Doe Tor Falls

Doe Tor Falls is a small waterfall on the Doetor Brook, in the valley between Doe Tor and Brat Tor. It has been noticed by walkers for well over a century. In his Guide to Dartmoor (1914) William Crossing describes it as “a most charming cascade, hidden away in a narrow rift”.

• Where: on the Doetor Brook, between Doe Tor and Brat Tor, above its meeting with the River Lyd. The position given here is an educated guess from a walk on 16 October 2026
• What: a small cascade in a narrow rift in the brook
• Written sources: William Crossing, Guide to Dartmoor (1914) and Gems in a Granite Setting (1905)

In Crossing's words

Walking down the brook, Crossing notes Doe Tor, “a small pile which presents nothing remarkable”, a little to one side, and soon after that the falls, with Brat Tor and its fine cross above on the other. In his route notes for the walk from the ford on the Lyd below Brat Tor he says to cross the stream and go up the common with the Doetor Brook on the right, “noticing the falls”. In Gems in a Granite Setting (1905) he praises the view at “the bend above the falls on the Doe Tor Brook, where rock-piles rise on each side of the combe”.

Getting there

The brook is reached from the Lyd by the ford and stepping stones below Brat Tor, close to Wheal Mary Emma, and followed upstream past Doe Tor Farm. The path crosses the brook at the Doetor Brook Footbridge. Nearby, the Doetor Quarry is marked on the old map beside the farm track.

This is open moorland: the ground is rough and wet near the brook, the rift is steep-sided. This area is outside the military firing ranges, but ranges lie nearby on the moor, so check the firing times before you go further.