Fingle Bridge woods makes a lovely walk with a great pub for lunch or a snack. It’s about 19 miles from the eco lodges and combines well with Castle Drogo. In fact, the National Trust’s Castle Drogo land goes all the way to Fingle Bridge, and meets up with Woodland Trust land. It’s now under joint management.
This is a good choice if you want an easy going walk – if you turn left over the bridge there are a couple of miles of track with a good surface. This path is suitable for buggies and disability scooters too – though it does flood sometimes in winter. Fingle Woods is also good if you want a fairly low key place to mountain bike, or just take the kids for a bit of an explore. If you’re more active and want more of a leg stretch you can do a circuit up to Castle Drogo (turn right over the bridge). Your dogs will be welcome on National Trust land too, and there’s a broad and placid (well in summer anyway) stretch of the river where dogs and people may well find the water itself enticing.
When you’ve had enough, come back to the pub or eat your picnic by the river.
Fingle Bridge is about 19 miles from the eco lodges and it’s about a 40 minute drive. It combines well with a visit to Castle Drogo or the Stone Lane Gardens summer sculpture exhibition. You head south to North Tawton, take the road to Whiddon Down, then start off on the Mortonhampstead road, turn off for Drewsteignton, and follow the signs when you get to Drewsteignton itself. The trickiest bit is the narrow lanes as you approach Fingle Bridge. Many people park on the verge or in the pub’s car parking spaces just before you reach the bridge, but there is also National Trust parking over the bridge itself. There are loos in the car park, and of course in the pub.
Extra Access: The pub has ramped access through a function room, and a disabled access loo. They’ve been known to charge a mobility scooter too.
