Cadover Bridge - Shavercombe Falls - Hen Tor

Dave Pawley

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The River Plym gives the port of Plymouth its name. This walk gives a completely different perspective to the river from the tidal reaches seen in Plymouth. This walk offers the walker the chance to savour the river in its moorland setting for four miles of its length, from Cadover Bridge right up to Shavercombe Brook, where the views across to the menhirs of Drizzlecombe are superb.

At times you are walking right beside beautiful sections of the river and at other points, along the side of the working leat which runs from just above Ditsworthy Warren House right down to the Big Pond near the Lee Moor Claypits.

The walk takes you across four major feeder brooks into the Plym, those of the Blackabrook, Spanish Lake, Hen Tor Brook and finally up to but not across, Shavercombe Brook. About a kilometre upstream along the Shavercombe Brook, you walk right upto a superbly sheltered spot underneath Shavercombe Waterfall, a true oasis on Dartmoor and a lovely spot to relax in on a summer's, or indeed a winter's, day.

The route back takes you across open moorland to visit Hen Tor, a truly majestic tor with its masses of clitter and then across to overlook the Trowlesworthy Tors and beyond to see the huge clay workings of Lee Moor virtually right in front of you.

The views of Plymouth, Plymouth Sound and the wider expanse of the English Channel act as a glorious backdrop to the huge claypits. The return to Cadover Bridge is across the Blackabrook Valley. This was once under threat as yet another potential claypit, but now with the mining rights relinquished by the mining companies it will remain as a moorland down.

From the Blackabrook Valley you can either return to Cadover Bridge along a metalled road, or return to walk close by the Plym, retracing your outward path for the final 500 metres.

England - South West England - Devon - Dartmoor