Wild camping in the UK laws [complete overview]

Wondering whether or not wild camping in the UK is legal? In this article, I will give you an in-depth answer and talk about wild camping laws in the UK. I will cover all of the National Parks in the UK. I will discuss the legality of things, but I will also talk about where wild camping is tolerated and under what conditions (even if it’s strictly not legal). Wild camping in the UK is rather complicated, in certain National Parks it’s technically illegal to wild camp, but at the same time it’s encouraged by the National Park Authority. However, there are other National Parks where they will strictly enforce the wild camping laws.

Please note that this is a hiking wild camping guide (information does not necessarily apply for RV’s).

 

Wild camping in the UK: overview

Let’s start with a very quick overview. Wild camping in the UK is not legal everywhere. That said, it will be tolerated most of the time as long as you stick to some general rules. I will cover these rules later in this article (see “Wild camping etiquette”). If you can manage to live by these rules I would not advise against wild camping in the UK.

Legally, you are required to get the landowner’s permission. In reality, this rarely happens, and the landowner will rarely care about that.

Also, when I’m talking about wild camping, I’m referring to staying one night in a certain place with a small tent. So don’t bring a family tent and stay on the same spot for multiple days, there is no real toleration for that.

• Wild camping is legal in Scotland.
• Wild camping is illegal in England with exception of Dartmoor National Park.
• Wild camping is illegal in Wales.
• Wild camping is illegal in Northern Ireland.

That’s the quickest answer on the question “Where is wild camping legal in the UK?”.

BUT… That’s obviously not all of it.

Throughout the United Kingdom there are multiple national parks. Similar as in France, certain of these National Parks have their own rules. In some of these parks it’s actually allowed to go wild camping. Dartmoor, Devon is probably the best known National Park where wild camping is completely legal (in certain spots).

Keep reading if you want to learn about where it’s actually legal/tolerated to camp and what to do if you can’t legally wild camp.

 

Wild camping in Scotland

As I mentioned before, wild camping in Scotland is legal. At least, it’s legal on most unenclosed land.

You might want to familiarize yourself with the Scottish outdoor access code before you start your journey.

Scotland only has 2 official National Parks. These parks are great for wild camping. However, there are plenty of alternatives in Scotland: Isle of Skye, the Outer Hebrides, Sutherland, etc.

 

Wild camping in Cairngorms National Park

Wild camping is legal, but wild fires are not allowed.

You can find more information about camping in Cairngorms by clicking this link.

 

Wild camping in Loh Lomond & The Trossachs National Park

Wild camping is legal, just make sure to check the byelaws.

You can find more information on the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park website.

 

Wild camping in England

England has 10 National Parks. Dartmoor is the only National Park where it’s officially legal. However, there are plenty of National Parks where you can go wild camping without getting into any trouble as long as you stay discreet and leave no trace. The Lake District authority even encourages you to go wild camping here (it’s called a tradition), even tho it’s strictly speaking not legal. That said, there are a couple of National Parks in England where I would recommend against wild camping.

 

Wild camping in Broads National Park

Wild camping in the Broads is illegal. Wild camping in the broads does not seem to be very popular.

The hikers/kayakers who have wild camped here, did not get into real trouble. Still I would probably recommend another National Park for wild camping.

If you are looking for a legal campsite in the broads, just click this link.

 

Wild camping in Dartmoor National Park

This National Park is almost famous because wild camping in Dartmoor is legal. What a lot of hikers forget however, is that it’s not legal to camp everywhere in the park.

You are not allowed to camp within 100m from the road and there are certain areas where camping is also not allowed. They have indicated these areas with a Dartmoor camping map.

They do have some bylaws which you must respect.

There are plenty of amazing camping spots in Dartmoor: Peppercombe Beach,  Bellever, Otter Vale, Ugborough Moor, etc.

you might want to check the firing times before leaving to Dartmoor (the army still does some training there).

For more information you can consult the official Dartmoor National Park website.

 

Wild camping in Exmoor National Park

Wild camping in Exmoor is illegal. That said, it’s mostly tolerated as long as you only stay one night and stay discreet.

Some spots where you could consider wild camping are:

• the higher moor
• valley between robbers bridge and Alrdermans barrow are
• Badgeworthy wate

For more information you can consult the official Exmoor National Park website.

 

Wild camping in New Forest National Park

Wild camping in New Forest National Park is illegal. It also seems that wild camping is not tolerated. The rangers of New Forests are known for enforcing the wild camping law. Therefore, New Forest is one of the few National Parks where I would advise against wild camping.

That said, there are multiple camping sites where you can stay for the night, you can check it out here.

