Where to find the boxes

Now it would be too easy if I gave you the exact location of every box on Dartmoor so that you can walk straght there and get the stamp, and it's missing the point!!

The Vixen tor area, a fertile box hunting ground, but the area immediately around the tor is currently off limits.

I am going to give some useful pointers on where to look though!

Now with over 21,000 contained within the 365 square miles of the National park, it works out that there should be 57 or so in every square mile. Should be easy, however in some of the remote places there will be very few, and the majority will be concentrated in areas with features such as a Tor or an old mine.

Where not to look

There will not be any boxes in an Archaelogical site. However there probably will be one nearby to every site, (I say probably to cover for the fact that some sites are so undistinguished that there may not be a box there!). However it may not be close by, for example the one at Statts house is 150 metres away!

A Hut in grimspound, definitely none here!

If there are Animals nests, sets or dens there definitely will not be any very close. It is a code of practisethat wildlife does not get disturbed by the pastime

Private property is out of bounds, and as such there will be no boxes there, (unless they're stolen!) so it is not a good idea to go looking in locals gardens or knocking on people's doors, and you have to respect the privacy of the people who live on the moor

There will also not be any boxes in places that are dangerous to get to, so don't go risking injury or worse climing up any rockfaces with the thought that there may be one in the crack half way up!

Where to Look

The Moor

There are two letter boxes marked on the Ordinance Survey Map, and these should be the easiest to find. they are at Cranmere Pool and Ducks Pool, and are both in permanent structures specially built for the box. These are the only two like this, all the rest will be in nooks and crannies. However as finding these boxes may be easy, getting to them isn't as they are both in remote areas, Cranmere is on North Dartmoor, with Ducks Pool in South Dartmoor. It will take several hours of walking to get to either one, over ground that can be very tough.

Finding the others will be not as straight forward, although getting to them will be a lot easier! There will be quite a few very close to moorland car parks, you just have to find them, and they are not going to be stuck right next to the car park with a flag marking the spot!

Around any of the major tors there will be at least half a dozen, some of the more popular such as Sheepstor the number will be in double figures! So you stand more chance of getting a feel for it in these places

Sheepstor, a good place to start.

Pubs and Buildings

These are now listed on the site. This is because they are all looked after by the owner, and are not as prone to Vandalism or Theft as the others. I have listed the Majority of them, but there are still some which you have to find, and I'm sure that the box will be just a small part of someone's visit to one of the pubs!

They are also a good starting point for any visitor to get a few tips from the locals!

Click on the button to Go to the listings page

Other Tips

Ask people you see walking, odds on they are doing a similar thing, and tips passed between walkers is how it got started

Or online try visiting one of the homepages of people who go letterboxing, I know some of them have given details of where to find some of the boxes they have placed or found!

Obtain the Dartmoor Letter box Catalogue from:-

Mr Tony Moore
25 Sanderspool Cross
South Brent
Devon
TQ10 9LR

And bear in mind that the catalogue does not give you all of the Answers, you still have to do a great deal of sometimes fruitless searching.

Please contact me with any relevant information about letterboxes, ie any new ones discovered, unsual boxes, or boxes that you have placed and want people to know about