Anyone Know A Good Place To Wild Camp In A Forest?

Q. My friends and I (4 people in total) decided for a change we would like to wild camp for a couple of days in a forest and I would like to know if anyone has any idea of a good place (that breaks no laws) in England?

Geoff Sproston, London

A. Hi I have done lots of wild camping in Kielder Forest. I hasten to add though, that the Forestry Commission has set aside no less than 17 Backpackers sites in Kielder for that very purpose. They are not a 'site' in the traditional sense, simply a grid reference near a water source (needs purifying), where you are allowed to pitch a couple of tents. For details of where all these 'sites' are, contact:

Kielder Forest District Office
Forest Enterprise
Eals Burn
Bellingham
Hexham
Northumberland
NE48 2AJ
Tel: 01434 220242

For a couple of pounds, they will send you a booklet with all the sites in.

Hope this helps,

Chrissie Crowther, Hayfield

A. I Went camping at Grizedale campsite n Aurther was great ( the farmer) but then when we went again it was full so we were stuck, then as we are on motorcycles we just had a look arround and found a perfect spot as we only wanted to stay one night we just went for it in the Grizdale forest cumbria, it was great, we have been spoilt you see because we do alot of wild camping in scotland but its a bit far for one night, so a campsite with a million rules stinks, so now we go on the look out for places in the uk nr home or 100mls is about the limit for one night, this one was great lots of wood and very quiet, its no good telling you just were abouts you need to go n look, n you will find, . louise n Rem.

Louise Wolstenholme, Bolton

A. Wild Camping and The Law in England, Scotland and Wales.

Tents cannot be pitched just anywhere because every piece of Britain is owned by some individual or some organisation and according to the strict letter of the law permission must be obtained prior to pitching tent and camping.

In practice however, this is often impractical and wild camping is usually tolerated in the more remote areas - typically, more than half a day's walk from an official campsite or other accommodation providing you:

Keep groups small
Camp as unobtrusively as possible
Leave camp as you found it
Remove all litter (even other people's)
Carry out everything you carried in
Carry out tampons and sanitary towels (burying them doesn't work as animals dig them up again)
Choose a dry pitch rather than digging drainage ditches around a tent or moving boulders
Toilet duties should be performed 30m (100ft) from water and the results buried using a trowel
At all time, help preserve the environment
And if you are in any doubt about what you're doing, find out more

In Scotland, the current access legislation (which came into effect in early 2005) is explicit about your right to wild camp on hill land. However, there are exceptions. Since March 2011 you are not permitted to wild camp between Dryman and Rowardennan on the shore of Loch Lomond. See Loch Lomond Wild Camping Ban for more information.

There appears to be an exception to this with respect to camping in Dartmoor National Park where the right to wild camping is actually enshrined in the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act, 1949 amendment Dartmoor Commons Act, 1985 - see Wild Camping in the UK for more details.

For the definitive answer with respect to wild camping in Scotland see the answer supplied by the Scottish Natural Heritage

For a few (tongue in cheek) tips on wild camping see Some Wild Camping Tips.

NB. go4awalk.com cannot offer any advice on suitable locations for wild camping - but click here for walks from exisiting campsites.

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

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