think I need to persuade my wife to provide transport - have been looking at public transport form Ivybridge to okehampton and it takes forever!
Ooh, how nice.
Bit soggy at the moment, watch out for featherbed bogs (quakers) on the north moor. Find tussocks to stand on (or hang on to...)
If you are getting a lift to the start, think about starting at Belstone instead? This gives you a nice run across Belstone Tor to Oke Tor. Or if you definitely want to start from Okehampton, it's straightforward to get to Belstone Tor from Simmonds Park along the river to West Cleave and up (and up).
That route still gives you a good north-of-the-moor start down to Hangingstone, but you miss almost all the miltary tracks and stuff. Just a thought.
The south moor is prtetty straightforward - you've got good fast running from Three Barrows to the end, if you still have the legs for it.
Hope this helps.
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