Exmoor

Britain’s least-visited national park has silent moors, dramatic rocks and the longest stretch of broadleaf coastal woodland in Britain

COVERING ALMOST 270 square miles of Somerset and Devon with a network of paths and trails crisscrossing Britain’s quietest National Park, Exmoor is a wonderful place to experience real walking solitude. There are no motorways and only two A-roads, giving the place a deliciously remote and secretive feel.

There are more than 600 miles of official footpaths and bridleways, passing through oak woodlands, along tumbling rivers, and across heather-cloaked moorland. Exmoor is renowned for its iconic herds of red deer, which have survived on this former Royal Forest since prehistoric times. There are an estimated 3000 red deer in the National Park, living on moorland and farmland and using the woods for cover, with calves being born in June and July and the spectacular rutting season in early autumn. Deer are a common companion for walkers on Exmoor, feeding on heather, berries, brambles, saplings and fungi across the moors.

Some of the UK’s finest long-distance walking routes pass through Exmoor, including the 630-mile South West Coast Path that climbs the equivalent of four times the height of Everest. The Coleridge Way covers 51 miles in the footsteps of Romantic Poets through the Quantock Hills and

Brendon Hills, the Two Moors Way is a long-distance 102-mile path that links the Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks, the Exe Valley Way is a 50-mile trail stretching from the Exe Estuary to the village of Exford in the high land of Exmoor, and the Tarka Trail covers 180 miles through the north Devon countryside on a figure of eight circuit.

But it’s not all about going long distance. There are circular trails ideal for short days, woodland strolls perfect for families, wonderful cliff-top walks, and plenty of routes that start and finish at country pubs!