The moor is where Devon's rivers begin. Rain that falls on the high blanket bog gathers into a web of brooks and rivers that spill off Dartmoor in every direction. This map traces the whole network, from the great rivers like the Dart and the Teign down to the smallest named brook, alongside the reservoirs and moorland pools.
Open the full-screen rivers map →
Dartmoor's rivers
Where they rise
Most of Devon's best known rivers are born on the moor. The East Dart and West Dart meet at Dartmeet to form the Dart; the Teign, the Taw, the Tavy, the Okement, the Bovey, the Avon, the Walkham and the Meavy all begin in the peat of the high moor and carve the valleys walkers follow down off the hills.
Brooks, streams and moorland pools
Between the rivers runs a dense lacework of brooks with names as old as the moor itself, from the Blacklane Brook to the Wallabrook, along with pools like Crazywell and Sandy Hole, and the reservoirs at Fernworthy, Burrator and Avon Dam that gather the moor's water for the towns below.
How to use this map
Follow the water
Switch the rivers and waterways layer on and trace a river from its source to the moor's edge, or find the brook that runs through a valley you are planning to walk. Every named river and brook also has its own page on Our Dartmoor, with a description, photographs and a grid reference.
Rivers and safety
Dartmoor's rivers rise fast and run cold, and after heavy rain a shallow crossing can become dangerous within minutes. Combine this map with the river health map for storm overflows, and never rely on a river crossing when the moor is in spate. See the full Our Dartmoor map →
River and waterway data © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence (ODbL). Our Dartmoor is a community project built with the help of AI.
