Wednesday, January 1
DARTMOOR DAY 3: Monday 9/9/2024 SADDLE TOR - HAYTOR TOR-BLACK HILL-(LEIGHON TOR)-SMALLACOMBE ROCKS
Dartmoor. Sun? Surely not.
Making my way back to the car via Sharpitor I drove over to the Haytor area looking for a safe spot to leave the car overnight. After all – Haytor is known locally as a prime area for car break-ins.
I've been avoiding directly visiting this area for a number of years, electing to wildcamp on a number of surrounding tors.
But, inevitably it was finally time to explore the area around the dreaded Haytor Rocks - Dartmoor Ground Zero for tourists and ice cream vans.
But first a magical mystery tour of the (very) narrow road which circumnavigates the whole of Easdon Tor (733 822) Marked on the Dartmoor camping map as ok for wildcamping, it looked great on the map. Far from through foot traffic, and a solitary location.
But after a half hour drive on increasingly narrow roads I could see few safe places to park up and marked it down as a walk-in visit for a possible future date.
Back then to the immediate Haytor area. A dry day, with a screaming wind putting off many of the day trippers cautious of losing the tops off their ice-cream cornet.
Finally I settled on the CP at 753 764, and headed up onto Saddle Tor (751 763). A pleasant spot, much quieter than Haytor,but not a day to tarry in the wind.
Saddle Tor
As you may expect the tracks onto Haytor are easy to spot. From Saddle Tor I worked my way upwards onto the western slope towards the top and decided the effort of climbing onto the rocks themselves really wasn’t worth the effort.
Haytor Rocks
Back to Haytor Quarries where the the plan was to take a direct line towards Black Hill (762 787) in an attempt to find/visit Leighon Tor (758 786)
This is not marked on my 2015 OS map (it was added late 2022 I’ve since discovered), but I’d spotted it on the interactive Dartmoor camping map and was intrigued as a spot to spend the night.
Along the way I spent a fruitless 20 minutes trying to follow tracks through the gorse to the north of the quarries before finally accepting defeat and, for me, a rare occasion of retracing my steps back to a more clearly visible track heading north towards the Templar Way.
Much, much easier. Being an intrepid trailblazer is all well and good. But a mixture of pack weight, gorse and rocky/broken ground eventually persuaded me that I’d prefer my ankles the way I like them – unbroken.
Nothing ventured…..
After that it was a clear and easy route to Black Hill.
View to Black Hill
A bit of faffing about in an attempt to confirm I’d visited Leighon Tor. Or perhaps not?
It’s a bit of a bugger to locate as the excellent Tors of Dartmoor site can confirm, also explaining the eventual addition to later OS maps.
The area to the NE of Haytor is great for a ramble, but with no real distinguishing features, or wind shelter, not that interesting.
Which brings me to yet another 'right to roam' conundrum this trip.
I eventually set up for the night in the ' wildcamping allowed' area (or was I?) at Smallacombe Rocks (755 783) in an attempt to avoid the worst of the NW wind was becoming irritating.
That's the trouble with arbitrary interactive maps when your actually present on the ground.
Smallacombe Rocks
I could see more sheltered spots nearby, but according to the permissive map they were out of bounds.
Meanwhile the permissive area, to the north of my eventual overnight spot, is actually a steep slope covered in bracken. A promising spot for a leg break, midges, and looked pretty bare of ground to camp. Even the animal tracks are missing.
Safe to camp?
Yet its ok to camp there.
Looks good on a map. Useless, if not dangerous, on the actual ground.
Ho hum.
I bedded in for the evening, well sheltered from the wind. Not really caring whether I was in or out of any permissive boundary.
There’s some really fine flat and sheltered spots around the rocks. On a sunny summer’s day they would be a delight.
But September winds. Hmmm,
But at least a view of Haytor in the distance. Without the associated foot traffic
View to Haytor from Smallcombe
And early in the evening I had a more welcome visitor for short while - the rabbits here are Huge.
