DarteRoutes and this page are all currently in re-development
Map: Ordnance Survey OS Explorer OL28 (Dartmoor).
DarteRoute STARTS: All DarteRoutes start at car parks, although you are encouraged to use public transport wherever possible. Some Linear DarteRoutes (one way) work very well by parking at the finish and taking a bus to the start point. Dartefacts only describes where a DarteRoute Starts and Finishes and does not provide further details on getting to the Start or how to manage your travel arrangements.
Click a car park icon on the map below for a pop-up with a car park location name and details (ie. number of routes and how many are Easy Green / Moderate Orange / Strenuous Red). Click on the Hyperlink to view that Car Park Start Page and its associated routes in detail.
DarteRoute TYPES:
Linear – ‘There and Back Again’: ie. return the same way you went out to finish at the same place your started.
Linear – ‘One Way’: ie. finish at a different point to the start.
Circular – Clockwise or Anti-Clockwise: ie. finishing at the same place you started to make a complete loop.
Direct: The Route has a single goal to get to and although the SubRoutes will suggest nearby Dartefacts that can be visited the DarteRoute itself will be as efficient as possible. These DarteRoutes are usually ‘Linear – There and Back Again’.
ROUTE EFFORT GRADES: DarteRoutes are effort graded based on distance and ascent and range from Leisurely (Yellow), Easy (Green), Moderate (Orange), Strenuous (Red) and Challenging (Black). The effort grade is determined by the length of time the Route might take and is calculated using 4 km per hour plus 1 minute for every 10 m of ascent, although a Techncical Feature could push a route into a higher effort grade than its distance/ ascent would indicate. The map route lines use the colour effort grade.
Leisurely (Yellow): This grade includes routes up to x miles. There will be no Technical Difficulties (no stepping stones, bogs, stiles, steep slopes etc.) and will follow clear trails or tracks or easy to walk on open moors. There are no stiles or rivers to cross with these routes. Many of these routes are pushchair/ wheelchair/ mobility scooter friendly.
Easy (Green): This grade includes routes up to x miles with no Technical Difficulties. Many of these routes are pushchair/ wheelchair/ mobility scooter friendly although the terrain may undulate.
Moderate (Orange): This grade includes routes from x miles to x miles. Every possible Dartmoor Terrain can be encountered and so these routes can require good navigation skills and confidence over uneven terrain.
Strenuous (Red): This grade includes walks of between x to x miles. Every possible Dartmoor Terrain can be encountered and so these routes can require good navigation skills and confidence over uneven terrain.
Challenging (Black): This grade includes routes of x miles and are designed as either multi-day wild camping hikes, which will require carrying camping equipment or as lightweight running/ fast walk routes to be attempted in a single day (possibly with support). Every possible Dartmoor terrain except rock climbing or scrambling can be encountered and so these routes require excellent technical navigation over difficult terrain.
OTHER COLOURS:
White: DarteWeb – This page (yet to be created) will provide a map to show all of the Dartefacts identified Subroutes.
Magenta: SubRoutes – when selected a DarteRoute Page changes the colour of a Route from its Effort Grade to Magenta (the Dartefacts ‘selected’ colour).
DARTEFACTS: Items in the Route Description in bold are Dartefacts that should be shown on the map and listed in the DarteTabs below the map. There may be additional items mentioned in the ‘DarteRoute Variations’ section at the end of the Route Description for specific types of routes/ activities.
Text:
Standard: Route Direction Information
Bold: Dartefacts
Italics: Information about the area, history, geology, geography etc.
The above is not yet possible?
DarteRoute VARIATIONS: Some DarteRoute descriptions may provide optional alternative route choices – these alternatives are not included in the DarteRoute grade, data or technical assessment.
