Shipley Bridge to Avon Dam

Shipley Bridge to Avon Dam is a 3.6-mile (5.8 km) out-and-back along the River Avon; you follow the same surfaced track in both directions, from Shipley Bridge to the dam and back. It’s a good choice if you want Dartmoor river scenery without a tor scramble: the National Park grades this Miles Without Stiles route “For All,” Level 1, with a wide tarmac surface and gentle gradient. The line climbs steadily to the dam, but the tread stays firm underfoot. Give yourself 1½ to 2 hours if you plan to linger by the water or stop for a picnic. If a full return walk sounds long, the two picnic spots give you simple turn-around points.

Leave Shipley Bridge car park past the toilet block; after about 20 metres, turn left onto the tarmac and stay on it. The first stretch is under trees, with little cascades beside the River Avon. The water and rock shelves are the best photo stop; frame the falling water with the wooded banks to keep the shaded, riverside feel in the picture. The first picnic table is just after a bridge at about 1 km; a second sits just before another bridge around 1.75 km. Beyond the first bridge the trees thin and the valley opens onto moorland. Keep to the broad surfaced track all the way to the base of the dam. The rougher line toward Rider’s Rings and the old tramway is a separate walk; stay on the road for the accessible route.

Avon Dam is more than a view at the end: its concrete wall was built in 1957 to supply drinking water to growing South Devon towns. From the wall, the reservoir sits in open moorland above the wooded river corridor. The River Avon begins at Avon Head Mires near Ryder’s Hill, the highest part of the southern moor, then runs roughly 25 miles to the sea at Bigbury-on-Sea. You’ve walked a short stretch of that longer southward journey. This is not a loop or a summit viewpoint, and the dam is a working piece of water infrastructure; the pleasure is the change from shaded river to open moorland and back. On the return, the cascades and picnic stops come at you in reverse.

Start at Shipley Bridge car park, grid reference SX 681 629. It is pay-and-display, with public disabled toilets beside it; no RADAR key is needed. The authority’s directions have you pass the toilet block, join tarmac after about 20 metres and turn left. There are picnic tables along the route, but no food or drinking-water stop is identified between the car park and dam. Dogs can come: keep them under close control on public rights of way and on a lead near livestock. On Access Land, use a short fixed lead of no more than 2 metres from 1 March through 31 July. The upper path is more open to the moor, while the lower valley is sheltered.