Walk to Bennett’s Cross; at the cross bear right on a narrow path which bears left uphill. At the hilltop turn right by a cairn and follow a narrow twisting path to reach Birch Tor.

A small path leads from the furthest outcrop downhill to meet a stony path at a crossroads. Turn left towards Headland Warren Farm in the valley ahead. Follow a granite wall (right) to a signpost.

Go straight on uphill to cross the road. Take the small path leading off right. Cross the stream and follow Grimspound’s perimeter wall (left); turn left through the entrance.

At the centre of the enclosure turn right and climb steeply uphill to gain Hameldown Tor at 1,735ft (529m). The obvious path on the ridge top leads to Broad Burrow and Two Burrows, where you meet a wall corner.

Turn right to follow the wall down the valley side. The wall gives way to a fence, then a line of small beech trees and there are superb views towards Soussons Forest and the Warren House Inn. Cross the stock fence via a stile on a permissive path, and over another stile in the bottom left corner on to the road. Turn right to reach the drive to Challacombe Farm.

Turn left down the concrete drive. At the T-junction turn left to pass the farm and barns and through a gate. Take the right-hand of the next two gates (signs to Bennett’s Cross) and keep along the field edge.

The next gate takes you into the edge of Soussons Forest. After a few paces you reach the fascinating remains of Golden Dagger tin mine. Follow the main track. When it bears left continue ahead on a rough bridleway signed ‘Bennett’s Cross’ and proceed up the valley via a gate through broken ground, evidence of generations of tin-mining activity.

When you reach a junction of tracks either turn left over a stream, crossing by a ruined building and ascending to the Warren House Inn, or go straight on, keeping right where the path forks after a few paces. Follow the soon narrow path uphill to a grassy gully. Halfway along bear right to ascend an obvious path which eventually leads to the car park.

Shortening the walk

At Point 3, turn right at the signpost following the bridleway signs for Challacombe Farm. Pass through a small gate in front of Headland Warren farmhouse and stables, to join the drive via a gate. At Point A bear right through a gate, and then another, and follow the grassy path along the bottom of the valley, keeping the wire fence left. When the cottages before Challacombe Farm come into view stay ahead, keeping the old bank and wall remains right, to pass through a gate and by the cottages, Point B.

The next gate joins the concrete drive to Challacombe Farm at the T-junction just after Point 6. All along this shortcut you have great views of the Bronze Age settlement at Grimspound, which dates from around 1300 bc. The climatic conditions on the moor then were quite different from today, and much of the moor was forested. Neolithic peoples began to clear areas of the moor, and the Bronze Age settlers continued the process. The original enclosure wall. The next gate joins the concrete drive to Challacombe Farm at the T-junction just after Point 6. All along this shortcut you have great views of the Bronze Age settlement at Grimspound, which dates from around 1300 bc. The climatic conditions on the moor then were quite different from today, and much of the moor was forested. Neolithic peoples began to clear areas of the moor, and the Bronze Age settlers continued the process. The original enclosure wall (or, possibly, a double wall) was up to 6ft (1.8m) high and about 10ft (3m) wide, surrounding an area of about 4 acres (1.6ha), with two dozen hut circles inside. It was probably used for keeping stock safe, and would have been a pleasant place to live, situated on the slopes by the Grimslake stream, with good grazing.

It is thought by many to be Dartmoor’s finest prehistoric monument. The site was extensively examined and partly reconstructed (and its significance fully realised), by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1894. One of the hut circles has been partially rebuilt, including the curved ‘porch’, protection against the elements.