For more information, you can check out the official New Forest National Park website.

 

Wild camping in Lake District National Park

Lake District is England’s largest National Park. Wild camping in Lake District National Park is almost legal. Okay, if I am 100% correct I should say that it’s illegal to wild camp in lake district.

But this comes directly from the official Lake District National Park website:

Wild camping in the Lake District is certainly an experience you don’t want to miss, head out in the real wilderness of the National Park and explore the truly undiscovered areas of beauty! Pitch your tent and relax amongst the sights and sounds of nature with a Lake District wild camping experience to remember about wild camping. Check out our handy guidelines to wild camping etiquette in the Lakes.

And this is what they have to say about the legal aspect:

Camping away from an organised campsite is called wild camping. Legally wherever you camp you must have the permission of a landowner to camp on their land, though there is a tradition of wild camping in the Lake District.

Which is basically a guarantee that you will not encounter any problems with the authorities while wild camping in Lake District. The only thing is that theoretically, the land owner could force you to leave (but this will not happen if you respect the rules).

There is a clear wild camping etiquette that you have to follow, it’s the same as usual: leave no trace, light no fires, stay only one night, etc.

 

Wild camping in Northumberland National Park

Wild camping in Northumberland is illegal. However, Northumberland is pretty big and there are plenty of spots where nobody would find you. As long as you use common sense, I would not advise against wild camping in Northumberland. You can find plenty of resources online on wild camping in Northumberland.

If you would like to stay in a local accommodation, I would recommend checking out this link.

For more information you can consult the official Northumberland National Park website.

 

Wild camping in North York Moors National Park

Wild camping in the North York Moors is illegal, but mostly tolerated. If you stay discreet, there should be no reason that you would get in trouble.

If you are interested in the alternatives to wild camping, you can check out this page.

For more information, you can check out the North York Moors National Park website

 

Wild camping in Peak District National Park

Wild camping in Peak District is illegal.

On their official website they state the following:

There is no provision under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act for camping on open access land. If you wish to wild camp in the Peak District National Park you must first obtain permission from the landowner before camping otherwise you will be committing a trespass.

We do not allow wild camping on any land that we own.

But after some more research, it turns out that the rangers (at least some of the rangers) in Peak District do not strictly enforce these laws. However, they will intervene if you are not respectful. I would still advise to do some research before wild camping in Peak District. If you pick a spot that is easy to find, you might still get chased away.

For more information: Peak District National Park.

 

Wild camping in South Downs National Park

Wild camping in the South Downs is illegal. Also, the South Downs aren’t really that “wild”. You would probably have some trouble to find a good camping spot that is remote and out of sight.

Unless you have a spot that you know of (and is good for wild camping), I would advise against wild camping in the South Downs.

More information can be found here: South Downs National Park.

 

Wild camping in Yorkshire Dales National Park

Wild camping in Yorkshire Dales is illegal. Wild camping is definitely not encouraged here, but as long as you stay discreet, you should not run into any problems.

If you are looking for campsites in the Yorkshire Dales, these can be found here.

For more information: Yorkshire Dales National Park.

 

Wild camping in Wales

Wales counts 3 National Parks. Wild camping is illegal in all of these National parks. However, the same as usual applies. As long as you stay discreet and have respect for your surroundings, you should be fine. Especially Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia are popular for wild camping.

 

Wild camping in Brecon Beacons National Park

Wild camping in Brecon Beacons is illegal. However, a lot of people have been wild camping there and they never ran into any trouble as long as they stay discreet and leave no trace. I would not advise against wild camping in Brecon Beacons.

There are plenty of very nice wild camping spots in this area: Mynydd Llangynidr, The Black Mountains, Pen y Fan, etc.

If you would rather stay at a campsite, you can find all the campsites in Brecon Beacons by clicking this link.

 

Wild camping in Snowdonia National Park

Wild camping in Snowdonia is illegal, but mostly tolerated. Snowdonia is pretty popular amongst wild campers and they barely get into trouble as long as they respect the rules.

On their website they stated the following:

Wild camping can be a rewarding experience, bringing people closer to their natural environment.

They do explain that it’s strictly not legal without permission of the land owner. However, the fact that they put a statement like this on their website is an indication that there is a great deal of toleration. Just make sure to respect the rules and avoid designated research areas.

You should also be aware that some areas may have other sensitive designations such as Special Sites of Scientific Interest or Special Areas of Conservation to protect natural features such as its geology and wildlife habitats such as ancient woodlands, nesting birds and a host of other protected species.

For more information: Snowdonia National Park.

