20 Attractions to Explore Near Burrator Reservoir

The Garden House is an exceptional garden on the fringes of Dartmoor in Devon. It's funded entirely by the work of a small charity; 'The Fortescue Garden Trust'. Packed with plants and colors for all seasons, it is well worth visiting most of the year. The tower in the walled garden offers magnificent views of the landscape. There is a new Arboretum which has great displays of colors in the Autumn.

Dartmoor Prison Museum reflects the heritage of HMP Dartmoor from Prisoner of War Depot to the present day. The museum attracts more than 35,000 visitors every year from all over the world. Some of the artifacts and documents on display will surprise you but will certainly enable you to form an opinion about prison life.

Buckland Abbey was built in the thirteenth century as a Cistercian monastery. It retained its function until the mid-sixteenth century, when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries. The last Drake descendant to live there was Captain Richard Owen-Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick (1892–1948) who sold the Abbey in 1948, after it had been gutted by fire in 1938.

Wistman's Wood is an ancient forest that has largely been left to grow wild, free of destruction, or shaping by humans or large animals. This National Nature Reserve of 170ha mainly consists of a model example of the upland heathland and has a wealth of moorland birds. Wistman’s Wood is in the Dart river valley and has views of wild Devon that you won’t find anywhere else in the country.

Dartmoor Zoo is a beautiful 30-acre zoo just north of the village of Sparkwell. It was opened in 1968 by Ellis Daw who ran it until its licence was revoked and it was forced to close in 2006. It has over 70 different animal species, including some endangered and critically endangered species. The zoo has a breeding program with common marmosets, tapir, slender-tailed meerkats, Kafue lechwe, and wallaby.

A historic copper port has been restored as an outdoor museum of industrial heritage. See a miner's cottage, waterwheel, assay laboratory, smithy, cooperage, lime kilns and other buildings that create a fascinating experience of the history of the area. This small mine has many features characteristic of the other mines found throughout the Tamar Valley, but here you can actually journey underground and experience something of the working conditions of the miners during the 19th century.

Dartmoor National Park is a vast moorland in the county of Devon. Covering 368 sq miles, this vast national park feels like it’s tumbled straight out of a Tolkien tome, with its honey-colored heaths, moss-smothered boulders, tinkling streams, and eerie granite hills. One of the iconic attractions in this area and gives a new experience in the middle of nature.

The National Trust's Cotehele, Cornwall, is a Tudor house with superb collections, garden, quay and estate. The house was probably founded around 1300 and various alterations were made in the early fifteenth century. It includes a mill, 15 century chapel and Cotehele Quay. They receive around 100,000 visitors a year to its Barn Restaurant and Edgcumbe Arms Tearoom.

The National Trust's Lydford Gorge, Devon, is the deepest gorge in the South West and has a spectacular 30m waterfall. The waterfall trail is a moderate circular walk of about an hour on a mostly one-way route. The gorge is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geology, flora and fauna.

The River Lyd rises at Lyd Head by Corn Ridge to the north of Woodcock Hill. It's a flat, boggy landmass that's relatively difficult to walk across. There are the remains of extensive peat works to the southeast of Lyd Head including the evocatively named Bleak House.

Buckfast Abbey is a modern Benedictine monastery in a peaceful setting on the verge of Dartmoor. . The monastery was surrendered for dissolution in 1539, with the monastic buildings stripped and left as ruins, before being finally demolished. The former abbey site was used as a quarry, and later became home to a Gothic mansion house.

Fernworthy is a great place to Discover the Dartmoor Story. It has an abundance of archaeology and is a haven for wildlife including some rare species. One of the beautiful reservoirs which is home to many water species and also the location is naturally beautiful for a picnic.

Pennywell Farm is packed full of animals, activities, shows and displays. It’s the biggest activity farm in the South West and there’s something new happening every hour. It is a centre for the breeding of miniature pigs, a variant of the New Zealand kune kune breed.

A beautiful country park that covers over 860 acres, stretching from Millbrook Lake around the Rame Head and Whitsand Bay, and taking in the villages of Cawsand and Kingsand. It was the principal seat of the Edgcumbe family since Tudor times, many of whom served as MP before Richard Edgcumbe was raised to the peerage as Baron Edgcumbe in 1742. Exploring out into the landscaped park, there are a number of woodland and coastal walks giving marvelous views and access to unusual follies and the chan

The SDR is a seven mile former Great Western Railway branch line, built in 1872, which runs along the stunning valley of the River Dart between Buckfastleigh and Totnes. It is the longest established steam railway in the south west, celebrating over 50 years in preservation. The railway's headquarters and museum are located at Buckfastleigh railway station.

Buckfast butterfly farm with Dartmoor otter sanctuary is a wildlife centre in Buckfastleigh, Devon. It is an all-weather attraction run by a family who care for several types of otters. The butterfly farm is in a giant hot and humid greenhouse. There are usually a vast number of butterflies fluttering around. There are also several terrapins, Iguanas and Koi Karp. They also have an ant exhibit where you can see thousands of ants hard at work.

Mount Edgcumbe House is the former home of the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe. Set in Grade I Cornish Gardens within 865 acres Country Park on the Rame Peninsula, South East Cornwall. It was the ancestral home of the Edgcumbes for over four hundred years and its collections encapsulate the story of this fascinating English aristocratic family. The early gardens, developed around the house, were in an early formal style popular at the time. These were later superseded by the classical style of layout po

High Willhays is the highest point on Dartmoor and in the UK south of the Brecon Beacons. Climb to the highest point on Dartmoor on this splendid circular walk in the Dartmoor National Park. The walk starts at the car park at Meldon Reservoir and takes you to the 621 metres (2,039 ft) summit via Longstone Hill and Black Tor.

It is a heavily weathered granite outcrop. It consists of two separate rock masses which lie on a north-westerly alignment. The highest point of the tor is on the south-westerly pile which stands at 1,358ft. The site is administered by Dartmoor National Park Authority for English Heritage as it includes the ruins of a medieval village, alongside prehistoric works of stone construction nearby.

Situated on the southeastern edge of Dartmoor, Haytor has spectacular views across Dartmoor and the South Devon coast and offers good opportunities for you to experience Dartmoor’s fascinating past and the stunning wildlife and heritage within a short walk of the National Park Visitor Centre. One of the nice trekking destinations and also you can spend a nice time here.