By: Blonde Two

Unless I am very much mistaken Devon is one of only two counties in England with two national parks to its name. Yorkshire has the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors but we have Dartmoor and Exmoor (well we have to share Exmoor with Somerset but we are generous like that).

This means those of us who live in Devon are very, very lucky people. Exmoor and Dartmoor are very different but both absolute heaven to explore on foot. I started to write a piece about these differences but it got very lengthy, so I have decided instead to play a little game of Devon National Park Top Trumps. If you haven’t ever played Top Trumps… well its all about points really, and quite easy to understand.

 

Dartmoor National Park

Size – 956 square kilometres

National Park Status – 1951

Highest Point – High Willhayes 621 metres

Named River – The River Dart 75 kilometres

Human Occupation – Neolithic

Coastline – 0

Sea Views – Distant on a good day

Geology – Granite

Blanket bogs – Yes!

Ponies – Dartmoor Hill Ponies (brown with dark tail, mane and legs)

 

Exmoor National Park

Size – 693 square kilometres

National Park Status – 1954

Highest Point – Dunkery Beacon 519 metres

Named River – The River Exe 56 kilometres

Human Occupation – Mesolithic

Coastline – 55 kilometres

Sea Views – Spectacular on a good day

Geology – Sedimentary

Blanket bogs – Yes!

Ponies – Exmoor Pony (lighter brown than Dartmoor Hill Ponies with a lighter underside)

 

All the words above, of course, don’t reflect the experiences, smells, sights and sounds that you experience when walking through either of these amazing National Parks. The only way to do that is to… wait for it… Get Outside. Like I said earlier, I am very lucky to have both of them near enough to explore!