Great Rides: Bikepacking the West Country Way
Anna Cipullo spent three days bikepacking through both Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks following the West Country Way.
When I realised we couldn’t get public transport to our first destination, or back from our last destination, I started to doubt whether the West Country Way was worth the bother, but it definitely was. Never have I completed a route that offered so much variety in scenery, and in such a short period of time too. If you think both moors would look largely the same, you’d be mistaken, and I advise you to go look for yourself.
Day one - Plymouth to Castle Drogo
We found a free parking space next to a residential area in Plymouth, loaded up our bikes and headed out of the bustling city just before lunch time. We crossed the mouth of the sea and headed north away from the commotion of the roads. The tarmac cycle paths slowly dissolved into dirt tracks on disused railway lines, and buildings were replaced with trees and blue skies as we traversed a stream that would mark the exact boarder between Plymouth and Devon. It didn’t take long to reach the moors at all, less than two hours and we had unwittingly done two thirds of the day’s climbing already. As the country lane reached its end, we pushed open a large wooden gate to reveal a huge wide open playground for us to explore - Dartmoor National Park.
After 20 miles of raw, rocky bridleway, one challenging technical climb, and epic views of wild heather and misty moors, we reached Princetown. There were campsites and accommodation here, but I merely filled up on water in a friendly local cafe and joined the gang for more moorish moorlands.
