Short answer: Chagford is built around a medieval square and everything is on it, so you park once and walk. On 1 January, being a minute from somewhere warm is the whole argument.
Park at Fingle Bridge and take the Hunter's Path up through the Teign gorge towards Castle Drogo. The best walk on Dartmoor's eastern edge. The castle will be closed, but the path and the gorge are free.
Out on the high moor — stunted oaks covered in rare mosses, and one of the last temperate rainforests in England. Extraordinary in January mist, and a proper moorland walk with no shelter.
The square and the lanes around it. Twenty minutes, and the granite looks exactly right under a winter sky.
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.
Narrow, high-hedged and not built for two cars. Take them slowly, particularly in the wet, and be ready to reverse to a passing place.
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.
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