Bossington Beach seen from the Toll Road just before Minehead

The West Country Way

Plymouth to Minehead | 125 miles | 6/10 difficulty | 2.5 days

About this route

I first saw this route on Bikepacking.com and have been planning to do it for a while so I had been watching the August weather forecast for a dry spell, ideally with a bit of sun. Eventually, 1st September was looking good so off I went knowing the Dartmoor section really well but after that, apart from the expectations of steeper hills on Exmoor, the rest was into the unknown!

But I was confident it was more gravel than an MTB route, although only time in the saddle would tell.

The plan

As I live close to the start in Plymouth I’d decided to make the route a return loop back home so in total I was away for 4 days and cycled 195 miles but this review is only the 120ish miles to Minehead.

You can see full details of my route details on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/5790629

• Day One: Plymouth to Drewsteignton 50 miles.
• Day Two: Drewsteignton to Exford 50 miles.
• Day Three: Exford to Minehead 20 miles.

I’d planned my route to fit in with distances that were relatively easy for me to achieve with plenty of time for cafe stops and Instagram pics plus nice campsites that I could review as I can wild camp on Dartmoor any time I want. I haven’t included any additional miles to campsites or hotels.

All the pubs, cafes, campsites etc. are listed at the end of the review.

Day One: Plymouth to Drewsteignton

I was up early to ride to the start (9 miles) which is on Plymouth Hoe, where Sir Francis Drake played bowls whilst he waited for the Spanish Armada! After a bit of “taking in the moment”, at around 07:30 I was ready to get going.

The first 10 miles or so are on nice flat old railway lines before getting onto the Princetown track which is nice fast (and still flat) gravel. After a cafe stop, it’s then onto a gnarly old track that takes you over open moorland to Hexworthy followed by a bit of road before crossing open moorland again into the forests. First Bellever, then Soussons before getting back into some hilly sections and an easy ascent followed by a tough descent down to Challacombe Cross. It’s then road all the way to Chagford, a decent size town with shops, pubs, cafes etc. BUT I found out that getting food between 14:00–18:00 is nigh on impossible across the entire route so plan accordingly!

With not much to do (or eat) in Chagford, I managed to find a number for the pub in Drewsteignton and found out that not only were they open again, but they were serving food!

The pub being open was the opposite of what I’d been told, but the absolute best track on the entire route was also right at the end of my first day; Hunter’s Track.

Exposed, smooth, fast, rideable and amazing views.

The Hoe, Plymouth (left pic)

The Judge’s Chair…..

Chagford Cream Tea

Drewsteignton Arms!

Day Two: Drewsteignton to Exford

Not only was the pub serving food in the evening, but they were also happy to make me breakfast so I was happy to ride the extra 2 miles back up to the pub to give me a full stomach to start the day with.

The route between Dartmoor and Exmoor is mainly road so I wasn’t expecting a particularly hard day but OMG, those damn hills!! Even on the tarmac, the little lanes were tough going and some of the original gravel/rock tracks for the route were SHIT. They were so bad I have taken them out as they were at best Type 2 fun and whilst I wasn’t too bothered, I’d be embarrassed to publish this route and leave them in. There are still some that are not exactly great, so be warned, but trust me when I tell you the worst really have been removed.

The first little village I came to at about 9 miles is North Tawton complete with cafe and shops so I stopped for a coffee before attempting my first bit of off-road on the Tarka Trail. And then I was back on roads again and quickly at the Eggsford Crossing Cafe, well worth stopping at as the food is great (they stop serving breakfast at 12:30) plus there’s very little beyond the shop in Chumleigh which is the next village along. As you get closer to Exford you get back onto some gnarly tracks and open moorland so don’t get too complacent when you get close, there’s a (slightly) reduced sting in the tail at the end of the day.

But as days go, it was a good day apart from the constant headwind so hence I was glad to get to Exford and celebrate with food and beer.

Day Three: Exford to Minehead

As I was doing a return journey I was on freeze-dried porridge for breakfast and wanted to leave early, well before anyone would be serving me breakfast, plus the sun was threatening to show its face so I wanted to be on the beach by lunchtime.

I have ridden and run on Exmoor before so I was wary of what lie ahead, and I wasn’t “disappointed”. First off, everything out of Exford is UP. Second, Exmoor hills are far sharper than Dartmoor hills and third, Exmoor gravel is much bigger chunks of rock. Whilst the route started off steep but nice and gravelly, it quickly became very rocky and very hard to descend at any speed, having to carefully pick my line whilst my brakes started to squeal and overheat.

After a long hard morning around Dunkery, assuming you’re still alive, you arrive at Allerford and cross a lovely little stone bridge to head up a nice bridleway with a final sharp ascent to arrive at Periwinkle Tea Rooms, a little cluster of yellow thatched roof National Trust houses. Well worth taking a break here as the track continues to go up through the forest, and up yet again to Selworthy Beacon for some amazing views before going down, down, down fast bridleways all the way to Minehead for some well-earned fish, chips and beer.

Summary

My published version of this ride is a gravel bike ride but a hardtail MTB would be OK. There is a lot of road between Dartmoor and Exmoor with some steep inclines which are well-suited to a gravel bike but, some of the Exmoor off-road tracks, even with the Type 2 fun options removed, are still at the more extreme end of gravel. I’d highly rate this route as there are many options to break it up into daily distances that suit any rider with plenty of pubs, cafes, shops and campsites along the way to minimise how much food and water you need to carry.

I waited for a dry weather window but pick a few wet and windy days, and it would be a very different experience!

Pubs, cafes and campsites

I stayed at the Three Hares campsite in Drewseignton and Westermill Farm in Exford. Both are flat, clean and friendly with nice hot showers although both are about 2 miles from the pubs I ate at.

I stopped at cafes in Princetown, Chagford, North Tawton, Eggsford and Allerford. There were plenty more along the route but most are time-dependent i.e. after 2pm it varies considerably.

I drank beer and ate evening meals at The Drewe Arms and the Crown Inn.

The GPX files

I’ve made these a Google Drive link available to anyone. This will open a text file, top right there is a download link to allow you to save it to your computer. I’ve added my 3-day version as I did it but they can of course be edited as needed. The total mileage is a bit shorter than my actual ride as I have put some detours in place.

[embed]Day One Plymouth to Drewsteington.GPX Edit descriptiondrive.google.com

[embed]Day Two Drewseignton to Exford.GPX Edit descriptiondrive.google.com

[embed]Day Three Exford to Minehead.GPX Edit descriptiondrive.google.com

*Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead GPS devices will all accept a GPX file without it being converted to a different file format.*