Dartmoor visitor-planning guide for its protected Devon landscape and seasonal context

Ancient granite uplands studded with tors and steeped in prehistoric mystery

Dartmoor National Park

Dartmoor National Park encompasses a dramatic landscape of granite uplands rising from the surrounding lowlands of Devon. The granite that forms the foundation of the moor was intruded as a pluton during the Carboniferous Period approximately 309 million years ago, creating the geological basis for the distinctive tors that define the skyline. The terrain is far more diverse than the popular image of open moorland suggests—roughly half the park consists of other habitats including valley wetlands, oak woodlands, and farmland. The moor takes its name from the River Dart, which originates as the East Dart and West Dart before converging at Dartmeet and flowing through Totnes to the sea at Dartmouth. Other significant rivers including the Teign, Taw, Tavy, Avon, and Lyd also have their catchments on the high ground, and several have been dammed to create reservoirs supplying drinking water. The climate on the high ground differs substantially from the surrounding lowlands, with more than 2,000mm of annual rainfall on the highest tors compared with less than 800mm in the rain shadow to the east, and frosts roughly five times more frequent than coastal areas. The park contains a resident community of approximately 33,000 people across villages including Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Moretonhampstead, Princetown, and Chagford.