Wild camping means sleeping in a tent away from a campsite: on a hillside, by a loch or on open moor, with no toilets, no taps and nobody to pay. It is one of the best nights out there is, and it is also the kind of camping where the rules matter most, because they are different in each of the four nations of the UK. This guide sets out what the official bodies say for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, how to find and ask a landowner, how to leave no trace, and what sort of tent suits it.
Rules and seasons change, so check the official page for the place you are going before you set off. Each section names the body that publishes the rules.
What wild camping means, and how it differs from a campsite
On a campsite somebody owns the field, gives you a pitch, and provides water, toilets and a bin. Wild camping has none of that. You carry everything in, including a way to treat water, and everything out, including your rubbish and, in some places, your toilet waste. You choose the pitch yourself and are responsible for the land you sleep on.
What it usually looks like
The official codes describe the same kind of camping again and again, whichever nation they cover:
- Lightweight. A small tent carried on your back as part of a walk, not a family tent unloaded from a car.
- Small numbers. One or two tents, not a group with a gazebo.
- Short stays. One night, or two or three in Scotland, and then you move on.
- Out of the way. Away from houses, roads, farm animals and crops.
- No trace. Nothing left behind, no fire scar, no flattened patch that lasts.
What it is not
Sleeping in a car, van or motorhome in a lay-by is not wild camping as these codes mean it, and several rule it out in so many words. Nor is a big tent beside the car in a beauty spot car park, or a party in a field.
The guide to backpacking and trekking tents covers choosing a pitch and cooking safely away from the tent.
Scotland: the right of access, and the camping permit zones
Scotland is the one part of the UK with a general right to camp on most open land, as long as you do it responsibly.
Where the right comes from
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives everyone a right to be on land for recreation and a right to cross land. The Act sets out the land where those rights do not apply. That includes houses, other buildings and enough of the land round a house to give the people living there privacy, and land where crops have been sown or are growing. It also says the rights do not cover being on land in or with a motor vehicle.
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, made under the Act, explains what responsible use means. On camping, it says most land in Scotland is open to camping if you act responsibly. The camping it describes is lightweight, in small numbers, and for no more than two or three nights in one place.
What the Access Code asks of you
- Camp well away from buildings and roads, and have a second spot in mind in case the first is busy.
- Avoid enclosed fields of crops or fields with farm animals in them.
- Do not light open fires when the fire risk is high, or near forests, farmland, peat, buildings or historic sites. If you cook, use a stove on a level surface that will not burn, and keep watch on it.
- Leave deadwood where it lies.
- Take all your belongings and litter away with you, and leave no sign you were there.
The Code also says access rights do not include motor vehicles: if you drive to the start, park in a car park and respect any parking restrictions.
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs: the camping management zones
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park has byelaws that set up Camping Management Zones, covering less than 4% of the park, mostly round the busiest loch shores. The park names four: West Loch Lomond, East Loch Lomond, Trossachs West and Trossachs North. From March to September, camping inside a zone is only allowed on a campsite or with a camping permit, which you book with the park for a permit area. The park's own pages say permits are for up to three nights in one area, and that from October to February the byelaws do not apply. Outside the zones, the Access Code applies as it does elsewhere in Scotland.
The park says that not keeping to the byelaws can lead to a report to the Procurator Fiscal and a fine of up to £500, and that collecting or burning wood inside a zone is an offence. The zones, the dates and the permit price can change, so check the park's own page before you go.
England: the landowner's permission, and Dartmoor
In England the starting point is the opposite of Scotland's. There is no general right to wild camp, and you need the landowner's permission, with one important exception on Dartmoor.
Access land and the Countryside Code
England has a right to roam on open access land, mapped moor, heath, down and mountain, under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. But the Act lists camping, and lighting fires, among the things that right does not cover. The government's guide to the right to roam says the same, and the Countryside Code lists camping among the activities that may need the landowner's permission. So you can walk where the access map allows, but to pitch a tent overnight you need the say-so of whoever owns the land.
The Lake District
The Lake District National Park puts it plainly: wild camping there is technically not permitted without prior permission from the landowner, and landowners or their representatives have the legal right to tell you to pack up and move on. It adds that wild camping is normally tolerated if you camp high on the fells above the highest fell wall, well away from towns, villages and lake shores, arrive late, leave early, stay one night, keep to one or two tents and light no fires. Tolerated is not the same as allowed, so if you are asked to move, move. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time.
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is the one place in England where the public has a right to wild camp. The Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 gives the public a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for open-air recreation. In Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20, decided on 21 May 2025, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that this right includes wild camping on the Dartmoor commons.