Labels: dartmoor, hints, mapping, National Park, planning, right to roam, wild camping
Dartmoor. Sun? Surely not.
Making my way back to the car via Sharpitor I drove over to the Haytor area looking for a safe spot to leave the car overnight. After all – Haytor is known locally as a prime area for car break-ins.
I've been avoiding directly visiting this area for a number of years, electing to wildcamp on a number of surrounding tors.
But, inevitably it was finally time to explore the area around the dreaded Haytor Rocks - Dartmoor Ground Zero for tourists and ice cream vans.
But first a magical mystery tour of the (very) narrow road which circumnavigates the whole of Easdon Tor (733 822) Marked on the Dartmoor camping map as ok for wildcamping, it looked great on the map. Far from through foot traffic, and a solitary location.
But after a half hour drive on increasingly narrow roads I could see few safe places to park up and marked it down as a walk-in visit for a possible future date.
Back then to the immediate Haytor area. A dry day, with a screaming wind putting off many of the day trippers cautious of losing the tops off their ice-cream cornet.
Finally I settled on the CP at 753 764, and headed up onto Saddle Tor (751 763). A pleasant spot, much quieter than Haytor,but not a day to tarry in the wind.
Saddle Tor
As you may expect the tracks onto Haytor are easy to spot. From Saddle Tor I worked my way upwards onto the western slope towards the top and decided the effort of climbing onto the rocks themselves really wasn’t worth the effort.
Haytor Rocks
Back to Haytor Quarries where the the plan was to take a direct line towards Black Hill (762 787) in an attempt to find/visit Leighon Tor (758 786)
This is not marked on my 2015 OS map (it was added late 2022 I’ve since discovered), but I’d spotted it on the interactive Dartmoor camping map and was intrigued as a spot to spend the night.
Along the way I spent a fruitless 20 minutes trying to follow tracks through the gorse to the north of the quarries before finally accepting defeat and, for me, a rare occasion of retracing my steps back to a more clearly visible track heading north towards the Templar Way.
Much, much easier. Being an intrepid trailblazer is all well and good. But a mixture of pack weight, gorse and rocky/broken ground eventually persuaded me that I’d prefer my ankles the way I like them – unbroken.
Nothing ventured…..
After that it was a clear and easy route to Black Hill.
View to Black Hill
A bit of faffing about in an attempt to confirm I’d visited Leighon Tor. Or perhaps not?
It’s a bit of a bugger to locate as the excellent Tors of Dartmoor site can confirm, also explaining the eventual addition to later OS maps.
The area to the NE of Haytor is great for a ramble, but with no real distinguishing features, or wind shelter, not that interesting.
Which brings me to yet another 'right to roam' conundrum this trip.
I eventually set up for the night in the ' wildcamping allowed' area (or was I?) at Smallacombe Rocks (755 783) in an attempt to avoid the worst of the NW wind was becoming irritating.
That's the trouble with arbitrary interactive maps when your actually present on the ground.
Smallacombe Rocks
I could see more sheltered spots nearby, but according to the permissive map they were out of bounds.
Meanwhile the permissive area, to the north of my eventual overnight spot, is actually a steep slope covered in bracken. A promising spot for a leg break, midges, and looked pretty bare of ground to camp. Even the animal tracks are missing.
Safe to camp?
Yet its ok to camp there.
Looks good on a map. Useless, if not dangerous, on the actual ground.
Ho hum.
I bedded in for the evening, well sheltered from the wind. Not really caring whether I was in or out of any permissive boundary.
There’s some really fine flat and sheltered spots around the rocks. On a sunny summer’s day they would be a delight.
But September winds. Hmmm,
But at least a view of Haytor in the distance. Without the associated foot traffic
View to Haytor from Smallcombe
And early in the evening I had a more welcome visitor for short while - the rabbits here are Huge.
Labels: dartmoor, hints, mapping, National Park, planning, right to roam, wild camping
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