Dartmoor National Park. The only, completely legal, safe haven for wild campers in England. Yes, there are plenty of places in both England and Wales where a wild camper can pitch their tent, bivvy, or hammock and enjoy a night immersed in nature, with a very low chance of being spotted and moved on - but that chance is never zero. So if you are a wild camper in the UK, and you're looking for a wild camping experience without bending or breaking any rules (and you don't want to travel to the UK wild campers' Mecca - Scotland) then it is to Dartmoor that you should head.
Wild camping in Dartmoor has been enshrined by law since 1985, and although in the last few years this right has been threatened by land owners in the area (notably when it was banned in 2023 before being appealed by the public and over turned), it still remains the only legal place to wild camp in England. This should make it a special spot for any British outdoor enthusiast, and I have been eager to visit the park ever since my wild camping journey began and 2024 turned out to be the year for it.
My planning started when I was trying to think of something to do for my birthday, and not fancying something overly social (or "peopley" as I call it) my thoughts drifted to camping - this came as no surprise to my partner Catherine.
Catherine had never been wild camping before, although she had recently expressed an interest to do so, probably after hearing regularly about my wild camping experiences, which would make anyone feel left out! So I thought an excellent place for a first trip would be Dartmoor, where we could pitch our tent without any fear of getting moved on. I started looking on various apps and websites to find a walk that we could follow, and incorporate into our trip, something ideally circular, with a good amount of distance from the car to the campsite, and then a shorter walk back to the car the following morning.
On the OS Maps app (which I would recommend to anyone - it's truly fantastic!) I managed to find a route just over seven miles long, that started at Meldon Reservoir and lead right up to High Willhays, the highest point in Dartmoor according to some 'authorities', although I'm not sure who they are, before looping back round to the reservoir. As this route was around the right length, included some good scenery and views, and started in reasonably close proximity to the main road that we'd be arriving on, I decided that it ticked enough boxes. We travelled down on the morning of the final day of August, leaving early enough to give us a whole day of walking before reaching somewhere suitable to pitch our tent. There had been some light rain, and it was generally overcast during our journey, but once we arrived the clouds began to part and reveal a light blue autumn sky. We checked our packs, laced up our boots, and then left the car park to start the route.
From the car park we followed a lane a short way South-East enclosed by tall hedges, which opened up to reveal the reservoir, and the bridge/dam that we would use to cross it. The broad, concrete dam had sturdy walls either side overlooking the water below. We made our way over, stopping for some great photographs of the reservoir as we did. From looking at the maps I knew that it wasn't a particularly large body of water, but from where we stood on that bridge, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's expanse was never ending, bordered by the soft green hills and dark woodlands of Dartmoor. It was a great view to start the walk with.
After leaving the bridge we continued to follow the path guided by the reservoirs contours, a dry dirt track that gradually gained elevation, until reaching the bottom of Longstone Hill, where our path doubled back on itself, and the incline went from gradual to reasonably steep. The first hill on a trip like this can always be a bit of a 'burner' whilst your back is still adjusting to the weight of your bag, and your legs are still becoming accustomed to the work required of them - this one was no different - but we took it steady, taking in the views of the water, which was shimmering in the sunlight, whenever we needed to stop for a breather.
Despite being the end of August, and so close to the waning summers departure, it was still mild and we were both able to comfortably wear t-shirts without further layers until we were higher up in the hills, where the wind was colder. At the top of Longstone Hill (412m of elevation according to OS maps) we were greeted with a 360 degree view of the park, which made it feel even larger than it had before. I checked my map to confirm that we were heading in the right direction - towards Black Tor - and we followed the rough path over the windswept moorland, seeing other walkers only occasionally, and the resident sheep much more often.
When we reached the craggy outcrop of Black Tor, we could look right down into the bottom of the overlooked valley, and across to the neighbouring Slipper Stones and Corn Ridge. Not being a huge fan of high up edges, I kept reasonably clear of Black Tor's edge, my partner Catherine however, has no such issue, as can be seen in the picture below.
From here our path led East, gaining elevation faster than before, as it headed up to High Willhays (as I previously mentioned, the supposed highest point in Dartmoor) which sits at an elevation of 618m. The soft grassy path quickly turned to a thick boggy slog, pulling at our boots and sapping our energy with each step. This would've been just enough fun on it's own, but the forces of the universe decided it wasn't quite enough for today, and soon we found a small-ish herd of cattle directly on our path, accompanied by their very own bull... The relationship between cows and walkers/ramblers/hikers is pretty well known, and usually it's not really an issue unless the cows have calves at their sides, or there's a bull. In these situations it's best to try and give them as much distance as possible, and hopefully avoid any confrontation, usually they're just curious to any newcomers on their patch, but it's definitely not unheard of for walkers to be trampled when the cows feel threatened. However, given the state of the terrain, there wasn't really anywhere that we could go without falling into deeper and thicker bog, or tall grass littered with boulders. So we abandoned our Eastward path to the peak of High Willhays, and set our bearing South East, toward the cairn at Fordsland Ledge. Once we'd skirted successfully around the cows, we sat at the cairn for a short rest stop, with an epic view right down onto the valley, vast and wild.
