Cow Castle, Barle

Simonsbath

At Cow Castle, Barle, the river offers a place for open-water swimming near Simonsbath. The approach is roughly 10 m on foot.

Tarr Steps, Barle

Withypool

Tarr Steps combines an ancient stone clapper bridge with swimming in the River Barle on Exmoor. The water beside the bridge is popular for paddling; a deeper pool lies about a 20-minute walk upstream through the woods.

Long Pool, Watersmeet

Lynmouth

At Long Pool, Watersmeet, waterfalls feed natural swimming pools near Lynmouth. Falls and plunge pools give the spot its character. The approach is roughly 1.5 km on foot.

Cloud Farm to Foreland Point

Exmoor — Lorna Doone Valley / Foreland Point

A long Exmoor hike from the Lorna Doone Valley to Foreland Point.

Watersmeet & East Lyn Walk

Exmoor National Park — Lynmouth / Watersmeet

A serious Exmoor day walk mixing East Lyn river woodland with high coastal and valley views.

Heddon Valley to Woody Bay

Exmoor National Park — Heddon Valley / Woody Bay

A strenuous Heddon Valley route climbing through woodland to Woody Bay and the open Exmoor coast.

Heddon's Mouth Circular

Exmoor National Park — Heddon Valley

An easy wooded river walk ending where Heddon Valley opens dramatically onto the Exmoor coast.

A Visit to the Hangman — Great Hangman

North Devon / Exmoor — Combe Martin

A demanding Exmoor-coast climb to Great Hangman, with huge Bristol Channel views from Devon's coastal high ground.

Selworthy Beacon / North Hill

Holnicote Estate / North Exmoor, Somerset

Open ridge and coastal moor above Selworthy with direct community evidence of cliff-top wild camping in the Porlock/Selworthy area.

Hurlstone Point / Bossington Cliffs

Bossington / Porlock Vale, Somerset

A dramatic Exmoor coast anchor backed by direct community wild-camping accounts around the Porlock–Selworthy cliffs.

Tarr Ball Hill / Nutscale Reservoir

Dunkery / Luccombe, Central Exmoor, Somerset

Historic but specific backpacking evidence records an actual wild camp on Tarr Ball Hill around Nutscale Reservoir.

Culbone Woods / Above Culbone Church

Porlock Weir–Culbone, Exmoor Coast, Somerset

A genuine SWCP wild-camping landscape with direct 2024 backpacker reports of overnighting in the woods near Culbone.

Porlock Weir — Westward Exmoor Coast Path

Porlock Weir to the Somerset/Devon boundary

A broad route anchor for the quieter Exmoor coast west of Porlock Weir, supported by recent multi-day coast-path wild-camping reports.

Dunkery Beacon / Dunkery Hill

Central Exmoor, Somerset

High open Exmoor around the county's best-known summit, with modern community evidence of multi-day wild camping across this part of the moor.

Pinkery Centre Grounds — ENPA Wild Site

West of Simonsbath / Pinkery, Exmoor, Somerset

Exmoor National Park Authority’s second current wild site for youth groups, in the grounds of its remote education centre west of Simonsbath.

Hawkcombe Woods — ENPA Wild Site

Hawkcombe Woods / Porlock, Exmoor, Somerset

One of Exmoor National Park Authority’s two current bookable wild sites for youth groups, in Hawkcombe Woods near Porlock.

Valley of Rocks

Lynton / Exmoor Coast

Historical/community camping report; current permission is unconfirmed. A spectacular Exmoor coastal valley of rock towers, short grass and sea views. Wild-camping discussions repeatedly point toward the Lynton/Valley of Rocks coast as a strong Exmoor landscape.

Camping permission unconfirmed

Badger's Holt

Dulverton

A396 public house in Dulverton — check current trading.

The Stags Head

Minehead

A historic West Street Dunster pub with a fire, home-cooked meals and B&B rooms.

Porlock Stone Circle

England

Porlock Stone Circle is a prehistoric monument on open Exmoor moorland, where low stones can be easy to overlook among the heather and grass. It rewards a carefully planned moorland walk rather than a roadside stop. Use a map to locate the circle, prepare for exposed weather and wet ground, and avoid disturbing the stones.

Beacon Castle, South Down

England

Below the summit of South Down, Beacon Castle occupies a position overlooking the valleys of the River Heddon and one of its major tributaries. This Iron Age defended settlement has an oval interior measuring 58 metres by 55 metres, bounded by a single rampart and an outer ditch.

NETTLECOMBE COURT

England

Nettlecombe Court sits in a sheltered valley of the Brendon Hills, below rounded wooded heights divided by deep combes. Great Park, enclosed in 1755, incorporates ancient wood pasture with both maiden and pollarded oaks.

DUNSTER CASTLE

England

Dunster’s terraced gardens spread partly over the medieval castle defences, with their layout dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Around them, an eighteenth-century landscape park replaced the medieval park with advice from Richard Phelps.