Dartmoor Walking Tours offers guided half and full-day walks through Dartmoor’s dramatic landscapes, ancient woodlands, and mystical moorlands. We caught up with owner and guide, Gillian, to learn more.
Tell us more about Dartmoor Walking Tours and how it came about.
It was a combination of passion and a voilà moment! My love for the outdoors began during my travels in South America and Asia, and I found myself dragging friends onto the moors at every opportunity. One day, when out with friends, the Dartmoor mist descended, and I noticed they were looking to me for guidance. That’s when it hit me - some solid navigation and survival skills would be really useful. So, I decided to get qualified, and Dartmoor Walking Tours was born!
Where are your favourite spots?
One of my favourite walks is the one I take with many of my clients, from Hound to Haytor. It includes the Emsworthy Nature Reserve, managed by the Devon Wildlife Trust. In spring and summer, it’s alive with insects and birdlife, and it’s a great spot to hear the calls of a cuckoo or nightjar. If you visit in May, you’ll be treated to a sea of bluebells turning the landscape into a beautiful purple carpet.
Another spot I’m drawn to is Black-a Tor Copse - a mystical, ancient temperate rainforest nestled in a remote valley. Once widespread across Britain, only small fragments of these stunning areas remain. They’re home to a dazzling variety of life forms, and I love to sit by the bubbling river, getting up close to the mosses and lichens that thrive in the damp, shady environment.
I’m also drawn to Dartmoor’s Bronze Age antiquities. I often look for stone circles, cairns, and stone rows on the maps, and I try to include them in every walk I do. These sites are a crucial part of Dartmoor’s past, when the area was much more densely populated. Many of my clients often ask what could have attracted people to live here in such a harsh climate. But back then, the climate would have been much more Mediterranean - hard to imagine on a cold, misty Dartmoor day!
How does Dartmoor change through the seasons? Which is your favourite?
Spring brings a return of bird song, fresh greenery, and a sense of new life. There’s an undeniable feeling that the harshness of winter is slowly receding, replaced by a soft promise of renewal.
Summer sees the bracken in full bloom, adding a lushness to parts of the moor you won’t find at any other time of year. However, this can be challenging for some routes - there have been times I’ve had to adjust plans because of how thick the growth gets. This is why, as a guide, I always do a recce before leading walks. Summer can also be harsh when the sun is at its strongest. Without much shade or tree cover on the high moor, it can feel intense. That’s why I like to plan walks along rivers or near leats or lakes, where we can cool our feet or take a swim to refresh.
Autumn is my favourite season, with the bracken and gorse fading to a rich, rustic brown. I love exploring the forests during this time for the stunning colours and fantastic photo opportunities.
Late September brings the promise of breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, at more reasonable times too! Winter brings a starkness to the moor, the very bleakness that’s so often captured in the stories, myths, poems, and songs written about Dartmoor. I love the soft light of winter - the colours of the sunrises and sunsets are especially vibrant. And it’s a quieter time too, with the moor almost in a kind of hibernation, still and peaceful.
Dartmoor myths & legends..tell us more!
These myths and legends are what truly make Dartmoor… well, Dartmoor! I love sharing these stories with my clients, especially when the mist rolls in, and the conditions are just right to conjure up those images that inspired so many tales, songs, and poems.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is probably the most famous writer to be captivated by Dartmoor’s folklore. He was so taken by the stories he heard from his guide and the locals that they inspired him to write The Hound of the Baskervilles. Witches, pixies, ghosts, and even the devil with his “wisht hounds” regularly feature in local lore. Dartmoor provides the perfect backdrop for these tales, and it’s easy to imagine being ‘pixie-led’ or hearing the distant cry of the devil’s hounds.
You’re a mental health first aider, what impact do you think hiking and being in nature can have on our wellbeing?
I can’t recommend it enough! I’ve experienced first-hand the positive impact time in nature has on my own mental health, and I do everything I can to help my clients feel that sense of release you get from being out in open, green spaces. On my walks, I always make time to stop and really tune into our senses. Dartmoor is the perfect place to do this.
To find out more, or to book your tour, visit dartmoorwalkingtours.co.uk or call 07715 103160. Find out more on Instagram @dartmoorwalkingtours
