New Year's Day in Bovey Tracey: Woodland Beats Open Moor

Short answer: The woodland below the moor is the sheltered option and it has four car parks. Parke, the National Trust estate on the edge of town, is the easiest walk from a car park in this area.

The walk

Yarner Wood

Ancient woodland in the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, with grassy glades, a river and a hide, and four car parks to choose from. Trees take a lot of weather out of a walk and the going underfoot is far better than open moor on 1 January.

Parke

The National Trust estate on the edge of town — the easiest walk from a car park here, free for members, and it works in any weather.

The high version

Haytor and the open moor are a short drive up the road, if the weather is kind and you want the view.

Where to warm up

• 3 Sixty in the town centre — a big quirky café with sofas and a magazine floor upstairs.
• Home Farm Café at Parke — a genuinely good menu with several vegetarian options.
• Ullacombe Farm Cafe on the Haytor road — indoor seating, and animals to feed in normal weeks.
• The Cromwell Arms on Fore Street — the town pub, with rooms upstairs.

Almost everywhere opens later than usual on New Year's Day, and some places do not open at all. Ring in the morning rather than assuming.

Check before you drive out

Becky Falls and Canonteign Falls close over the Christmas and New Year period, and several Dartmoor attractions reduce hours sharply from January. Ring rather than assume.

Dartmoor on 1 January: the light goes by four, the weather turns faster than it looks from the car park, and the roads are unfenced with ponies and sheep on them. Start early, take a map, and tell someone where you are going.