Short answer: Haytor is the easiest well-known tor to reach with children — the car parks are close and the climb is short. Laughter Tor above Bellever is gentler, with a forest and a river at the bottom if the climb collapses. The ground is loose granite, so proper shoes rather than sandals.
A tor is a granite outcrop on open moorland, and getting to one means walking over tussocky grass and loose stone rather than a made path. There are no handrails and no steps. The distances are usually short — often under a mile — but it is the ground that catches families out, not the length.
Proper shoes, not sandals. Loose granite and small children are a bad combination, and the rock is genuinely sharp in places.
The obvious starting point, on the eastern side of the moor above Bovey Tracey. The car parks sit close to the base, the climb to the top is short, and the views from the summit are the ones on every Dartmoor postcard. Reviewers mention heritage livestock grazing along the route, which children enjoy.
Because it is the easiest, it is also the busiest. Get there early or leave it until late afternoon.
A gentler proposition. Bellever Forest has marked trails through the forestry, a clear shallow river children can paddle and swim in, wild ponies, toilets and a coffee trailer — and Laughter Tor above it gives you a summit and a view without the full exposure of the open moor. Reviewers describe the views from Laughter Tor as stunning and well worth the trip.
The advantage is the fallback. If the climb collapses halfway, the river and the forest are a perfectly good day on their own.
There is very little shelter on the moor and the weather changes fast — take waterproofs whatever it is doing at sea level. Car parks at the popular tors fill by mid-morning, and phone signal for payment apps is unreliable, so carry coins.
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