The Highest Point In Cornwall: Brown Willy
This walk take you across the open land of
Bodmin Moor and takes in the 2 highest points in Cornwall, Rough Tor
(pronounced "row" (as in cow) "ter") and Brown Willy. The
summit of Brown
Willy is 420 metres above sea level and the walk is fairly
straightforward with the pathways easy to find. However you
should
watch the weather forecast as in foggy conditions, as with all moorland
areas, it can be easy to get disorientated. The route is about 4
miles or so. At at reasonable pace you can do it in a couple of
hours, but a more leisurely pace with children and/or a picnic on
the top may
take 3-4 hours. 
To find the start of the walk turn left from the campsite entrance and drive South along the main A 39 (the Atlantic Highway) heading for Camelford. After about 10 miles, and before you get to Camelford, look for a brown tourism sign to Crowdy reservoir off to the left. Take this turning which brings you to an old abandoned airfield and shortly a turning to the right signed for Crowdy Reservoir. Follow this road through the woods, past the resevoir on the left and a council depot to a cross roads. Turn left here and follow the road to a National Trust (free) car park at the end, Rough Tor will be a head of you all the way down this road.
From the car park walk down the
track to a gate and cross the small clapper bridge. To the right
of the bridge in an adjoining field there is a memorial stone.
This was erected in the memory of Charlotte Dymond who was murdered on
14th April 1844.The land around Rough Tor is National Trust property and you can pretty much choose your own route to the top of Rough Tor - there are 2 or 3 pathways clearly visible. The main route goes more or less straight on from the bridge to the saddle on the hill in front of you
.From the saddle you bear right and follow the pathway along to the the top of Rough Tor , passing the rocky out crops of Little Rough Tor and Logan Rock. Alternatively if you bear slightly right after the bridge you can follow a second, almost as well worn path which heads directly (and ultimately more steeply) towards the rocky summit of Rough Tor - the final stages of this route do involve a little scrambling over rocks (great fun for the kids).
This whole area is rich in signs of ancient settlements and the Time Team from TV conducted a dig here.
Either way from the top you will have a view of Brown Willy across the valley.
From Rough Tor either follow the path back along the ridge to the main path which sweeps down the hill bearing right, or find your own way down to meet up with the path further down the hillside. There are a number of indistinct pathways leading down from Rough Tor but beware the boggy area in the middle of the hillside between you and your goal! The pathway down heads to a gate beside the stream which marks the boundary of the National Trust land.
From here to the summit of Brown Willy you must stay on the path and keep your dogs on a lead, the land is private property and access to Brown Willy is only allowed via the permissive path. The route is fairly easy going but with a fairly steep last section up to the summit cairn.
The view from the top is great, Tintagel can be seen on the coast to the North and Fowey to the South. The large lake to the West was until recently a working china clay works which at it's peak produced 50,000 tons of clay slurry a year.
The route back to the car park is a simple case or retracing your steps along the main pathway. Somewhere on the hillside before you is the Fenacre stone circle comprised of 56 megaliths, although I couldn't claim to have picked it out.
At the top of the hill leading back you can take a short diversion to Showery Tor off to the right.
As always when walking take extra care when finding your own way across open land, make sure that you have enough time to complete the walk before dark and take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints.
