The East Devon Way is a spectacular 40-mile regional route that journeys through the heart of the East Devon National Landscape’s historic villages and rolling countryside. Most of the paths are managed by Devon County Council since they follow rights of way and the route is promoted by the East Devon National Landscape.
The East Devon Way is also supported by a network of circular walks and link routes connecting local towns and villages to the main path.
To ensure the trails remain an enjoyable experience, we recently conducted a thorough audit of the entire main route, as well as its complementary circular and link paths. This highlighted several areas for improvement, and our team is working to implement some upgrades to their navigation and promotion.
If you are planning to explore the East Devon Way soon, you may spot new waymarkers or notice changes to the route. Please read our latest progress updates below to help you plan your journey.
Major Changes to the East Devon Way Regional Route
Section: Exmouth to/from Woodbury Castle
To improve safety and walker enjoyment, we are rerouting this section away from busy roads. The new route heads east along Exmouth main beach area and follows the South West Coast Path along the coast before heading north across Dalditch and East Budleigh Commons. This change offers a much more peaceful and scenic start (or finish) to your journey.
- Latest Progress (End of May 2026): Our team has successfully installed the new East Devon Way trail markers across two-thirds of this new section. We have temporarily run out of physical markers, but as soon as the next delivery arrives, we will be back out to complete the final third.
- Advice for Walkers: Until the new signage is fully complete, this section may be slightly confusing. For now, we strongly recommend following the original route currently promoted on our website, which still has full, unbroken waymarking in place. Once the new signage is completely installed, we will remove the old markers and upload the new route instructions and GPX files to our website. Please note that Ordnance Survey (OS) maps will take some time to reflect these changes during their standard review cycles, but we are working to get this updated as quickly as possible.
Section: Musbury Castle
Rather than skirting around the base of Musbury Castle, the East Devon Way now takes walkers directly over the top of the hill. This adjustment offers incredible, panoramic views of the Axe Valley on a path that is better maintained and far more rewarding.
- Latest Progress (End of May 2026): This exciting reroute is now fully complete and waymarked on the ground. All old signage has been successfully removed. We will be updating the main route instructions and gpx files as soon as we can.
- Advice for walkers: Follow the way marking in situ for now.
New 4-Stage Route Structure
To make trip planning seamless, we are restructuring trail into four distinct stages. Each stage has been carefully designed to start and finish in or as close to established local settlements as possible. By anchoring the stages in these communities, it will be significantly easier for walkers to coordinate public transport links, arrange overnight accommodation, and access local amenities along the way.
- Latest Progress (End of May 2026): The brand-new route instructions and GPX files for these four stages are currently being developed. We are working hard to finalise these materials and hope to have the updated guidance live on our website by August 2026 at the latest. For now you can still follow the 6 stages promoted.
New Link Path from Honiton
Following our recent audit, we identified a great opportunity to better connect major gateway towns and public transport hubs—particularly the rail network—to the National Landscape. In response, we designed a brand-new link route connecting Honiton directly to the East Devon Way.
- Latest Progress (End of May 2026): We installed the physical signage for this new route over the winter. Unfortunately, subsequent exceptionally heavy rainfall severely impacted the path, making it entirely unnavigable. As a safety precaution, Devon County Council has temporarily closed a section of this route. We are collaborating closely with them to repair the physical path and reopen it as soon as possible. Reopening timescales are yet to be confirmed, so please avoid this link route for the time being.
Reviewing Circular and Link Route Directions & Accessibility
There is nothing more frustrating than setting out on a walk only to find that the route descriptions or accessibility details are out of date. We want you to step out with confidence, so we are currently auditing, reviewing, and updating the information for all 25 complementary circular and link routes.
- Latest Progress (End of May 2026): We have successfully reviewed and created brand-new GPX files and instructional leaflets for all circular routes, which are now live on our website. Work is well underway on the remaining link routes.
- Advice for Walkers: Enjoy the up to date circular route information. For the link routes, you may notice new or old waymarking on the ground whilst we are updating them. In particular, you may still encounter waymarking on the ground for the Honiton link (as noted above) and the following routes which have no presence on the current website until reviewed.
- Woodbury Castle to Exmouth via Exton
- Beer to the East Devon Way
- Branscombe to the East Devon Way
- Newton Poppleford to the East Devon Way
- Colyton Tramway to the East Devon Way
Thank you for your patience while we work to make the East Devon Way better than ever.