Short answer: It is about a thirty-minute walk in from the nearest parking, over rough open moor with no marked path. Access is to the edge of the wood only — you are asked not to walk through it, because the moss and lichen it is famous for are fragile.
A fragment of temperate rainforest on the side of a Dartmoor valley: stunted oaks growing straight out of granite boulders, every surface covered in moss and lichen. There are very few places like it left in England, which is both why people want to see it and why it needs protecting.
Roughly thirty minutes from the nearest parking, across open moor. There is no marked path and the ground is rough, uneven and wet underfoot for most of the year. It is not a long walk but it is not a stroll either, and it is the part people underestimate.
You are asked to look from the edge rather than walk through the wood. The moss and lichen that make it remarkable are exactly what gets destroyed by feet, and the wood is small enough that visitor numbers matter. This is not a rule that spoils the visit — the character of the place reads perfectly well from the outside.
Winter and early spring, if you want the atmosphere it is famous for: bare branches, mist in the valley, moss at its greenest. Summer is busier and the wood is in leaf, which hides the shape of it. Early morning on any day beats the middle of the afternoon.
Anyone unsteady underfoot, small children who will need carrying, or anyone in a wheelchair or with a buggy — there is no accessible route and the ground defeats wheels completely. Becky Falls, with three graded trails, is the alternative that gives you woodland without the rough crossing.
See the full Chagford guide, filtered by who's with you.
Plan your day near Chagford →