North Bovey, Dartmoor (MBUK 336)

Location details
Dartmoor National Park in Devon contains 954km2 of exposed moorland and tors (hilltops topped with granite) and steep wooded valleys. The riding is technical and steep in places and pretty remote, so best for experienced riders.

Start/finish
St John The Baptist car park (grid ref SX740/838, postcode TQ13 8QZ).

Getting there
At the end of the M5 (Exeter) join the A30, then take the B3212 to Moretonhampstead. Just past here, turn off onto some small, narrow country roads, following signs to North Bovey. Parking is by the church.

Maps & books
Ordnance Survey Landranger 191: Okehampton & North Dartmoor.
Mountain Bike Rides in & around Exmoor & Dartmoor by Max Darkins (Rough Ride Guide).

Accommodation/facilities
Try the Ring of Bells Inn in North Bovey (01647 440375, www.ringofbells.net) or Great Hound Tor Camping Barn (01629 221202, www.yha.org.uk). For more options, call the Bovey Tracey Information Centre on 01626 832047. Bigpeaks bike shop is off the A38 in Ashburton (01364 654080, www.bigpeaks.com).

Turn right out of the car park. Go right, to the pub, then right again, on a road that becomes a track. Go right at the T-junction, then left on a farm road/bridleway. Bear left at the fork, past Peck Farm and up to a gate. Bear left slightly, along the hilltop.

Go down a rocky descent, then bear right before a gate, uphill. Keep left at the bridleway forks, then drop to a road and turn right. Keep bearing right. Just past a junction (Lustleigh on left), go right on a rough bridleway. Cross a bridge at the bottom, then go right at the T-junction.

Climb to Water village. Turn right on a bridleway and keep right at the fork to join a technical descent (ignore the permissive bridleway). Cross the river and climb back up, keeping left. Once back where you were earlier, turn left, to Foxworthy.

Go left at Hunters Barn cottage, to the corner of a road. Turn left, to Manaton. Go left on a wide bridleway to Water, keeping right at the fork. At the road turn left, then right at the fork. Go left at the crossroads, then take the first right.

Climb uphill. As the road starts to flatten, in the open, take a sharp right turn down a track. Then go left through a gate, uphill. After a technical rocky descent, cross a packhorse bridge and climb steeply. Go through a gate onto the open moors and follow the trail as it drops and then climbs.

Turn right on some singletrack, past and along a wall. Go left on the road, uphill. After the car park, turn right and immediately right again. Go over a cattle grid onto the moors and bear right on a faint bridleway (look for wooden posts).

Go left at the crossroads, to Manaton, then left again. Follow this road as it bears left (‘Hound Tor’), then go right, on a bridleway to Barracott. Turn right, past a gate, on a grassy climb, with a wall on your right. When the wall turns sharp right,  go left on a faint track.

Follow this singletrack to the trees and bear right, down to the road. Turn left. After 1km, turn right through a gate before a small bridge. Cross the ford and bear left back to North Bovey.

MBUK Big Ride images by Russell Burton