Camping in Alderholt

Wild camping is not legal in England without the landowner’s permission, and that applies as much to the heaths and forestry around Alderholt as anywhere else — the Ringwood Forest plantations and the open commons of the New Forest are both managed land, patrolled and protected, so a pitch always needs to be at a proper site or agreed with whoever owns the ground. The good news is that this part of the Dorset–Hampshire border is well served by campsites that make the most of the terrain: gently wooded pitches under pine and birch on the sandy heathland soils typical of Ringwood Forest, open grass paddocks on farms fringing the New Forest, and a scattering of small, family-run sites tucked into the folds of Cranborne Chase’s chalk downland a little further north. Facilities range from simple, basic fields with a tap and a compost loo to fuller-service sites with electric hook-ups, shower blocks and on-site shops, so there is a genuine choice between a back-to-basics pitch and something more comfortable.

Glamping has taken hold here too, following the same pattern as the rest of the New Forest fringe: shepherd’s huts, safari tents and the odd yurt set up on farms and smallholdings around Alderholt, Fordingbridge and Verwood, letting visitors get the same woodland-and-heath setting without needing their own kit. These tend to book up fastest in summer, so anyone set on a specific site is best planning well ahead for July and August.

The best camping season here runs from late spring to early autumn. May and June bring drier ground, fresh bracken and bluebells through the woodland edges; midsummer gives long evenings for walking out onto the heath to watch New Forest ponies graze; and September often carries some of the best weather of the year once the school-holiday crowds have gone, with autumn colour building through the forestry blocks. Winter camping is possible at some of the more sheltered, better-drained sites, but the sandy heathland tracks and chalk bridleways both turn heavy after sustained rain, so it suits those who don’t mind mud and shorter days over comfort.