A rocky granite outcrop on a hilltop

What is letterboxing?

Hunting for hidden boxes with stamps

What are clapper bridges?

Bridges of large flat stone slabs

Dartmoor Quiz: Granite Tors, Ponies and Moorland Legends

This Dartmoor quiz crosses the windswept moorland of Devon in southwest England. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on how granite tors form, Haytor and Hound Tor, Dartmoor ponies, the 1951 national park, Dartmoor Prison built for French prisoners in 1809, The Hound of the Baskervilles, letterboxing, Bronze Age stone rows, clapper bridges and wild camping.

Start Dartmoor Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

County
Which county is Dartmoor in?
Tor
What is a tor?
Haytor
Which tor is one of the most visited?
Ponies
Which animals roam freely on the moor?
Park
When did Dartmoor become a national park?
Prison
Who were the first prisoners at Dartmoor Prison in 1809?
Novel
Which Sherlock Holmes story is set on Dartmoor?
Letterbox
What is letterboxing?
Bridges
What are clapper bridges?
Camping
What is unusual about camping on Dartmoor?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which county is Dartmoor in?
Answer: Devon
It is in southwest England.
Q2: What is a tor?
Answer: A rocky granite outcrop on a hilltop
Weathering left them standing.
Q3: Which tor is one of the most visited?
Answer: Haytor
It is near the park's east edge.
Q4: Which animals roam freely on the moor?
Answer: Dartmoor ponies
They are owned by local farmers.
Q5: When did Dartmoor become a national park?
Answer: 1951
It was among Britain's first.
Q6: Who were the first prisoners at Dartmoor Prison in 1809?
Answer: French prisoners of war
American sailors followed.
Q7: Which Sherlock Holmes story is set on Dartmoor?
Answer: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle published it in 1902.
Q8: What is letterboxing?
Answer: Hunting for hidden boxes with stamps
It began on Dartmoor in 1854.
Q9: What are clapper bridges?
Answer: Bridges of large flat stone slabs
Postbridge has a famous one.
Q10: What is unusual about camping on Dartmoor?
Answer: Wild camping is allowed in permitted areas
It is rare in England.

Life and Legend on Devon's Wild Upland

Dartmoor is a wild upland in Devon, protected as a national park since 1951. Its hilltops are crowned with tors, granite outcrops left standing after softer rock weathered away. Haytor and Hound Tor are among the most visited, and Dartmoor ponies, owned by local farmers, roam freely.

People have lived on the moor for thousands of years, leaving Bronze Age stone rows, hut circles and clapper bridges made of huge stone slabs, like the one at Postbridge. Dartmoor Prison in Princetown was built in 1809 for French prisoners of war and later held American sailors.

Legends of ghostly hounds inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. Walkers enjoy letterboxing, a hunt for hidden boxes with rubber stamps that began on the moor in 1854. Dartmoor is also one of the few places in England where wild camping is allowed in permitted areas.

What This Quiz Teaches

Outdoor fans will enjoy these questions.

How tors form
Which animals roam the moor
What history it holds
Which stories it inspired
Which activities are popular

Did You Know?

Mist can roll in quickly, so walkers carry maps.
Military ranges on the north moor close on firing days.
Many rivers rise on Dartmoor.
Wistman's Wood is an ancient oak woodland.
Peat bogs cover parts of the high moor.