Short answer: Bovey Tracey is a better winter bet than most moor-edge towns because the House of Marbles is free and open seven days a week all year, and MAKE Southwest is free too. Woodland walks beat open moor in January, and the waterfalls are at their best in the wet.
The House of Marbles is open seven days a week throughout the year and entry is free — museums, marble runs, a glassworks and a licensed restaurant. MAKE Southwest at Riverside Mill is also free. That is two dry, free hours in a town of this size, which is why Bovey Tracey survives a Devon January better than its neighbours.
In winter the open moor is wet, exposed and dark by half past four. East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve is the better call: free, four car parks to build a short loop from, trees for shelter and a riverside bird hide to stand in. Bellever Forest does the same job further in, with £5 all-day parking.
This is the one thing winter does better. Becky Falls and Canonteign Falls both run harder after rain, and Canonteign in particular is worth seeing when there is water in it. Both charge admission and both run reduced winter hours — check before driving out.
Bovey sits just off the A38 at the moor edge, and it can be mild in the town with low cloud and horizontal rain fifteen minutes up the road. Take waterproofs regardless of what it is doing when you park, and do not rely on phone signal once you are on the moor.
Worth the mention: the wood is more atmospheric bare than in leaf, with mist in the valley and moss at its greenest. It is also a thirty-minute walk over rough, saturated ground with no marked path. Boots, waterproofs and an offline map, or leave it.
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