If you’ve seen the cost of flights recently, then like us you may be thinking you’re better off staying at home this summer. What’s wrong with a bit of old-fashioned camping, hey? From John O’Groats to Land’s End, this country is crammed with jaw-dropping countryside – ideal for a bit of wild camping in the UK.
Unfortunately, if you want to get back to nature, you can’t just pitch up a tent and squeeze into a sleeping bag in the wilderness anywhere you like. There are different rules to wild camping depending on where you are in the UK. But hopefully, we can help you fulfil your dream of sleeping under the stars this summer, safely and legally.
Where can I go wild camping in England and Wales?
If you want to go camping anywhere in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, then you need the landowner’s permission. Right to Roam is a campaign to open the UK to more wild camping, but as things stand, there is only one place in England where you don’t need permission and that’s Dartmoor. You just have to follow some simple rules:
- Check this interactive map beforehand for where to camp without needing prior approval from the landowner
- Bring only what you can carry in a backpack – which means no large tents
- Stay only for one or two nights and out of sight from roads or settlements
- Don’t light open fires or BBQs, take all litter home and avoid disturbing wildlife
You do technically need permission if you’re visiting the Lake District, however, the National Park Authority does say it is normally tolerated if you follow certain guidelines – including, leaving no litter, staying for only one night and keeping groups very small. You can read all guidelines here.
Meanwhile, there’s nowhere you can go wild camping in Wales or Northern Ireland, but we’ve heard that Brecon Beacons Visitor Centres carry a secret list of landowners in the area that will happily host wild campers. It isn’t online, so you’ll just have to pluck up the courage to go ask for it in person!
The only place we haven’t mentioned yet is Scotland – where the wild camping rules are very different.
Where can I camp in Scotland?
The Land Reform Act (2003) gives everyone in Scotland a public right to access all land “for recreational and other purposes”. This means you can go wild camping almost anywhere – from the Cairngorms to Glasgow – as long as you do so responsibly. The only exceptions are private residential property, public property (like schools), visit attractions (like golf courses), working sites (like quarries), military bases or fields with crops. Just look out for ‘no camping’ signs.
There are lots of guides for the best ‘wild camping practices’ in Scotland, but they generally follow similar rules to the ones you now know: Camp in small numbers, don’t stay for too long in the same location and take away your litter. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs is one of the country’s most popular wild camping locations – with camping now slightly restricted in some parts of the park between March and September to protect the lochshores. We recommend reading more about that here.
How do I start wild camping?
You’ll find endless tips and guides online, but the recently launched CampWild’s Wild Trails help simplify the planning process. Taking inspiration from the established hiking trails of North America, these multi-day, self-guided hiking trails traverse remote locations and incorporate wild camping in some of the UK’s most remote spots – including a 12,000-acre Scottish Highland estate in Perthshire. To learn more head here.