Dartmoor: Ugborough Beacon Rocks and Creber's Rock

Ugborough Beacon Rocks

Ever since visiting the Harford Moor area of the South Moor I have wanted to go back! It does not take long to travel there for a start, and secondly there are still a fair few tors and rocks here to bag! One thing for it, a trip to the south for an arduous ascent up to Ugborough Beacon on a hot day, turning cooler later.

Surprisingly or not, all websites direct visitors to the beacon to Harford Moor Gate car park. This is a substantial car park but requires a longer walk to the summit. A shorter route is to park at the 3 space roadside at SX 6773 5929. Although the roads are narrow, this is a simple route through a gate to begin the ascent, as we did.

The bracken was well above 6 feet in places now, and so grateful to be on a wide track all the way to the Beacon Rocks, where the views of Brent Hill with South Brent below and Three Barrows opened up, in addition to Rippon Tor, on the east moor. Once reaching the large granite outcrops I searched for the beacon summit. According to many, the outcrops are not Ugborough Beacon, for that is actually 50 metres to the south-west. 

Beacon Rocks appear to refer to the outcrops but the area has many other names; Eastern Beacon which is a disputed location in the vicinity and according to Ken Ringwood, East Pigedon Tor! How curious, now on to the photos of the sunny day!

Ugborough Beacon Rocks	Ugborough Beacon Rocks
Ruined rock basins, Ugborough Beacon Rocks	Ugborough Beacon Rocks
Ugborough Beacon Rocks	The ruined tor at the summit with a cairn around it

As you can see from my photos there was a lot of poo around, which was not pleasant. What's more was the lack of animals here in the first place! They must've moved on. After lingering and enjoying the views for a while, I led the search for Creber's Rock, also known as Claret Tor. This small granite outcrop has an interesting backstory; William Crossing suggested the two names refer to separate outcrops, but Eric Hemery confirms they are the same. Check out this LINK for a more detailed look on this tor. 

But firstly, for the Dogs, we made for a small stream by a ford that starts the ascent to Butterdon Hill and the diminutive Black Tor (Butterdon). Done already, I looked out for this rock. I found it, perched just above the aforementioned stream. It is best approached from this direction, as from above it could prove a tripping hazard! 

Creber's Rock has a distinctive shape of a slanted overhang with some clear-cut rock at the top, with little shade. The views to the south are fine and I would like to think that this is a place to come for some peace and quiet, thus why I love it! Time for lunch.

Creber's Rock	Creber's Rock
Creber's Rock	Creber's Rock
Creber's Rock	Creber's Rock

Rotated 90 degrees for your benefit :-)

A simple walk back to the car contouring the intimidating hill that is Ugborough Beacon, easily visible from the dual carriageway. I enjoy delving deeper into these tors on these short walks, where the time is spent appreciating the landscape rather than mile crunching, something I should consider letting off for a while in this heat!

If you do this walk beware, as the signs indicate, of the Wrangaton Golf Course on the moor, the last thing you'd want is to be hit by a gold ball. Be vigilant and enjoy it.