Bovey Tracey Parking: The Gateway Town Before the Moor Roads

Short answer: Bovey Tracey is a working town, so parking is easy by Devon standards. It is also the last straightforward stop before the moor roads — worth using as the base rather than driving up and hunting for a layby.

Easy, because it is a town

Bovey Tracey calls itself the Gateway to the Moor, and the practical version of that is: it is the last place before the high ground where parking is simple. The town centre has parking and the streets are not the squeeze you get on the coast.

Parke

The National Trust estate on the edge of town has its own parking, free for members, with Home Farm Café in it. It is the easiest walk from a car park in this area and it suits all weather.

Up the Haytor road

Ullacombe Farm Cafe has its own parking, with goats and alpacas to feed for £1 a bag — a good stop with children before or after the moor. Beyond it the roads are unfenced with ponies and sheep on them.

Parking for the woods and the falls

• East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve at Yarner Wood — four car parks, ancient woodland and a river hide.
• Becky Falls — its own car park, with three waymarked trails down to the waterfall.
• Canonteign Falls — England's highest man-made waterfall, with a fern garden and lakes.
• Bellever Forest, further out on the high moor — around £5 all day, with toilets and a coffee trailer.

Check before you drive out

Several Dartmoor attractions cut hours sharply between January and February, and some close entirely. Ring rather than assume.

In town

3 Sixty in the centre is a big quirky café with sofas and fast service. The Cromwell Arms on Fore Street is the town pub with a good beer garden.

Charges are reviewed every year and seasonal tariffs change in March and November. Treat any price here as a guide and check the machine on the day.