Things to do in Dartmoor with kids – family Devon

Home to rugged unspoiled scenery and wild ponies grazing on the local heather, you don’t need to be a long-distance hiker to visit Dartmoor with kids – and during our short stay in Exeter, I was determined to fit in a day in and around Dartmoor to see a few of the highlights.

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Our AirBNB in the city was only around half an hour’s drive from the edges of Dartmoor but it’s just as easy to reach if you’re staying on the south coast around Teignmouth and Shaldon, as we did last year, or further along the Devon coast.

And even if, like us, you only have a day or so to explore – and your kids (like mine) aren’t fans of long treks, there are some great easy walks and fun Dartmoor attractions to discover. My daughter was so won over, she’s decided to live here when she grows up…

On my day exploring Dartmoor with kids, we mixed some driving, walking to a couple of tors and visiting two attractions, but I’m also including some of the other options on my wishlist if we’d had more time, as well as ideas for things to do once we don’t have to socially distance!

Driving across Dartmoor with kids

Our first stop of the day was Buckland Abbey, on the edges of Dartmoor, so the driving route I created was part practicality and part exploration – and partly for my husband’s amusement!

You can also nip round the A38 and the A30 if you’re short of time and don’t mind a less picturesque route, as well as sticking to the ‘main’ B roads across the moor to avoid the single lane tracks.

The best Dartmoor driving routes

We headed in to Dartmoor from the north past Chagford and over towards Lettaford, Postbridge and Two Bridges – along the way, after twisting through tree tunnels, the road rises above the moorland with some amazing views.

In August, the purple heather and yellow gorse were in bloom, brightening the greens and gold of the moorland – and as you cruise along keeping an eye out for the animals living on Dartmoor, it’s perfect to soak up some of the scenery.

There are sheep galore, some strolling nonchalantly across the road, others leaping unexpectedly from ferns, as well as cows: several shaggy horned specimens causing a minor roadblock at one point.

We manoeuvered very carefully around them (those horns are big!) although the cows seemed to accept this as their rightful due.

But the best animal spotting on Dartmoor with kids is the wild ponies: half a dozen, including a mother and foal, trotting towards us, the mother kicking out at an unwary fellow member of the herd who got too close to her baby.

Another bore a healed hoof mark, so we were just as respectfully wary of these beautiful creatures.

Add in a wild rabbit hopping into the hedgerow and a squirrel streaking up a tree and my daughter was in heaven.

From here, our route took us towards Princetown, home to HMP Dartmoor – a looming, brooding presence on the horizon – as well as Dartmoor Prison Museum, then onwards to Yelverton and Buckland Abbey.

On our return to Exeter, we took a different route via Tavistock towards Dartmeet, Widecombe in the Moor and Haytor Vale to Bovey Tracey – stopping along the way – but you could also detour to include several other Dartmoor attractions, not to mention stopping for some easy walks on Dartmoor with kids (read on to see what we tried).

Visit Lydford Gorge, near Tavistock

Head beyond Tavistock towards Lyford in the west and you can explore Lydford Gorge – the deepest gorge in the south west, there’s a 30m waterfall at this National Trust site, and there’s an hour-long walking trail to see it.

At present, the walking route to Devil’s Cauldron is closed, and you need prebooked tickets to access Lydford Gorge.

Drive to Buckfastleigh

Alternatively, you could head towards Buckfastleigh in the south east. Home to the Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary, you can spot three species of otter including native British ones, as well as the spectacular tropical butterflies.

Tickets must currently be prebooked and the sanctuary closes at intervals during the day for deep cleaning.

The South Devon miniature railway is also nearby: at present, there are limited opening hours and you can’t ride the trains but you can visit.

And only a short drive away (or a train ride, once they’re operating again) is the Totnes Rare Breeds Farm – there are joint tickets available if you want to visit two or more of the attractions.

Walking on Dartmoor with kids

Whether you fancy a short stroll to get a taste of the moors with younger kids or a full-blown hike, you’ll find a string of options for family-friendly walks on Dartmoor.

