Parking
Start at Yarner Wood car park (SX 785 789). Accessible public toilets are by the reserve office in the car park.
Overview
About Yarner Wood Nature Trail
Why go
- Mature oak woodland, a short historic leat section and small bridges give the loop a strong sense of place.
- A compact circuit with woodland birds to listen for.
Heads up
- Natural-ground and rougher sections interrupt the gravel track.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Dartmoor map
Full mapElevation118–177 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Dartmoor alerts
- CautionDartmoor military firing restricts accessDo not cross the Okehampton, Willsworthy or Merrivale training-range boundaries when warning signals are displayed.Official details
- CautionAccess restriction at Huccaby FarmAccess to CROW Access Land at Huccaby Farm in the West Dart River Valley is subject to a current restriction notice.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dartmoor Tour Guide
Your drive to Yarner Wood Nature Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Yarner Wood Nature Trail0:00 / 0:26
“You're coming up on Yarner Wood, where a one point six mile loop gives you old oak woodland instead of open moor.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Dartmoor Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- What Boxing Hares Are Doing
- The Flycatchers in Yarner's Boxes
- What Makes Becky Falls' Wood Ancient
- Shaptor and the Woodland Trust's Beginnings
- 298 audio storiesacross Dartmoor’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Western Roe Deer, Red Fox, European Rabbit, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 54 trails, 59 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Yarner Wood Nature Trail
A short woodland circuitYarner Wood Nature Trail is a 1.6-mile loop through mature woodland on Dartmoor’s eastern edge.
Yarner Wood Nature Trail is a 1.6-mile loop through mature woodland on Dartmoor’s eastern edge. This is the longer named nature loop, distinct from the authority’s separate roughly 2 km Miles Without Stiles route at the same car park. Come for sheltered old-oak woods and a change from open-moorland walking; choose the other route if accessible surfacing is the priority.
Follow the old leatThe circuit winds along gravel and natural-ground tracks, crosses short bridges and has a…
The circuit winds along gravel and natural-ground tracks, crosses short bridges and has a rougher stretch underfoot. One section follows the former bed of the Bovey Tracy Pottery Leat. Yarner Wood became England’s first National Nature Reserve in 1952; listen for pied flycatchers and wood warblers among the trees. The loop’s recorded 259 feet of ascent add some ups and downs without making it a long hike.
Start at the car parkBegin at Yarner Wood car park (SX 785 789) and allow 30 to 60 minutes.
Begin at Yarner Wood car park (SX 785 789) and allow 30 to 60 minutes. Public accessible toilets are by the reserve office at the car park.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Dartmoor
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.
