Sight · Dartmoor National Park
A gentle circuit below moorland tors and wooded shores.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dartmoor Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Dartmoor National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Burrator Reservoir and the Old Settlement“You're coming up on Burrator Reservoir, where wooded shores sit below open moor and granite tors. For a photo, frame the stone arches of the dam with their reflection when the water is still.”
Plays as you drive up to Burrator Reservoir in the Parkwolf Dartmoor Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Burrator Reservoir is a broad, wooded reservoir on Dartmoor’s western edge, with open moorland and granite tors rising beyond its shores. Completed in 1898, it holds 4,210 megalitres when full. The water, tree-lined slopes and higher moor sit together in one outing, and the view changes as roads and paths wind around the basin. Sheepstor, Leather Tor and Down Tor overlook the water. Walkers, cyclists and horse riders use the paths and bridleways here, and fishing is another established reason people come.
The usual circuit is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) and takes roughly 1.5 to 2 hours. There are several places to start, so route lengths vary; some descriptions put it closer to five miles. It follows lanes and paths and does not stay beside the water the whole way. The route is broadly flat and easy-going, but some sections can be muddy or uneven.
For a shorter wander, Burrator Arboretum is a separate 800 m to 1 km loop on wide, level gravel through woodland. It has benches, a boardwalk, information boards and a pond-dipping platform. For a reservoir photo, frame the water through a gap in the shore trees with one of the open moorland tors above the far bank.
Wildlife
32 sightingsWestern Roe DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
10 sightingsRed FoxMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
37 sightingsEuropean RabbitMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
19 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsGreat Spotted WoodpeckerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
20 sightingsCommon RavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Dartmoor. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyBurrator Reservoir Circular Walk6.3 km · 1.8 hr · 0.5 km awayTwo dams, a wooded shoreline and a stone bridge in one loop.
EasyNorsworthy Bridge to Deancombe2.6 km · 1.5 hr · 1.9 km awayA short gravel walk to a ruined farmstead above Narrator Brook.
ModerateGutter Tor Walk6.4 km · 2.5 hr · 2.9 km awayA moorland loop for granite tors, warrens, and prehistoric stone rows.
ChallengingCadover Bridge and Dewerstone Rock Circular Walk6.3 km · 2.8 hr · 4 km awayA steep river loop that earns its Dewerstone ridge views.
EasyPrincetown Walk to South Hessary Tor3 km · 1 hr · 6.2 km awayA gentle moorland walk to a granite tor above Princetown.
ModeratePrincetown to Nun’s Cross Walk8 km · 2.3 hr · 6.2 km awayA gravel track across open moor to a wayside cross.
ModerateLittle Mis Tor and Great Mis Tor Walk4.8 km · 1.8 hr · 6.5 km awayTwo tors, a stone track, and a rocky summit above open moor.
EasyFoggintor Quarry Walk2.9 km · 1 hr · 6.6 km awayMoorland track leads to still water beneath towering quarry walls.
Sight · 3.9 km awayCadover BridgeA riverside bridge that opens onto a longer moorland walk
Sight · 5.2 km awayShaugh BridgeTwo rivers meet below granite crags and old workings.
Sight · 5.2 km awayFoggintor QuarryA flooded granite pit wrapped in towering cut-stone walls.
Campground · 5.9 km awayLangstone Manor Holiday ParkForty touring pitches and a manor-house restaurant on Dartmoor’s edge.
Sight · 6.2 km awayMerrivale Prehistoric SettlementLong stone rows and dozens of Bronze Age house sites to explore.
Sight · 6.5 km awayDartmoor Prison MuseumObjects and cell displays bring Dartmoor’s prison history close.
Sight · 7.5 km awayGreat Staple TorA narrow granite avenue with wide moorland views.Parkwolf’s Dartmoor ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