If you’re looking to add more of a challenge to the day, try letterboxing on Dartmoor. The forerunner to geocaching, it’s a mix of treasure hunting and puzzle solving (plus some orienteering) with over 100 letterboxes to track down.

One of the easiest walks to try is around Saddle Tor and Hay Tor – both are just a few minutes drive apart, or a short walk, and there’s parking nearby too.

For more Dartmoor walks with kids, Visit Dartmoor has suggestions or check out the Dartmoor Walks for all the family guidebook, as well as Devon: 40 Coast and Country walks.

A tor, incidentally, is the name for a group of free-standing rocks on top of a hill – some are almost like giant cairns, others can be easily scrambled up, the biggest need to be climbed.

We started off at Saddle Tor, where there were more wild ponies roaming around beneath the rocks and an easy climb for an eight-year-old (and a 40-something-year-old…) to get to the top to enjoy the views.

We could look out across to Hay Tor as well, silhouetted against the cloudy white sky.

My daughter had had so much fun bouncing on the springy grass, scrambling and clambering (as well as shouting ‘I’m the King of the world’ from the top, which I persuaded her was entirely essential) that we went straight over to tackle that next.

Hay Tor itself was a bit busier – on a cloudy day, there were still queues to get up the rocks, so be prepared to go early or share it with more people if the sun shines – and some parts are steeper, with metal rungs and rings driven into the rock to help you get up.

As we waited, the mist suddenly descended and the top of the tor vanished in the cloud, so we decided to cut our climb short – but even if you’ve got toddlers or a really tight schedule, you can’t go to Dartmoor with kids without trying at least an easy walk.

Houndtor and Bonehill Rocks are also nearby as more options to climb and look out across the moors.

With older kids, you could re-tell some of Dartmoor’s legends and ghost stories as you walk – there’s a good reason Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to write the Hound of the Baskervilles here.

Check out the Devon with Kids Facebook group for some great tips on more ideas of Dartmoor walks and place to visit in Devon too

For more unusual walks on Dartmoor with kids, there’s also the eerie Wistman’s Wood, whose gnarled, twisted, otherworldly trees remind me a little of Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean – you can follow a path from the Two Bridges hotel: allow a couple of hours to follow the five-mile circuit.

Or as an alternative walk to Lydford Gorge (scroll up for details), you can choose from seven walks at Tamar Trails near Tavistock – the Mineral Railway Trail is the easiest and flat enough to do with a pushchair, while there are others which will take you close to the old mines of this part of Devon.

For another waterfall, Canonteign Falls in the north-east of Dartmoor, close to Exeter, is the highest waterfall in Devon.

With 90 acres of grounds, woodland and lakes to explore, there’s a climb to reach the top of the manmade waterfall, but still doable with kids (as my friend Claire, blogger at Tinbox Traveller, discovered when she first climbed it with one daughter in a baby carrier).

Keep an eye out for the fairies and a dinosaur along the way too.

Or River Dart Country Park has activities for all ages, including a toddler playground, as well as zip wires, a wooden fort, a ropes and obstacle course, bike trail and adventure playground, not to mention 90 acres of parkland all within Dartmoor National Park.

Some activities have been temporarily cancelled for 2020, so it’s worth checking before you visit: admission and activities must be prebooked as well.

Wandering past the ancient oaks of Hembury Woods near Buckfastleigh is another lovely option nearby, along with the National Trust estate of Parke, where the grounds and woodland are open. Tickets for Parke must be prebooked.

Cycling on Dartmoor with kids

If you’d prefer to cycle rather than walk, check out Devon Cycle Hire on the edge of the Granite Way, which specialises in bike hire for families including child seats and tagalongs.

The Granite Way itself is an old railway line, so flat and mostly traffic-free, which is perfect with kids. The trail runs between Okehampton and Lydford.

Bikes currently need to be prebooked – and you can also arrange for e-bikes if you want to take it easy.

Family attractions on Dartmoor

We bookmarked our day around Dartmoor with kids with two of the area’s family attractions – beginning at Buckland Abbey and finishing at House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey, but that’s only two of the options when you’re exploring the Dartmoor area.

