Leave the car park by the National Park Information Centre (right), and pass through the bank. Turn right towards the open moor on a path through a broad, marshy area – an old drift lane, used originally for driving livestock up from the farmland to summer pasture on the moor. Many drift lanes are still used at the annual pony drifts each autumn, but this one has been blocked by early 20th-century ‘newtake’ walls.
The path ends at a gate to the right of a line of beech trees in a granite wall. Go through and follow the path uphill to run alongside a wire fence/wall on the right. Just below, towards the river, is the site of Roundy Park, a Bronze Age enclosure with a restored kist (grave), dating from around 4,000 years ago. There are lovely views over the river to Hartland Tor.
The path continues to parallel the wall, then descends through boggy ground to cross two converging brooks (Braddon Lake) on well-placed boulders. Skirt a boggy area then bear right, uphill, to a stile in the wall ahead.
Cross the stile and follow the path along the course of the disused Powder Mills leat (left), which follows the contours of the hill ahead. The path turns north to run above the East Dart River as the valley becomes narrower, with some glorious views downriver towards Bellever Forest; some wet and rocky patches are encountered on this stretch. Eventually a stile brings you closer to the river, and the path reaches a broad marshy area.
Where the leat starts to bear away left drop off the path to the right, pick your way across a rocky stream, and walk along the river bank. Follow the river as it too bears left. Nearby on the opposite bank are the circular remains of a beehive hut, built as a store or shelter.
Walk a little further upstream, with the swell of Winney’s Down ahead. Pass a deep pool on a left bend and continue upriver as the waters tumble over the rocky bed, to reach a stile. (From here you can go on further upstream to a waterfall 0.75 miles/1.2km, but the path becomes indistinct and difficult.)
Turn back at this point and take the path ahead (not by the river) that bears right around the bottom of the slope. This will bring you back to the next stile to retrace your steps back to Postbridge.
Most visitors to Dartmoor will, at some point, drive right across the moor, and so can’t fail to pass through Postbridge. Situated at a natural stopping place halfway across the moor, there has been a ford and clapper bridge (now restored) over the East Dart River here for centuries. The first... written reference to the bridge was in 1675, but it was probably built 300 years earlier. Postbridge developed after the Moretonhampstead to Tavistock toll road was constructed in the late 18th century. The toll house here is recorded as taking £100 per annum in the 1820s, whereas that at Princetown took only £20, emphasising Postbridge’s importance on the main east–west route across Dartmoor. There was an inn, the Greyhound, here in the late 18th century, but that had turned into a farm by the end of the 19th century and the Temperance Inn (now the East Dart Hotel) was built to replace it. Today, Postbridge is one of Dartmoor’s hotspots, and the banks of the river near the old clapper bridge are very popular with picnickers. This simple route along the valley of the East Dart River accesses some much quieter picnic spots within an hour’s walk. Prior to the mid-13th century this part of the moor fell within the parish of Lydford, the administrative centre of the ancient Forest of Dartmoor, around 14 miles (22.5km) away on the northwestern edge of the moor. Bodies had to be carried across the moor for burial in consecrated ground in the graveyard at Lydford, along a route that became known as the ‘Lych Way’. Legends and tales of the unexplained are rife on the moor, and that of the ‘Hairy Hands’ is one of the best known. It is said that around Higher Cherrybrook Bridge, to the southwest of Postbridge, drivers often find their cars forced off the road by some unseen hand… some believe that the ‘hands’ are all that is left of an Italian who used to work at the old gunpowder factory at Powdermills. On forgetting his tools one day he returned to fetch them, but forgot to take off his hobnail boots. An ensuing spark lead to disaster…
Devon sums up all that is best about the British landscape, with its magnificent coastlines, two historic cities, the world-famous Dartmoor National Park and south Devon’s glorious English Riviera. A fashionable and much-loved holiday destination, hiking and cycling in the National Parks is extremely popular among visitors, with a great choice of off-road routes.
