The highlight of my visit to Hound Tor was spying a lizard. The first lizard I have ever seen wild in the UK! The tor itself is very grand. Its a popular venue for rock climbing. I didn’t do much climbing as I was wearing unsuitable shoes and am not very good with heights. However even climbing up a tiny bit, the vista’s across Dartmoor on a clear day are stunning. Though the sun was shining there was a slight haze, possibly due to the volcanic ash from Iceland? Its definitely worth going on a clear day though as the views are immense. There are no bins around and I was disappointed to see some litter on the ground. If you bring a picnic, be prepared to bring your debris away with you. There is a mobile food van situated there, ‘The Hound of the Basket Meals’. I had an ice cream, a nice scoop of cornish ice-cream and a wafer. It was tasty although not super special. Rumour has it the believed the Tor gave Conan-Doyle the inspiration for The Hound of the Baskervilles which explains the bad punned name for the food van. The deserted medieval village is situated about a quarter of a mile to the south-east of the tor, you can see the ruined settlements from the ground but I recommend climbing up to get a clearer picture below you where the settlements are more evident.
