Foggintor Quarry Walk

Foggintor Quarry Walk is a 1.8-mile out-and-back from the layby beside Yellowmeade Farm on the B3357 to the quarry approach and back. The mapped line is just over 0.9 mile each way; the full distance counts the return but not extra wandering among the workings. Allow about an hour if you want time to look around. This is a good short stop for an open moorland walk followed by the sudden scale of a flooded granite quarry. The approach is mostly a broad, gently sloping track, with scrambling only if you explore the quarry.

The track heads south past Yellowmeade Farm and across bare, high ground. Its surface turns stonier as it follows slabs of the old tramway toward the quarry ruins. The approach is easy to follow but exposed: there is little shelter, and wind can make this short walk feel colder than the distance suggests. The route drops about 35 metres to the quarry edge; the return climbs the same gradual slope. Views stay broad across the moor for most of the way.

At the quarry, still water lies below tall, squared-off granite faces. You can stay near the entrance or continue among the old workings, where rocky, uneven ground makes the descent a scramble. That optional exploration adds distance and is not included in the 1.8-mile mapped return. From above, frame the water with one of the sheer walls; down among the rocks, the cut feels more enclosed and the route is more sheltered.

Foggintor was a working granite quarry until 1966. The approach passes fragments of the settlement that served it, including cottages, a smithy and chapel-school ruins; farther into the workings are spoil heaps and the remains of quarry buildings. The ruins are fragmentary, and the ground is uneven around the stone and broken edges.

Start at the small layby by Yellowmeade Farm, shown on maps as Foggintor Quarry Car Park, and keep the track entrance clear. There are no reported facilities on the route; Princetown has toilets, a convenience store and places to eat as a separate stop. Dogs may come on Dartmoor, but on access land they need a short fixed lead of no more than 2 metres from 1 March to 31 July, and should be on a lead whenever livestock are nearby.