Leave the car park by the National Park Information Centre (right), and pass through the bank. Turn right towards the open moor on a path through a broad, marshy area – an old drift lane, used originally for driving livestock up from the farmland to summer pasture on the moor. Many drift lanes are still used at the annual pony drifts each autumn, but this one has been blocked by early 20th-century ‘newtake’ walls.
1 of 7
The path ends at a gate to the right of a line of beech trees in a granite wall. Go through and follow the path uphill to run alongside a wire fence/wall on the right. Just below, towards the river, is the site of Roundy Park, a Bronze Age enclosure with a restored kist (grave), dating from around 4,000 years ago. There are lovely views over the river to Hartland Tor.
2 of 7
The path continues to parallel the wall, then descends through boggy ground to cross two converging brooks (Braddon Lake) on well-placed boulders. Skirt a boggy area then bear right, uphill, to a stile in the wall ahead.
3 of 7
Cross the stile and follow the path along the course of the disused Powder Mills leat (left), which follows the contours of the hill ahead. The path turns north to run above the East Dart River as the valley becomes narrower, with some glorious views downriver towards Bellever Forest; some wet and rocky patches are encountered on this stretch. Eventually a stile brings you closer to the river, and the path reaches a broad marshy area.
4 of 7
Where the leat starts to bear away left drop off the path to the right, pick your way across a rocky stream, and walk along the river bank. Follow the river as it too bears left. Nearby on the opposite bank are the circular remains of a beehive hut, built as a store or shelter.
5 of 7
Walk a little further upstream, with the swell of Winney’s Down ahead. Pass a deep pool on a left bend and continue upriver as the waters tumble over the rocky bed, to reach a stile. (From here you can go on further upstream to a waterfall 0.75 miles/1.2km, but the path becomes indistinct and difficult.)
6 of 7
Turn back at this point and take the path ahead (not by the river) that bears right around the bottom of the slope. This will bring you back to the next stile to retrace your steps back to Postbridge.
Most visitors to Dartmoor will, at some point, drive right across the moor, and so can’t fail to pass through Postbridge. Situated at a natural stopping place halfway across the moor, there has been a ford and clapper bridge (now restored) over the East Dart River here for centuries. The first... written reference to the bridge was in 1675, but it was probably built 300 years earlier. Postbridge developed after the Moretonhampstead to Tavistock toll road was constructed in the late 18th century. The toll house here is recorded as taking £100 per annum in the 1820s, whereas that at Princetown took only £20, emphasising Postbridge’s importance on the main east–west route across Dartmoor. There was an inn, the Greyhound, here in the late 18th century, but that had turned into a farm by the end of the 19th century and the Temperance Inn (now the East Dart Hotel) was built to replace it. Today, Postbridge is one of Dartmoor’s hotspots, and the banks of the river near the old clapper bridge are very popular with picnickers. This simple route along the valley of the East Dart River accesses some much quieter picnic spots within an hour’s walk. Prior to the mid-13th century this part of the moor fell within the parish of Lydford, the administrative centre of the ancient Forest of Dartmoor, around 14 miles (22.5km) away on the northwestern edge of the moor. Bodies had to be carried across the moor for burial in consecrated ground in the graveyard at Lydford, along a route that became known as the ‘Lych Way’. Legends and tales of the unexplained are rife on the moor, and that of the ‘Hairy Hands’ is one of the best known. It is said that around Higher Cherrybrook Bridge, to the southwest of Postbridge, drivers often find their cars forced off the road by some unseen hand… some believe that the ‘hands’ are all that is left of an Italian who used to work at the old gunpowder factory at Powdermills. On forgetting his tools one day he returned to fetch them, but forgot to take off his hobnail boots. An ensuing spark lead to disaster…
Devon sums up all that is best about the British landscape, with its magnificent coastlines, two historic cities, the world-famous Dartmoor National Park and south Devon’s glorious English Riviera. A fashionable and much-loved holiday destination, hiking and cycling in the National Parks is extremely popular among visitors, with a great choice of off-road routes.
