EXMOOR EPIC

A three-day trail to take in the best of the park...

IF YOU REALLY want to get under the skin of Exmoor pretty quickly, you could try CW’s ‘Exmoor Epic’.

It’s a three-day trail (perfect for a bank holiday weekend, for example) that goes right through the heart of the moor and explores the four main landscapes it has to offer: hill country, moorland, river valley and sea coast.

It kicks off in Porlock, then climbs high into the hills to top out on Dunkery Beacon (below). Then the scenery changes to wildest, ponyroamed moorland, ending up right in the heart of the moor at Simonsbath.

Day 2 continues through the hills to reach the source of the River Exe. Then it’s a gentle descent via Hoar Oak Water to reach Watersmeet, where the famed National Trust tearoom is your first sign of civilisation for quite some time. Then you can follow the East Lyn river through its wooded valley all the way to its outflow into the sea at Lynmouth, where the welcome couldn’t be warmer.

Finally, Day 3 is simple: just turn east out of Lynmouth and follow the South West Coast Path all the way back to Porlock. It’s a varied old ride along the coast, with high cliffs, dense woodlands and wee small Culbone church to enjoy along the way.

We call it an epic for a good reason: it’s a long old hike. Day 1 is 13 miles, Day 2 is 10 miles and Day 3 is 14 miles, and once you start along it, Exmoor’s lack of facilities and big towns mean you’ll be out there by yourself for a lot of it.

But as an encyclopaedia for everything that Exmoor is, and as a summertime walk away from the crowds, it’s pretty much unbeatable. It’s nearly four years since we first did it – and just writing this makes us dream of doing it again.

WALK IT: You can download step-by-step routecards for all three days at www.lfto.com/bonusroutes