North Bovey, Dartmoor

Distance 32km (19.9 miles) Climbing 1,200m (3,937ft) Time 2hrs 30mins to 4hrs

Route summary A steep and rocky route that provides a physically and technically challenging ride, best suited to experienced mountain bikers. Can be ridden when wet, but best (and safest) when dry Start/ inish St John The Baptist car park (grid ref SX 740/838, postcode TQ13 8QZ)

1 Turn right out of the car park. Go right to the pub, then right again on a road that becomes a track. Make a right at the T-junction, then a left on a farm road/bridleway. Head left at the fork, past Peck Farm and up to a gate. Bear left slightly, along the hilltop.

2 Descend on a rocky track, then bear right before a gate, uphill. Keep left at the bridleway forks, then drop to a road and turn right. Keep bearing right. Just past a junction (with Lustleigh on the left), go right on a rough bridleway. Cross a bridge at the bottom, then go right at the T-junction.

3 Climb to Water village. Turn right on a bridleway and keep right at the fork to join a technical descent (ignore the permissive bridleway). Cross the river and climb back up, keeping left. Once you’re back where you were earlier, turn left and ride to Foxworthy.

4 Go left at Hunters Barn cottage, to the corner of a road. Turn left, to Manaton. Go left on a wide bridleway to Water, keeping right at the fork. At the road, turn left, then right at the fork. Go left at the crossroads, then take the first right.

5 Continue uphill. As the road starts to flatten, in the open, take a sharp right turn down a track. Proceed left through a gate, uphill. After a technical, rocky descent, cross a packhorse bridge and climb steeply. Go through a gate onto the open moors and follow the trail as it drops and then climbs.

6 Turn right on some singletrack, past and alongside a wall. Go left on the road, uphill. After the car park (there’s usually a good food van here!), turn right and immediately right again. Pass over a cattle grid onto the moors and bear right on a faint bridleway (look for wooden posts).

7 Go left at the crossroads, to Manaton, then left again. Follow this road as it bears left (‘Hound Tor’), then go right, on a bridleway to Barracott. Turn right, past a gate, on a grassy climb, with a wall on your right. When the wall turns sharply right, go left on a faint track.

8 Follow this singletrack to the trees and bear right, down to the road. Turn left. After 1km, turn right through a gate before a small bridge. Cross the ford and bear left back to North Bovey to finish.