There is plenty to see and do in Okehampton before starting on the walk. The Museum of Dartmoor Life has exhibits that reveal the fascinating relationship between the moor and those who made their home there in days gone by.
From the museum, it is just a short stroll to Town Mills on the edge of the town. Formerly a grist and woollen mill, it was still working in the 1950s, but is now private houses. However, the old mill wheel still turns, driven by a leat from the East Okement River.
From the mill to the halfway point of the walk, the route never strays far from the little river, whose voice grows louder and more exuberant at each upstream stretch. Mixed woodland cloaks the valley sides, and in August the green is startlingly punctuated by the scarlet berries of rowan, or mountain ash.
Squirrels abound here, and nuthatches betray their presence by hammering on nuts wedged in tree bark, while furtive jays utter their harsh curses from a safe distance.
The imposing stone viaduct at Fatherford has carried a railway for over a century. It is still used, but only to transport stone from a nearby quarry. Beyond the viaduct, the river and landscape become noticeably wilder as the path enters the upper valley of the East Okement River. While in the lowest stretches there was a variety of trees, now there are only widely spaced, moss-covered oaks. Great slabs of rock erupt along the valley side.
The river is at its most splendid here, running fast and shallow, and noisy with gushing water. The climb out of the wood reveals a brief taste of the delicious panorama to come as a path opens to cross the bracken-covered slopes towards Lower Halstock Farm.
A made-up track presents you with a long, gentle ascent to the highest point of the walk. From this open shoulder of the moorland edge on the rim of East Hill, the views to the left, right, and ahead are limited only by the light. It is worth the short detour to access the hilltop and touch the trig point to gain the best of the panoramic view on offer. This includes a great view northwards to Okehampton and its varied rooftops.
The return route is downhill all the way. Beyond the bridges over the A30 and the railway, the keep of Okehampton Castle peeks over the trees, as yet giving no sign that it was part of Devon's largest castle.
The Norman castle was begun by Baldwin de Brionne, but most of it dates from a reconstruction in the early 1300s. In 1538, Henry VIII had the owner, Lord Exeter, beheaded and partly dismantled his castle.
Close to the castle, the route crosses the West Okement River on its way to the East Okement River and returns to the centre of the town.
