Malmsmead is a hamlet on the Devon–Somerset border where Badgworthy Water joins Oare Water before becoming the East Lyn River. The old stone bridge and the ford next to it have been photographed by every visitor since Lorna Doone established the area as a literary destination in the 1880s.
From Malmsmead, a track follows Badgworthy Water south into Doone Country — the remote valley that Blackmore used as the Doone outlaws' stronghold. The valley is genuinely wild: no roads, no buildings, just moorland and rushing water. It takes about an hour to walk to the remains of the medieval settlement that served as Blackmore's model for the Doone hamlet.