Buy the OS Route Map and instructions for this route

This month’s central Exmoor Killer forms a solid 25-miler cornered by the quaint thatched villages and babbling river splashes that the National Park is so famous for. Kicking off with a beast of a climb towards Winsford Hill, it’s onto exposed moorland intersecting a maze of gorse. Watch out for the ponies. Crossing the B3223 with care (you’ll experience some hair-raising local driving skills) a scoot around the field edging contours through Great Bradley soon carries you to Withypool.
Stock up here on beverages or trail revitalisation as it’s a lonely leg west via Cow Castle to the next civilisation at Simonsbath. That said, if the knock calls early, you’re never actually far from a minor road shortcut anywhere during the ride, despite how cut-off the landscape can feel. From Simonsbath it’s a tough moorland leg to round up the circuit. If you’re feeling adventurous it’s easy enough to extend things east from Almsworthy Common and conquer Dunkery Beacon’s 519m summit. However, the Killer splits south from here, eventually making good use of the river Exe’s meanders, as it does earlier to Simonsbath, completing the Killer at Winsford, and a well-earned oner in the thatched surroundings of the Oak.