Walking to Great Links Tor
Scooby and Chisel on their ascent to Great Links Tor
This walk has been kindly written and walked for Oke Links by Denise Horner of Dartmoor Nordic Walking.
www.dartmoornordicwalkng.co.uk
‘Dartmoor Nordic Walking’ and ‘Walks with Winnie’ are on Facebook.
Distance: Approximately 6.5k
Time: Allow at least 2 hours
Difficulty: This is a challenging walk. It is uphill all the way to Great Links Tor, the ground is uneven in places and walking is over small boulders nearer the tor. An ascent of approximately 330m (1,000ft).
Start point: This walk starts on the track before the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford, on your left when you are heading on the A386 towards Tavistock. What3words - ‘nylon.venue.faces’ SX526873
This is an open walk, there is no shelter. The terrain is uneven in places and there are boulders as you pass the triangular heap of stones heading up past the spoil tip. It is uphill all the way to Great Links Tor, but the views are worth it!
Park at the car park after driving over a bumpy, uneven track from the main road. Even when you park here, the views are pretty spectacular to Brat Tor - with Widgery Cross on top. The cross is the tallest on Dartmoor at almost 13ft/3.86m. You can see Arms Tor and the recognisable rounded hill of Great Nodden.
From the car park, take the gate to the far left and head out on to High Down, taking in the view in front of you. This part of the moor is easy to walk on and a great surface for your Nordic Walking poles. Continue down to the ford on the River Lyd. You can either take the stepping stones or the bridge if the river is high.
Before you cross the river, look up towards the path you will take. With Brat Tor on the right and Arms Tor on the left, on the saddle between you will make out three scars of mining spoil tips. We will be heading for the one on the right.
Crossing the river take the gravel path on your left. Stay on this heading slightly right until you reach the end of the gorse bushes on your right where the ground starts to open up. You will see a narrow path to the right of the open green area, take this following the track sweeping around to the right and uphill. You will see a few bushes and small trees, the path heads up between them bringing you out on the track. This now heads up hill again to the left. Brat Tor will be up and to your right.
Continue along this track, stepping carefully over the boggy area. As you come to the brow of this hill you will see almost straight in front of you a triangular pile of stones. Head for this and take in the mining works to your right and the views of Brat Tor, Arms Tor behind you and Brent Tor in the distance.
At the pile of stones, take the track left towards the small quarry of spoil. Staying just left of this, follow a narrow path up and over the small boulders, remaining on the route to the brow of the hill where you will see Great Links Tor and the Trig point coming into view. The pathway here is clear to see, all the way to the tor and trig point.
The views are far reaching and easily 360 degrees. Take time to appreciate landscape and identify the tors if you can. A coffee would be appreciated here too!
The descent is much quicker, however, the uneven ground can sometimes be harder to negotiate on the downhill, so take care.
We hope you have enjoyed this walk. We would love to see photos of you and your dogs, if you have the Oke Links magazine with you, include that too!
Send your photos to winnie@walkswithwinnie.co.uk or post on our Facebook page ‘Walks with Winnie on Dartmoor’. At the end of the year we will pick the best photo and the winner will receive a copy of the Walks with Winnie book.