Plan your trip

WALK HERE

Turn to Walk 1 at the back of this magazine for our 4-mile foray across Foxtor Mires. We’ve also rounded up a pack of Holmesian walks on Dartmoor over at walk1000miles.co.uk/bonusroutes

GETTING THERE

Our described route starts from an isolated pull-in off Tor Royal Lane, south of Princetown off the B3212 from Yelverton. It’s about half-an-hour’s drive from the Devon Expressway in Plymouth via the A386 to Tavistock. Princetown is served by the number 98 bus from Tavistock and Yelverton (Mon-Sat, travelinesw.com) and the less frequent Dartmoor Explorer from Plymouth and Exeter (Mon-Sat, firstbus.co.uk). From the bus stop outside the visitor centre, it’s a two-mile hike over South Hessary

Tor to Foxtor Mires.

WHERE TO EAT

Fortify yourself with a Devonshire cream tea in the garden of Princetown’s Fox Tor Café (foxtorcafe.com). And having walked up an appetite out on the moor, you can tuck into heartier fare at The Plume of Feathers. Regular mains, like lamb liver and bacon, start from £10.95. Try the locallybrewed Jail Ale while you’re there (01822 890240; theplumeoffeathersdartmoor.co.uk).

WHERE TO STAY

The Duchy Hotel in Princetown, where Conan Doyle stayed while he wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, is now a visitor centre. We instead found refuge up the road at the Two Bridges Hotel by the West Dart River, in the remote heart of the moor. This 18th-century coaching inn oozes character befitting a Conan Doyle mystery. A night’s stay this summer in an en suite ‘country’ double or twin room costs £149 (01822 892300; twobridges.co.uk). For a budgetfriendly break near Bellever Tor, book a private room sleeping up to six at YHA Dartmoor from £99pn. You can also camp from £5pppn (0345 371 9135; yha.org.uk). i MORE INFO Be sure to swing by the exhibitions at the Princetown National Park Visitor Centre (01822 890 414; dartmoor.gov.uk), where you can buy a Hound of the Baskervilles Walk leaflet. For accommodation and places to eat out, see visitdartmoor.co.uk