Buckland Abbey, Yelverton

This lovely National Trust site dates back over 750 years. As the name suggests, it was once an abbey, the last of the Cistercian abbeys to be built in England and Wales – it’s easy to imagine them farming this lush stretch of countryside, although many buildings are long gone since the Dissolution.

The house then passed into private hands, including Sir Francis Drake – my daughter explored the replica of the Golden Hind in Brixham when we visited some years ago, as well as our night voyage sleepover on the other replica, the Golden Hinde in London, so was intrigued to see his home.

At the moment, the house itself is still closed although the grounds and gardens are open to explore, so we just had to imagine what it might have looked like inside (though you can get a few glimpses here).

But the gardens themselves were lovely – there’s currently a trail for children, spotting signs showing some of the plants and produce which the monks would have grown.

As well as honey – with hives still dotted around – and apples from the orchard (plus a huge cider press in the Great Barn), there were a few more unusual ones to spot too.

Not just poppy and mandrake, but a barnacle tree – in medieval times, people believed the tree grew barnacles which geese then hatched out of – and vegetable lamb of tartary, another plant which supposedly grew sheep.

I did wonder if those monks had been hitting the medicinal herbs a bit hard.

As well as the different gardens, some packed with wildflowers, others with fruit trees, you can take one of the woodland walks – as the drizzle had started up again, we stuck to the shortest yellow route to get a taste.

The cafe is open for a socially distanced cream tea as well, and on a sunny day, you could walk, wander and picnic for hours.

The House of Marbles, Bovey Tracey

The House of Marbles is always one of my top picks for a free day out in Devon with kids – as well as being a great option for a rainy day in Devon.

A mix of museum, activity and shop, it’s very easy to while away an hour or so exploring. In the little museum telling the history of marbles, there are also the first of the marble runs you’ll encounter.

Along the way, you can spot other traditional children’s toys, information on how marbles are made and a marble making machine, which is believed to have churned out around 15 million marbles!

Moving on, you can see glassblowers demonstrating their skills, with some of the creations on display, from vases and paperweights to glasses and glass animals. It’s tricky to resist picking up a souvenir – be warned if you’re looking for a cheap day out!

A less pricy souvenir are the marbles, with the cheapest ones costing around 10p (and even some of the biggest, very satisfying to hold, are around a pound). Do head upstairs in the shop too for the huge marble run as well.

There’s also a small pottery museum: Devon has its own pottery history, with some of the pieces made in this area on display.

Other family attractions around Dartmoor

As well as the walks on Dartmoor itself, you’ll find plenty of family attractions for a day out with kids.

Around Buckfastleigh, there’s the Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary, as well as Totnes Rare Breeds Farm and the South Devon miniature railway (scroll up for more details of these).

You can also guarantee sightings of ponies at the Dartmoor Miniature Pony Centre, along with talks and feeding sessions (although currently no pony rides).

As well as the ponies, there are smaller animals, donkeys, and huge Shire horses at the centre between Lettaford and Moretonhampstead. Tickets must be prebooked.

For more animals, head to Pennywell Farm, which has farm animals including miniature pigs, miniature donkeys, goats and more, as well as play areas. Tickets must be prebooked.

And for some rather bigger animals, there’s also Dartmoor Zoo: 33 acres of parkland that’s home to endangered animals and known particularly for its big cats, although you’ll also find apes, birds and reptiles among the inhabitants. Tickets must be prebooked.

The renovations and conservation work at Castle Drogo are still ongoing – although like most National Trust sites, only the outdoor areas would be open for now in any case.

In the meantime, you can explore the formal gardens or follow various walks overlooking the Teign Gorge and River Teign, and await the unveiling of the last castle to be built in England.

Where to stay around Dartmoor with kids

We stayed at an AirBNB in Exeter for our trip, which made a great base to explore the city, Dartmoor and the coast – a lovely Victorian house that’s in the process of being renovated, with a big kitchen (great coffee machine), huge bathroom and two comfy bedrooms.

You can check out more self-catering cottages in Devon, including options near Exeter, or family-friendly hotels in Exeter, as well as finding more ideas of family-friendly accommodation in Devon in my ultimate guide for families.

PIN FOR LATER: VISITING DARTMOOR WITH KIDS

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