The Tarka Trail - North Devon Coast and Exmoor

Named after Henry Williamson's classic book 'Tarka the Otter' and the location for the film of the same title, the Tarka Trail offers a variety of scenery, the dramatic North Devon coast and The Exmoor National Park.

The Tarka Trail is 180 miles long and splits into two loops centred at Barnstaple and is an excellent way to explore the world class environment of North Devon's UNESCO Biosphere that stretches from Dartmoor to Lundy and Exmoor to Hartland

The tour starts at Barnstaple along side the River Taw over the rolling grasslands and wooded valleys, up to the hillside meadows of the Exmoor foothills, on to the Exmoor's heathery plateau, with its remote farms and tiny hamlets, wild ponies and deer. To Watersmeet and the 500 feet descent down the valley of the River Lyn, to Lynmouth. Here we join The South West Coast Path.

From the high spectacular cliffs above Lynmouth, along the rugged North Devon Coast, interspersed with sandy bays at Lee and Woody, to the sandy beaches at Ilfracombe and Woolacombe and the end of the tour at Barnstaple.