Colourful
landscape |
Dartmoor is the largest area of moorland in southern England. It's also one
of the wildest areas in the country and one of the few southern uplands.
Only
the hardiest of wildlife can survive the winter conditions here. | | Dartmoor's stunning scenery |
The majority
of the Dartmoor National Park lies over a granite plateau - 600m above sea level,
rising to a height of 621m, the park also includes the rich fertile lands to the
north and south of the moor, known as the 'Hams'. The National Park is named
after the River Dart, whose source rises on the moor, with the West and East Dart
rivers merging to form the River Dart at Dartmeet. Dartmoor is moorland
accented with wooded valleys and wind swept Tors and covers 953 sq. km. Dartmoor
was the setting for the Sherlock Holmes' novel 'The Hound of the Baskervilles,'
based upon a local legend. The isolated landscape with weather conditions
(mist, rain and snow) that can change in minutes, creates a truly natural spectacle
- 'nature' at its best.  Walking
country
Dartmoor is hiking country, and can become very busy on the most
popular routes during the summer months. Prehistoric remains are found
all over the moor, though exact dates of many of them are often in dispute. Any
walk across the moor is likely to lead you to the remains of old stone buildings
from Dartmoor's industrial past. Ancient clapper bridges - crossing streams
and rivers, stone crosses; barrows, standing stones, circles, tumuli and cairns
all contribute to the wealth of features on Dartmoor.  Nature
watching
Dartmoor has a variety of habitats due to the difference in altitude
between higher and lower areas. In upland areas where conditions are more
harsh, only the hardiest of breeds survive including the famous Dartmoor ponies.
They will eat almost anything from grass and heather to gorse which they
bash to remove the prickles. The ponies are important for conservation of
the moorland - without them the area would return to wood and shrubland. The
lower areas of Dartmoor are great for bird watchers. At Yarmer Woods you'll
find birds that don't live in the upland areas of Dartmoor - these include the
Pied Flycatcher, the Treecreeper and the Nuthatch.  Lichen
Dartmoor
is a good place for lichen spotting especially in wooded area in its lower reaches,
notably the Bovey River Valley where there are a wide range of species.
Lichen
are very hardy plants which can survive in some of the most extreme cold conditions. Their
bodies comprise fungal threads and minute algae in one of nature's most intriguing
partnerships. Look out for the Knicker Elastic Lichen, so named because
of its springy structure, and Cladonia with its red tips where fungal spores can
fly off to find algae and create a new lichen. Lichen provide great clues
to what has happened in the past, how much it rains, and what the quality of the
air in an environment is like. | 