 

Wild camping in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Wild camping in Pembrokeshire Coast is illegal, but mostly tolerated as long as you find a hidden spot and stay discreet.

Be careful not to camp on military terrain, always double-check!

If you are looking for accommodation, you should check out this page.

For more information, take a look at the official Pembrokeshire Coast National Park website.

 

Wild camping in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland does not have any National Parks. However, there are controversial moves to establish one in the Mourne Mountains.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that wild camping in Northern Ireland is illegal. However, as usual, as long as you leave no trace and stay out of sight you should be able to get away with it.

Just make sure to pick the right spots, if you can do that, I would not advise against wild camping in Northern Ireland.

I even found a map with some recommended wild camping spots in Ireland & Northern Ireland.

 

Wild camping etiquette

Let’s take a look at the wild camping etiquette. I have been talking a lot about how you will probably not run into any trouble while wild camping as long as you stay discreet and leave no trace. But what exactly do I mean with “stay discreet” and “leave no trace”.

 

Stay discreet

If you stay discreet while wild camping, nobody should even notice that you are there. If a ranger can spot you, you probably weren’t discreet enough. Even if you do get “caught”, chances are high that a ranger will not bother you when they notice that you are being discreet and respectful.

The first thing you want to do is pick a good camping spot. A good camping spot should be well out of sight and in a remote area (definitely not close to a road). If you can spot your tent when standing on a road, your spot is not discreet enough.

Not making a lot of noise in the middle of the night will also help with staying out of trouble. Especially avoid music in the late hours. Not only will it potentially attract a ranger, it will also make the ranger less tolerant.

Keep your camping spot clean. Even if you intend to clean up everything the next morning, it’s advisable to always maintain a clean campsite. If somebody does discover you, they will be more tolerant if you maintain a clean campsite. Also, if there is a storm or heavy wind during the night, you might not be able to clean up everything the next morning.

Another pretty big thing is avoid open fires. I know, open fires are a big part of wild camping, but it’s always best to completely avoid them. If you are still going to make a fire make sure to do it safe. Make a rock circle around your fire and keep it small. Also, make sure that nobody can see the light of the fire while standing on a road. Note that you should really not make campfires during certain dry periods (check the websites of National Parks for more information about fires and dry periods). Making a fire during these periods might get you in serious trouble.

Set up camp late in the evening and leave early in the morning. In France, most of the National Parks even have time restrictions. In the UK, there seems to be no legal time restrictions, but it’s still part of the code that you only stay one night, pitch your tent late and leave early. The wild camping toleration only counts for camping during the night.

Don’t go wild camping close to a legal campsite. One of the reasons why there is toleration for wild camping, is because there aren’t always a lot of alternatives when you are in a remote area. However, if you are close to a campsite, you might as well pitch your tent there. People might assume that you just want to avoid paying a small fee for the night. In this case, there is a lot less toleration.

 

Leave no trace

The leave no trace principle is pretty straightforward. You want to leave your campsite exactly the way you found it.

Don’t leave any garbage behind (obviously), but also don’t damage nature, don’t disturb wildlife, minimize the impact of campfires, etc.

In short, it comes down to these 7 principles:

• plan ahead and prepare,
• travel and camp on durable surfaces,
• dispose of waste properly,
• leave what you find,
• minimize campfire impacts,
• respect wildlife,
• be considerate of other visitors.

For more information about these principles I would suggest this article: Leave No Trace Principles.

 

Conclusion

Wild camping in the UK might not be legally allowed (with the exception of Dartmoor & Scotland), but it’s mostly tolerated. Simply make sure to use common sense and respect the wild camping etiquette. Also, there are a couple of National Parks to avoid in England when it comes to wild camping. Except for that, don’t let the legal constrictions hold you back.

I would probably recommend Dartmoor, Lake District, Snowdonia and Isle of Skye for hiking trips where you will be wild camping. However, this is clearly personal preference.

Note that most of the wild camping laws are not meant to target hikers who only stay for the night and respect nature. They are meant to target people who would stay multiple nights in the same location and harm nature/wildlife around them. The modest single night stay is also known under the word “bivouac”. In a lot of countries, a bivouac is tolerated, where wild camping for multiple nights is not. Still, strictly legal speaking, a bivouac is still not allowed in the UK.

My last piece of advice would be: simply use common sense and maybe do some area specific research before you start your wild camping trip.

If you are interested in a wild camping legal rules for all other countries in Europe, feel free to check out my other article:  Wild camping in Europe: Legal overview.

Make sure that you are well prepared for your wild camping trick.

Proper camping and hiking gear are a must.

Probably the most important items are hiking shoes and a lightweight tent.