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(S/E) Start at the main car for Hound Tor at Swallerton Gate (grid reference SX 739 792). It gets a bit busy in summer, but you may find a snack van here on a good day.
(1) Walk up towards and around the tor. There are lots of routes round the tor, and opportunities to find a 'letterbox' or two. A well-used path heads south-east and join the bridleway at a stone wall (SX 743 787). Follow the bridleway, keeping Greator Rocks on your right. Note that these paths are sometimes diverted to reduce erosion, so the precise track may deviate from the plot on the map. Pass through a gate, downhill into the woods and across a stream.
(2) When you emerge from the woods, follow the bridleway to the left, then through a gate onto a track (SX 756 788).
(3) Continue straight ahead, following the sign to "Byway for road below Blackhill" and follow the track until it diverges from the dry stone wall.
(4) Turn left and walk down to the road.
(5) Turn left at the cattle grid, and follow the road down into the valley to Leighon Cross.
(6) Turn right at the junction towards "Becky Falls/Bovey Tracey". Follow the road for about 125 yards: it is a fairly busy road, so take care.
(7) Turn left off the road onto the footpath across a footbridge, follow the path, which bends to the left and then curves right, then turn hard right at the junction in the path. The public footpath takes you past Becky Falls - but it is carefully routed so that you cannot see the falls without paying the entrance fee for the visitor attraction.
(8) You will reach a fork in the woods where the footpath meets the Dartmoor Way trail. Take the track to the right and follow the Dartmoor Way along the "Byway to Trendlebere" as it descends through the woods and crosses a packhorse bridge (9). (You can shorten the route by following the path straight ahead instead: keep on the footpath, ignoring tracks off to the right, until you reach a sign for the "Clam Bridge for Lustleigh Cleave", then follow that bridle path downhill to (12).)
(10) After the bridge, turn left and follow the track.
(11) At the footbridge, turn left and cross the bridge. Follow the path as it bends right then left and down to the river. Part of this path hugs the riverbank, and is formed of loose stones that are scoured when the river floods. Follow the path through the woods as it rises and falls all the way to the footbridges.
(12) Cross a footbridge: you can choose either the modern bridge or the traditional 'clam bridge' made of single tree trunks. Follow the path and take the route to the right signposted "Lustleigh via Pethybridge" at the first fork. Ignore further paths to the right and follow the path straight on to Lustleigh until you reach the road.
(13) At the road, turn right then take the first turning left. Follow the narrow lanes as they zig-zag towards the village - the route of the bridle path is signposted. When you get to the larger road turn right, then turn left at the Baptist chapel towards the church.
(14) In the centre of the village you will find the shop, church, tea room and pub. After suitable refreshment, take the lane past the public lavatories, through the community orchard and into the woods. These woods are full of enormous, moss-covered, rounded boulders.
(15) There are multiple routes in this wood, but take the right fork and head in a north-north westerly direction towards the footpath in the open fields (SX 781 813).
(16) Go through the gate and cross one field on the northerly track, then turn left, and follow the path, which becomes a track before it narrows behind Lower Combe.
(17) Turn left and follow the track to "Hammerslake for the Cleave" for a short distance, before taking the footpath into the woods.
(18) At the road, turn right towards the footpath, then turn left to take the footpath uphill. After the stone steps built into a wall, the path bears left to join the bridle path.
(19) Turn right at the bridleway and head uphill. This is a steep climb up to Sharpitor, but the views at the top are worthwhile on a clear day. At the top, follow the bridle path along the ridge to Hunters Tor, then down the other side past Peck Farm.
(20) After Peck Farm, turn left off the concrete track and follow the bridle path along the lane to "Foxworthy Bridge".
(21) At Foxworthy, continue straight on along the farm track for a short distance until you have crossed the river.
(22) Turn left and take the bridleway into the woods, and continue to follow the bridleway when it rejoins the track.
(23) Take the second path on the left signposted "Horsham Steps or Manaton via Horsham". The path bears immediately left before curving right. Follow the path through the woods.
(24) Take the right-hand path at the fork to "Manaton". After passing through two small fields, the path crosses a field diagonally to the right and joins a lane at a cattle grid by a group of farm buildings. Follow the lane to the road just north of Manaton.
(25) Turn left at the road and head south towards the village.
(26) There are often home-made cakes for sale outside one of the cottages in the car park at Manaton: you might want to buy some for the final hill. When you leave the car park, go straight over the crossroads and then take the footpath on the right to cross the fields.
(27) Turn right at the lane and follow it up onto the open moor. The hill becomes progressively steeper as you climb up Hayne Down. Follow one of the paths up past the rocks. If you want to catch sight of the famous Bowerman's Nose rock formation, you will need to take a northerly diversion to the edge of the group of rocks. To continue the route, head down from the rocks in a south-westerly direction, joining the road at a gate.
(28) Pass through the gate, and walk along the road, turning left at the junction and back to the car park.(S/E)
Walker
Difficult 
Association or club
Easy 