After this brief rest, we began our descent down the hill along a narrow grassy track. Sometimes it was hard to determine which path in front of us was actually the one that we were trying to follow on the map, as it forked and ran off into other small tracks, all weaving their own varying way down the hillside. By using the compass, we managed to more or less keep going in the desired direction, getting lower down into the valley. The other hillsides surrounding us were littered with Dartmoor ponies, which made a really lovely sight - according to the Dartmoor National Park site, they have made the park their home for at least four millennia!
We eventually reached the bottom of the valley, which was the first level ground since before the incline up to Black Tor, however as level as it was, it was also very boggy, and following the path as shown on the map proved very difficult, and our progress slowed drastically. Our route turned back and forth, trying to find the driest and most stable way to go, and as we had now been walking for quite a few hours, the loads on our backs started to weigh heavily on our shoulders. The day was dragging on, and I knew that realistically, we would need to find a camping spot within the next few hours, before we lost the sunlight, but at that time we were still in the live firing range (labelled with red triangles on the map, and poles in the actual ground) and beyond that lay the nature reserve, where camping is prohibited, so I knew that we still had some distance to go.
Once we had left the sodden, boggy ground along the river within the Okehampton range our path changed to a boulder field scramble, through a dark and dense woodland. Despite feeling drained and longing for a place to setup camp, we were still able to appreciate the ancient and mystical feeling that the woodland gave us. Thick with stout trees that blocked most of the light, it felt like we had suddenly been taken back in time, to a place that had no notion of the modern world. We stumbled through from boulder to boulder, until at last the trees began to thin, and we stepped back into the daylight.
The end of today's journey was now in sight, but so were other campers! Being a legal spot for wild camping, this wasn't really unusual, nor were these the first campers that we had encountered so far. We wanted our own quiet spot where we could appreciate Dartmoor together in relative quiet, so we continued to walk past the tents and sounds of conversation until at last we found a spot of ground among the thick grass that was fairly level, dry, and most importantly, free from other people.
Setting up the tent didn't take long (we had brought the trusty Eurohike Ribble 3, which is far too heavy and bulky for backpacking, but the smallest tent I have that would accommodate us both) and then we moved onto other tasks, such as taking off our boots, putting on dry socks, and cooking a basic meal of 'just add water' pasta & sauce sachets - our dinner wouldn't have won any awards, but it gave us some much needed calories, and they are fairly light, and also cheap!
Having eaten, we sat back, looked out at the valley that we would call home that night, and watched as the last of the daylight slipped away. Eventually, once the light had gone, and the sky turned a deep blue hue, we zipped up the tent door, and went to sleep. I found it strange going to sleep knowing that other camps were so close, which is very unusual in a wild camping situation, but I managed to get a reasonable sleep, despite waking up a few times through the night, either from the odd noise, or from sliding off the sleeping mat because of the slight slope of our pitch.
We awoke fairly early the next morning, not long after the sun rise. There was a faint mist around us that was beginning to ease, and the valley was peaceful. Other than the faint sound of the stream, there was little to no noise that we could hear, besides our own movement. We'd decided to pack up and get going more or less as soon as we'd gotten up, and so gear was bundled back into our packs, sleeping bags were shoved into their cases, and the tent was taken apart, collected together, and put back into it's bag.
With our bags packed up again, it was time to start making our way back to the car. Our planned route would take us along the river, back to the Meldon reservoir, a walk of just over two miles. Feet and legs sore from the day before, we were hoping for relatively flat ground and a solid path. Once the route led away from the river a little, we did manage to get a more solid dirt path, however, flat, it was not. We slogged along, up and down the contours of the land that bordered the river, tired and aching, but still happy to be in such a beautiful part of the country, and bolstered by the sense of achievement of what we had done, and the magical night spent in Dartmoor.
Eventually, after our meandering route had taken a short but steep incline, we were greeted with a view of the reservoir, which we had not seen since reaching the top of Longstone Hill the day before. This gave us a sense of 'seeing the finish line' and although we could see the path we had to take, weaving alongside and up and down the edge of the water, it still felt good to know that our journey would soon be completed. As we continued back we saw groups of people who were also returning from a wild camp on the moors, as well as some who were just heading out to find there own spot in the national park.
Before too long, our path joined back up to where we had started our journey up the very first hill, and thus the 'circular' element was complete. From here we had only to stay on the flat and well kept path along the remainder of the reservoir, and back over the dam - surely nothing could go wrong here... Well of course it could! We left the dam and turned the final corner to head up the short piece of road that lead to the very gate of the car park, to be greeted by a herd of cattle. We were speechless. They must have been in the process of being moved by the farmer, but at this point he (or she) was nowhere to be seen. We hesitated briefly, and then carried on at a fairly brisk pace, the gate consuming all of our focus. Not long after we had opened the gate, and walked through, we turned around to see multiple cows now stood in front of the gate, with their heads over it, looking right at us - just in time! Very curious creatures cows. And now this was this end of our adventure, we'd returned back to the car park where we could change into fresh clothes, have something to eat, and change out of our boots - there's no better feeling!
We absolutely loved this trip, and it was a great first wild camp for Catherine. As always with wild camping trips, I left feeling more insight into what could be improved for next time. Gear that we hadn't used which could be left behind, or things that would've been good to have that shall come on the next one. Choices of equipment or clothing, even down to the food to bring.
If you've not tried wild camping in the UK, or if you have, but have never visited Dartmoor, then add it to your 'places to go' list now - you wont regret it.
See below the links of some websites that helped me plan this trip:
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