Home Forums Bike Forum So this camp wild site

  • This topic has 23 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 2 weeks ago by fossy.
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  • So this camp wild site
  • 1
    Lummox
    Full Member

    Saw a mention of this website which is interesting

    Basically you pay a £20 annual subscription which lets you access the details of landowners happy to ‘rent’ you their wild space at 10-20 for a night to wild camp in.

    Currently I use pitch up to find a cheapo basic site near where I’m looking to ride but these usually have a mixture of visitors and isn’t exactly ‘wild’. I’m wondering if this is a brilliant idea or just air bnb for woods?

    Not a huge amount down south in Hampshire where I am but the surrounding counties have a few.

    5
    DrP
    Full Member

     happy to ‘rent’ you their wild space at 10-20 for a night to wild camp in.

    WTAF!!!

    It’s gone mad! twenty quid to sleep by a hedge and shite by a tree!!

    I love wild camping..like heck I’d pay to do it!

    DrP

    1
    fossy
    Full Member

    There is a “site” that lists all the pub fields you can camp in for free, so long as you eat or drink in there. We were bike packing last week and stayed on a pub’s field for free. We managed a few drinks, but no food as we arrived quite late. Landlord was fine with that.

    We just googled camping near our ‘destination point’.

    1
    Yak
    Full Member

    Hmm dunno. Wild camping has already been monetised in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs at £4.50 per tent per night for some peak areas in peak months. £10-20 seems a big step above that.

    montgomery
    Free Member

    LDNP was thinking of squeezing the last few quid they could out of the tourists a couple of years ago by allowing people to book and pay for wild camping spots in the fells, but even they didn’t have the brass neck to actually go through with it.

    goldfish24
    Full Member

    Sounds similar to a site I’ve used:

    https://www.greenercamping.org/

    this was to gain access to a particular camp site we wanted. £12 for the year on top of the pitch fees. Quite happy with the deal and the low-key semi-wild camping vibe with running water and a compost loo was just right for us.

    4
    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    It’s all part of the monetisation of ‘wild’ for the Instagram generation IMO.

    We’re finding that ‘eco’ or ‘wild’ or ‘off-grid’ or ‘natural’ on any campsite description = overpriced and an excuse for poor/cheap/non-existent facilities.

    Yak
    Full Member

    But that (greenercamping.org) is a campsite directory. Facilities etc.

    1
    goldfish24
    Full Member

    Correct, as I say, “low-key semi-wild”. But you’re right, perhaps not relevant to the OP.

    Yak
    Full Member

    Well, I suppose it is similar. The OP’s website is a directory of campsites with no facilities.

    3
    RustyNissanPrairie
    Full Member

    their wild space at 10-20 for a night to wild camp in.

    I’ve just done a car camping tent tour of Skye / West Coast including a few campsites that were on the NC500 route.

    The most expensive site was £19 but the rest were ~£12. As a result I didn’t have to shit in a lay-by and annoy the locals.

    3
    DrP
    Full Member

    As a result I didn’t have to shit in a lay-by and annoy the locals.

    But…tell me you did anyway :D

    DrP

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    The most expensive site was £19 but the rest were ~£12. As a result I didn’t have to shit in a lay-by and annoy the locals.

    Good point. We’ve found most campsites are under £30 with a bit of looking around.
    Any charging more because of bar, entertainment, kids play areas etc aren’t really the sites for us anyway.

    3
    Lummox
    Full Member

    lol, some great replies.

    The interest for me is that I get few opportunities to get out and do something like this that the thought of being turfed off in the early hours etc I’d quite off putting. Round here you have so many farmed or busy areas that doggers/walkers/farmers etc etc all add to the risk of discovery. Also with the SDW being a cycle bikepacking motorway the locals are aware of the spots.

    It does stick in the throat a bit that you pay the same and a subscription to camp with no facilities but the prospect of having it all to yourself sort of offsets that. I dunno, very on the fence and wish I had the time to get to Scotland/dartmoor etc.

    1
    andylc
    Free Member

    Just make sure you don’t get mixed up with the doggers otherwise it may well stick in the throat a bit…

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    Fair point @Lummox. I am fortunate to have chosen Scotland as my home, and that I can head to very rural places with ease…

    Yak
    Full Member

    Fair enough Lummox. I got turfed off by a farmer before, well it’s more he drove his tractor close to us so we woke up, but we took the hint.

    Probably worth the effort to get down to Dartmoor though. Easy on public transport too with rail stations at north and south edges.

    1
    andylc
    Free Member

    Dartmoor wild camping is awesome. But beware the local foxes are very wise to it and will steal anything they can get hold of. Keep everything secure and inside a groundsheet if you want to still have it in the morning!

    zerocool
    Full Member

    I’m so glad I live near Dartmoor where wild camping is allowed (at the moment). For £20 a night you could probably camp somewhere with a toilet and shower

    fossy
    Full Member

    On the KAW, we paid £25 for 3 at a site with a shower and loo. Zero at a pub field (only a toilet), and £45 for 3 near Butser Hill, but we had private per pitch shower/loo/changing area, which was nice after two days riding and no shower.

    I’d rather pay than hiss off some locals TBH. The site we stay at often, has fairly basic facilities but it’s just £19 a night for two (showers/loo/hot pot wash).

    Britstops.com is the site I’ve seen for listing farm shops/pubs where you can camp for free.

    Lummox
    Full Member

    Not heard of the britstops site, thanks for the suggestion

    ditch_jockey
    Full Member

    Wild camping has already been monetised in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs at £4.50 per tent per night for some peak areas in peak months.

    The informal camping spots the park charges for aren’t really ‘wild’ camping, and quite a few of them come with at least basic facilities. Lots of places you can wild camp for free, as long as you’re happy to walk/bike to get there.

    1
    squirrelking
    Free Member

    The informal camping spots the park charges for aren’t really ‘wild’ camping, and quite a few of them come with at least basic facilities. Lots of places you can wild camp for free, as long as you’re happy to walk/bike to get there.

    100m from the shoreline is it not?

    fossy
    Full Member

    Plenty of campsites do have a back packer/bike packer policy and will fit you in. Only really getting into camping this year, usually in the car with loads of shizzle, but done my first bike packing this last week. Probably moving to getting a people carrier van, to carry bikes etc in the vehicle, but also be able to convert for a night here or there in the vehicle – don’t want a camper as won’t have space for bikes/paddle boards, but a shower/loo is nice (we take a porta potty camping for nights).

    Must say, the pub we were at were perfectly happy for us to pitch up in the large beer garden – there was no-one there, was a Sunday evening, very few locals in, so they got say £50 of beer sales between the 3 of us (three rounds) (bar closed early unfortunately) that they wouldn’t have had.

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