That is not a right to camp anywhere on Dartmoor. Dartmoor National Park Authority says backpack camping is allowed only in certain areas, shown on its camping map, and its byelaws list the areas where it is not. Its Backpack Camping Code asks you to:
- carry your own kit in as part of a walk, and stay one or two nights at most;
- use a small tent and keep groups small, no more than six people, with no large tents;
- pitch out of sight of roads and buildings;
- light no open fires or barbecues;
- bury toilet waste and paper under at least 15cm of turf, and take all litter home.
The Authority also says there are no overnight stays in vehicles, campervans or motorhomes, that extra care is needed in the ground-nesting bird season, which it gives as 1 March to 31 July, and that part of the camping map lies in the military training area, open to the public except when the ranges are being used for live firing. The map, the byelaws and the firing times can all change, so check the park's own page before you go.
Wales: permission first
Wales follows the same rule as England: wild camping needs the landowner's permission before you pitch.
Natural Resources Wales, in its version of the Countryside Code, lists camping among the activities that may need the landowner's permission. Its Wales Coast Path site says wild camping is not allowed in England and Wales unless you have the landowner's permission before you put your tent up, and that if you do get permission you should leave no trace of your visit.
Eryri (Snowdonia)
Eryri National Park says wild camping is not permitted anywhere in the park without prior permission from the landowner or farmer, and that the park itself owns little land, so it cannot give permission for land it does not own. On unfenced upland access land, it says, wild camping is not a permitted activity unless permission has been granted. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time. Where you do have permission, its Wild Camping Code asks you to stay one night only, camp with one or two tents and no groups, light no fires and use no disposable barbecues, and leave no trace that you have camped.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has no right to wild camp like Scotland's. WalkNI, the walking site run by Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland, says that unless you have the express permission of the landowner to be on their land, you are breaking the law, and that not knowing the rules will not always help you if a landowner takes it further.
A lot of the best walking country is in public forests. nidirect, the government's information site, says that to camp outside a designated area in a public forest you must get permission from the Forest Service, and that fires, stoves and barbecues may only be lit in areas the Forest Service has set aside, unless it has given permission. There are designated camping sites in several forest parks.
Asking permission: who owns the land, and how to ask
Asking is usually the easiest part of the trip, and a landowner who says yes will often point you to the best spot.
Finding out who owns it
- Ask locally. The farm nearest the land, the pub or shop in the village, or a neighbouring landowner usually knows who owns a field or a hillside. HM Land Registry's own advice for tracing an owner includes asking neighbours and adjoining landowners.
- Search the register. In England and Wales, HM Land Registry's online service on GOV.UK shows who owns registered land, searched by postcode, address or map, for a small fee. Land that has never been registered will give no result.
- In Northern Ireland, nidirect explains how to search the Land Registry, run by Land & Property Services.
- Estates and public bodies. Much upland belongs to estates, water companies, forestry bodies or the National Trust, and most have a website or an office you can write to.
How to ask
Ask before the trip and say exactly what you want: how many of you, how many tents, which night, roughly where (a map reference helps), and that you will be gone in the morning and leave nothing behind. A short, polite email or a knock on the farmhouse door is enough. Ask where they would like you to pitch and whether there are animals in the field. If the answer is no, take it with good grace and find a campsite.
On the night, keep to what was agreed: close gates as you found them, keep dogs on a lead near animals, pitch late, leave early and keep noise down.
Leave no trace: toilets, fires, rubbish and water
Every set of rules above asks the same thing in the end: leave the place as you found it. The backpacking guide sets out the seven Leave No Trace principles. These are the four parts people find hardest.
Toilets
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code asks you to pack a trowel, toilet paper, hand sanitiser and sealable bags. Urinate at least 30 metres from lochs, rivers and burns. For anything more, go well away from buildings, paths, water and farm animals, then either bury it in a shallow hole and put the turf back, or bag it and carry it out. On Dartmoor the Authority asks for at least 15cm of turf over it. Carry used paper and any sanitary items out in a sealed bag, because they take a long time to break down and animals dig them up. Clean your hands afterwards.
Fires
The simplest rule is no fires. Dartmoor, the Lake District and Eryri all say no fires, and the Countryside Code in England and Wales says barbecues only where signs say you can. In Scotland the Access Code says no open fires when the fire risk is high or near forests, farmland, peat, buildings or historic sites, and burning wood inside Loch Lomond's zones is an offence. Peat and dry moorland can smoulder underground long after a fire seems out.
Cook on a small camping stove instead, on a flat surface that will not burn, outside and away from the tent, and never in the porch or under a tarp. A stove in a tent can set it alight in moments and gives off carbon monoxide.
