Down the Doone Valley

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Our view

"Fact and fiction intertwine in this moorland valley walk, which visits the tiny church celebrated in R D Blackmore's classic novel."

Walk directions

Cross Robber's Bridge and follow the road to Oareford. Turn left up the bridleway track signed 'Larkbarrow'. After a mile (1.6km), the now faint track runs straight up across two grassy fields to a signposted gate where a bridleway from Oare church joins the route. Keep ahead up this third field over its rounded crest, and bear slightly left to a gate at its back left corner.

Go through a gate on the left, and then a narrow gate on the right to rougher moorland. Take a faint path ahead for 140yds (128m). Here bear slightly right on a smaller path to go through a shallow col or gap. Now a wider path arrives from the right. Bear left on it to large and small wooden gates.

The path ahead leads down, with a bank on its left, to Edwards Post. Turn right ('Badgworthy Valley') on a clear path that gradually climbs to a gate. It then drops towards the Badgworthy Valley, rises again, then drops to cross the railed footbridge at Doone Gate.

A wide path continues downstream. After a plank footbridge a gate leads into the hummocks of the lost medieval village. Go straight up to a wide path and turn right signposted Malmsmead. Continue down the main valley, through woods, to a large footbridge to Cloud Farm.

Pass to the left of Cloud Farm, on to a track that passes through a farm shed, then climbs out of the valley. Where it ends, go through a gate with a yellow square, to follow the lower side of a field to the edge of a wooded combe. Turn right for 70yds (64m) to a gate on the left. A track passes above the combe and turns down beyond it. Where the track bends right, keep downhill through waymarked gates, to turn left on the valley road below beside Oare church.

Turn right, signposted 'Porlock', and follow the road for 130yds (118m) to cross Oare Water. Turn right along the riverside to ford a small stream. A few paces further on, turn up left to a small summer house and then turn right between gorse bushes. A grass path leads straight up a sharp spur. It continues beside a fence to a gate; keep ahead, across heather, to the right-hand corner of a plantation.

Turn right on a small track ('Oareford'). This bends left near a field corner; here keep ahead, past a blue-topped post on a path towards some tall trees. Pass to the right of these trees, which mark ancient field-edges, to a small gate. A path leads steeply down to a footbridge into Oareford. Turn left to return to your car.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Some steep ground, pathless open moor

Landscape - Bleak, grassy moor, then a charming enclosed valley

Dog friendliness - Well-controlled – livestock throughout; horse riders in Doone Valley

Parking - Car park (free) at Robbers Bridge

Toilets en route - None on route; toilets at County Gate on A39

Walks in Somerset Dog-friendly walks in Somerset

About the walk

It is not often that a fictional place gets mapped in black print by the Ordnance Survey. But the area of Exmoor where Somerset and Devon meet is marked on the Explorer map as 'Doone Country'; and paths leading towards Badgworthy Water are signposted 'Doone Valley'. Near the foot of the valley is a...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Somerset remains rural and unspoiled, and ever popular areas to visit are the limestone and red sandstone Mendip Hills rising to over 1,000 feet, and by complete contrast, to the south and southwest, the flat landscape of the Somerset Levels. Another popular spot, the Quantocks, once the haunt of poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, are noted for their gentle slopes, heather-covered moorland expanses and red deer.