Dartmoor Line for High Willhays

Dr Beeching is a notorious name in public transport; his reports in the 1960s closed thousands of miles of railway and the Dartmoor Line to Okehampton was a casualty. But this particular tale took a happy turn last year when the track from Exeter reopened and services now run hourly to the north edge of Dartmoor. A footpath leads over the roar of the A30 and then the whole wild moor stretches away before you. You can track the prints of Tarka the Otter through Belstone Cleave, visit the Nine Maidens stone circle, or climb to the top of the national park at High Willhays* (2041ft) and its almost-as-tall neighbour Yes Tor (both on MOD land, check firing times).