Tarr Steps Hike in the Exmoor National Park, England

Do you love walking and hiking? I do, especially in quiet or remote places far removed from the madding crowds.

In the UK there are over 100,000 miles of trails and public footpaths, leaving plenty of options for all kinds of explorers to hike or take a simple stroll in the stunning countryside and highland mountains.

I’m lucky to travel to England quite regularly to see my family, and when I’m there I’ll often be found out walking along the coastal paths of Devon, or on Exmoor.

One of my favorite walks in Exmoor National Park is the Tarr Steps Walk, a gentle stroll down to the Tarr Steps, an ancient clapper bridge.

The beautiful wooded valley of the River Barle is also worth exploring for its wildlife, as is the heathland of Winsford Hill and its wild ponies in the surrounding countryside.

This more challenging circular walk from Dulverton to Tarr Steps is around 12 miles (20km) and should take about 6 hours.

There is a shorter circular walk from the main car park down to the river, along the riverbank for about 1.3 kilometres to a footbridge. It returns on the other side, crossing the river on the clapper bridge.

Or you can walk down a 400m path to the Tarr Steps Bridge from the parking lot.

About Exmoor National Park

Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath.

Exmoor was designated a National Park in 1954.

Exmoor National Park is a unique landscape of moorland, woodland, valleys and farmland, shaped by people and nature over thousands of years. Where high cliffs plunge into the Bristol Channel, and cosy pubs and tearooms offer delicious local produce.

Exmoor National Park is not a wilderness, it is a living and working landscape with many settlements from small towns and picturesque villages to tiny hamlets and isolated farmsteads. You can learn more about the park here.

Best time to visit Exmoor National Park

Exmoor is set deep in England’s green and pleasant West Country, and early summer is a beautiful time to walk here when the fields are green and the trees are bursting with new buds, and if you’re lucky you may see fields and woods full of bluebells.

But don’t dismiss Autumn either, when the deciduous trees are turning gorgeous shades…