Holne Woods Loop

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Anticlockwise route shown in Blue, starting near Holne
Name:
Holne Woods Loop
No. of Caches: 20
Length: 5.5 miles
CO: Dartmoor Dave
Cache Types: A large variety of caches with several big enough for swag, etc., plus several novelty caches.  The majority are fairly simple with hints where necessary.
Bonus Cache: There are only 6 items of bonus information to be collected, all of which are repeated in a second cache.
Terrain: The terrain varies enormously throughout the trail, but follows good paths, tracks and a road for almost its entire length.  The first part of the trail is a very easy path down to the River Dart and then a fairly easy path following the Dart.  However, on leaving the Dart, there is a very steep hill to climb on a difficult path to reach the route of the Bench Tor Loop (shown in red).  The terrain is then fairly easy until after HWL13 where more bracken has grown during the summer, but once again waypoints are given in the cache descriptions.  After HWL15 there is an easy path down to Michelcombe and a seldom used road back to your starting point.
Parking: A lay-by is available off the road north of Holne, or in the village itself.
Description:  Half of the route is down to and through Holne Woods and must be one of the most beautiful woodland walks anywhere on Dartmoor taking you alongside the River Dart.  This stretch of the river is favoured by wild swimmers and a short diversion further up the river to the Sharrah Pool cache is strongly recommended.  The second half of the walk is mainly across open moorland, but ends up with a slight uphill road section.
Link to First Cache: GC70FMX

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