Visitors to Dartmoor are being urged to ensure they know how to use a map and compass and that they wear appropriate clothing for the time of year after a volunteer search and rescue team was called to help find a group of people that got lost at the weekend.

Eleven Dartmoor Search and Rescue volunteers from Ashburton took part in the operation on Sunday afternoon (Sunday January 25) after three people were reported to be lost in the vicinity of Eastern White Barrow, above Shipley Bridge on Dartmoor.

The team quickly mobilised with one 4x4 rescue vehicle sent towards the Zeal tramway track and two 4x4 vehicles headed towards the Puffin Billy track.

Phone contact with the lost party meant the search and rescue team could provide advice on the best route to descend. After some initial confusion, the group picked up the Zeal tramway track and followed it until they met the Search and Rescue 4x4. They were then given a lift to Shipley Bridge and the search and rescue volunteers were stood down at 4.30pm.

‘This callout serves as a reminder of the importance of knowing how to use a map and compass and what clothing and equipment is appropriate for Dartmoor in January,’ a spokesperson from Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton said.

In less than four weeks of 2026, the Ashburton-based Dartmoor Search and Rescue team has already been called out five times. The highly trained volunteers are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week. Dartmoor Search and Rescue is a registered charity, which relies on donations to operate. The team responds to a wide range of incidents including missing person enquiries, steep ground rescue, swiftwater rescues and flooding.