Forest bathing at Bellever Forest

Bellever Forest is a Forestry England plantation near Postbridge, right in the middle of Dartmoor. It is a place where forest and open moor meet: tracks lead out to Bellever Tor, Dartmoor ponies graze the rides, and the East Dart River runs along the edge. Among the trees are stone cists, burial cairns, stone rows and more than 30 hut circles, signs of a sizeable Bronze Age population, and you pass old conifers along the way.

Start from the Forestry England car park at Bellever or the National Park car park at Postbridge. The Bellever Trail is about 4km on mostly surfaced tracks with gentle slopes; the Miles Without Stiles loop around Lakehead Hill is mostly gravel, with some rough grass halfway round. The riverside is the gentlest place to sit. The plantation gives some shelter, but this is high moor, so bring layers.