Short answer: The town itself is compact and the station has a car park by the A30, which makes arriving straightforward. The castle has free parking but a steep path up to the ruin. The honest position is that high Dartmoor has no accessible walking.
Okehampton is small and the centre is walkable on reasonable pavements. The station has its own car park by the A30 and the line runs to Exeter, which makes it one of the more straightforward Dartmoor towns to arrive at without negotiating narrow lanes.
Free parking at the bottom, which helps. The path up to the ruin itself is steep and that is the limiting factor — the grounds and the river below are gentler and worth the visit on their own if the climb is not realistic.
£5 all-day parking and forestry tracks, which are firmer and more even than open moor. The main forest roads are the passable ones; the smaller paths are rough. After rain everything softens. It is the best bet on the moor for anything with wheels, with the emphasis on best rather than good.
The Plume of Feathers has books and board games and a huge cider range, closed Mondays. The London Inn is dog friendly with good value burgers. Both are in the town rather than out on the moor, which is the practical point.
Treat the town, the castle grounds and Bellever as the day, and the high moor as the view rather than the walk. That is not a disappointing day — the northern moor seen from the town edge is as dramatic as anywhere in southern England.
See the full Okehampton guide, filtered by who's with you.
Plan your day near Okehampton →