Best Walks on Exmoor

Book excerpt: Straddling the counties of Somerset and Devon, Exmoor measures approximately 21 miles west to east and 15 miles north to south. Exmoor may be one of the smallest National Parks but what it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty and contrast, affording walkers a diverse landscape to explore. Like its fictional heroine Lorna Doone, Exmoor is both wild and gentle. It's easy to see why author R D Blackmore chose it as the setting for his novel about a family of outlaws expelled from Scotland who came south and terrorised the locals. The scenery stirs the imagination, thanks to the coastline of stark cliffs lining the Bristol Channel, the wooded valleys, the tumbling streams and the wild, empty moors. This book provides the reader with thirty of the area's best walks. From short distance routes for those with young children to longer treks for experienced walkers, each one is detailed, and includes a basic sketch map and new colour photography.