Rubbish
Take everything home: wrappers, food scraps, tea bags and fruit peel, which takes a long time to break down on a cold hillside. Before you leave in the morning, walk round the pitch, count the pegs back into their bag, put back any stones you moved, and fluff up the flattened grass.
Water
You will usually take water from a stream. Mountaineering Scotland's advice is to take it from running water, upstream of where anyone is camping, and to avoid still or muddy water and places where a lot of animals graze. If there is any doubt, treat it: boil it, use purifying tablets, or use a filter, checking what the filter removes, because some do not remove viruses. Wash yourself and your pans downstream and well away from the stream, never in it, and keep soap and toothpaste out of the water.
The tent for it: small, quiet colours, quick to pitch and strike
A wild camping tent is carried a long way, pitched on whatever ground you find, and should go up late and come down early without anyone noticing.
Small and light
Dartmoor's code asks for a small tent, and the others ask for one or two tents at most, so a 1-man or 2-man tent is the usual choice. The lightest tents in backpacking and trekking tents are well under a kilo: the one-person Naturehike Star Trails EXT is about 0.87kg packed, and the Ultralight Single Person Tent, a double-layer tent pitched on your walking poles, about 800g. For a night out from the car or a short walk to the pitch, hiking tents are small, light and quick to put up.
Quiet colours
Pitching out of sight of roads, houses and paths is easier in a tent that blends in, and Dartmoor's code asks for tents that blend into the landscape. Many of the light tents here come in greens, greys, browns, khaki or sand. The makers offer, for example:
- Naturehike Mongar UL. Colours: green, brown or grey.
- Naturehike Tagar. Colours: navy or green.
- Naturehike Jiling. Colours: white, grey, green, brown or sand, depending on the version.
- Taiji 2-Person. Colours: green, khaki, grey or orange.
- Taihang 2MAX. Colours: khaki or orange.
- Ultralight One Person Tunnel Tent. Colours: brown or camouflage.
A bright tent has its place: orange is easy to find in mist or snow. Many walkers choose a quiet colour and keep a bright bivvy bag or jacket in the rucksack for emergencies.
Quick to pitch and strike
You will often pitch in fading light and pack at dawn, so practise at home until you can do both without the instructions. A freestanding dome, such as the OneTigris Stella at about 1.9kg for one person, stands before you peg it, which helps on stony ground; a trekking-pole tent is lighter but needs ground that takes pegs. A tent that pitches the flysheet first, or both layers together, keeps the inner dry in rain.
On high, exposed ground a low, strong tent sheds wind best: see mountain tents. For winter nights out, the guide to 3-season and 4-season tents explains what a 4-season tent adds.
Lighter still: tarps, bivvy bags and hammocks
- Tarps are the lightest roof of all, from about 160g, pitched over a bivvy bag or as a dry place to sit. See tarps and tarp shelters.
- Bivvy covers go over your sleeping bag on a dry, settled night: the Tyvek cover here weighs 135g or 200g. Carry an emergency bag in any case. See survival bivvy bags.
- Hammock tents lift you off wet or rough ground in woodland. Hang them from healthy trees with wide straps so the bark is not damaged, and never from a dead tree. See hammock tents.
- On a bike, packed length matters more than weight: the Mongar UL weighs about 1.34kg for one. See bike and bikepacking tents.
Questions people ask
Can I wild camp in a campervan or my car?
Not under these rules. In Scotland, access rights do not cover motor vehicles. Dartmoor's backpack camping rules exclude overnight stays in vehicles, campervans and motorhomes, and the Lake District and Eryri say camping in car parks and on roadside verges is not allowed at any time. Use a campsite or a site that welcomes vans.
How many nights can I stay in one place?
In Scotland the Access Code says no more than two or three nights in one place. On Dartmoor it is one or two nights. Elsewhere it is whatever the landowner agrees, and the park codes ask for one night. Inside Loch Lomond's zones from March to September, permits are for up to three nights in one area.
Do I need a permit for Loch Lomond in winter?
The park's own pages say the byelaws apply from March to September, and that from October to February you do not need a permit to camp in the zones. The dates can change, so check the park's own page before you go.
Can I wild camp anywhere on Dartmoor now?
No. The Supreme Court confirmed a right to wild camp on the Dartmoor commons, but the Authority says it is only in the areas shown on its camping map, under its Backpack Camping Code. Check the map and the firing times before you go.
Where to go next
- Shop the tents: backpacking and trekking tents, hiking tents, 1-man tents, 2-man tents and mountain tents.
- Lighter ways to sleep out: tarps and tarp shelters, survival bivvy bags, hammock tents and bike and bikepacking tents.
- Read on: backpacking and trekking tents, 3-season or 4-season and how to pitch a tent.
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