The Lych Way

The Lych Way is a 12.5-mile one-way walk from Bellever Forest car park to Lydford, crossing central Dartmoor with about 495 m of total ascent. It follows tracks and bridleways through Bellever's plantation, crosses open high moor and finishes in Lydford village; allow 6.5 to 7 hours of walking. Choose it if you want a proper cross-moor day and can arrange transport at both ends. This is a long point-to-point route, not a short Bellever loop. The name comes from Old English lych, meaning body: local tradition says people from remote moorland farms carried their dead to Lydford church. The precise old line and starting place varied, so this is the modern mapped Bellever-to-Lydford route, not a proven single medieval track.

Leave Bellever village car park, walk up through the hamlet past the hostel, then take the forest track as it climbs through plantation. After crossing the B3212, the route enters damp open moor, where low waymark posts and several faint lines lead toward the ruins and chimney at Powdermills. From there it swings toward Longaford Tor, passing to the left rather than climbing the summit, and drops across open ground to the West Dart near its weir. The path gets hard to read here. The river crossing is part of the walk; if the water is too high, continue upstream to a boulder crossing, where wet rocks can be slippery.

After the West Dart, climb through a gully between Beardown Tors and Lydford Tor, pass close to the smaller Lydford Tor, then descend to the Cowsic at Broad Hole. This river is broad and usually shallow at the crossing. Beyond it, a track meanders across Conies Down; sandy and stony patches help you pick it out. The route drops to Walkham at Sandy Ford, then climbs a sunken track past White Barrow, a low green mound. This is a long, open section with several faint path choices. Navigation matters more than steepness: several faint paths can split away, and waymarks are not continuous, so poor visibility makes the route much harder.

Bellever's paid village car park has toilets, including an accessible one, and a coffee-van concession. Dogs are allowed, but keep them on a lead from 1 March through 31 July and whenever livestock are near; on CRoW Access Land during that period, the lead must be fixed and no longer than 2 m. Sort out the return journey from Lydford before you start.