Dunkery Hill

The walk up Dunkery Hill is properly steep, and on a grey Somerset day it feels like you're climbing into the clouds themselves. At 1,704 feet it's the highest point on Exmoor, which doesn't sound like much until you're halfway up and your legs are screaming. The reward is a view that stretches across three counties on a clear day - the Bristol Channel, the Welsh hills, and on a good afternoon you can make out the Quantocks. There's an old cairn at the summit where people have piled stones for centuries, and it's the sort of spot where you want to sit for twenty minutes longer than you probably should.

Walkers absolutely get the most from this. The climb takes about forty minutes from the car park at Dunkery Gate, and you'll see proper hikers coming down covered in mud and grinning like fools. Families with young kids might find it a slog - it's not a casual stroll - but teenagers who can manage the gradient will find something genuine here, away from the usual tourist trail. The ground is boggy in places after rain, so proper boots matter more than you'd think.

It's free, naturally, and you can spend as long as you like up there. If you're camping at Minehead Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite or staying at Butlins Minehead, this makes for an excellent morning mission before heading back for lunch. It works well as part of a wider Exmoor ramble - the moorland around it rolls on for miles and you can link it to other walks without doubling back.