TECHNICAL FEATURES: DarteRoutes can also have features that might make a route much harder for some individuals than its Effort Grade first suggests. These are clearly highlighted within the route description text and at the beginning of every route. Route Features on Dartmoor that Dartefacts considers to be Technical Difficulties are:, difficult terrain (ie. rocky ground/ scrambling, mire crossings), river crossings (ie. stepping stones, fords, sheep leaps, narrow or wobbly ‘bridges’), sustained road use or busy road crossings, stiles, firing ranges, absence of a sustained visible path, featureless ground in deep moorland (that requires competent navigation skills in poor weather), sustained steep ascents or descents.
Routes graded as Easy will not have any Technical Features.
DarteTabs: Scroll down to below the map to view all Car Park Starts and their DarteRoutes as Tabs in Ordnance Survey SX National Grid Reference order. Click on a car park tab (blue) to view the car park location, or the colour tabs (red = strenuous, amber = moderate, green = easy) for full DarteRoute details. Tabs are grouped together by their 10km Ordnance Survey square.
FILTER: Use the Filter Menu (available in the ‘Drop Down’ below the map) to focus the available DarteTabs Routes suitable for your desired level of activity effort, skills and physical ability. The Filter feature does not affect the visibility of the GPX route lines on the map.
DATA: Route Effort Grades, Route Data (Distance, Ascent, Descent etc.), Route GPX Map Lines etc. should all be considered approximate and subjective. On open moorland Route Lines indicate a general direction, rather than an exact line to follow.
PRIVATE LAND: Many of the items listed on this website, especially around the edges of the National Park Boundary, are entirely on private land and in that instance access must be sought from the landowner before visiting. Do not assume that a listed item is legally accessible.
FIRING RANGES: Military Training involving Live Firing takes place on Dartmoor and it is up to the individual to find out if their walk enters any of the military firing ranges and whether firing is taking place.
RISK ASSESSMENT: Although these routes attempt to highlight points of potential difficulty via the ‘Technical Features’, as with any outdoor activity it is the responsibility of the individual to judge and ascertain the safety and suitability of any route attempted.
SAFETY IN THE OUTDOORS: It is not Dartefacts remit to provide any advice on safety in the outdoors. Dartefacts recommends reading ‘Walking on Dartmoor’, Published by Cicerone, Steve Davison (2023).
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: No responsibility for trespass, injury or damage to property or persons etc. can be attributed to this website and the author of these routes.
GPX Lines: On open moorland the route lines often do not indicate an exact route to follow, just a general direction.
SubRoutes: DarteRoutes are actually made up of one or more ‘SubRoutes’ that contain a description and walking data (distance, ascent and descent) and code name, such as ‘SR 7 SE’ which stands for SubRoute 7 South East – the compass direction is a general direction from the start to the end of the SubRoute). Where a SubRoute meets another SubRoute a Node (junction) is used. SubRoutes can also contain ‘WayPoints’ if they significantly change direction before they meet the end Node. Subroutes are ‘linked’ together (at Nodes) to make new DarteRoutes. The advantage being if a SubRoute is updated then all the DarteRoutes that use it immediately get updated as well, together with each Route’s data (distance, ascent, descent etc.) DarteRoutes are not just another series of “Dartmoor Walks” but truly harnesses the power of computing. This unique approach calls for a rather different method of ‘guidebook route’ writing as the descriptions cannot assume where a person has come from, where they are going or what their goals for that journey are! However, at the end of every Route Description (if necessary) is a ‘Further Options and Alternatives’ section specific to each DarteRoute. I’m not sure but I suspect no one has ever tried to write a ‘walking guidebook’ in this way before! It will take some time to amass enough SubRoutes, but at a certain ‘tipping point’ it will be possible to simply “click-click-click” and a new DarteRoute will be generated almost automatically. This will result in a huge collection of Dartmoor ‘walks’ (etc.) across a variety of distances and other variables and they will all be available with a Dartefacts Subscription.
It is also the intention to provide at a future point GPX and PDF downloads of Routes to use on a digital device (or print out) whilst out on the moors.
A Subscription to Dartefacts not only allows the website to be sustained it also allows for further technical developments, such as DarteRoutes.
