Camping in Exmoor

Camping is one of the best ways to experience Exmoor, partly because the campsites here tend to be small working farms rather than holiday parks, and partly because the sky at night is genuinely exceptional. The whole national park is an International Dark Sky Reserve, the first designated in Europe, and from a tent door on a clear night you can see the Milky Way without any equipment at all.

The terrain shapes what you get. Sites in the wooded river valleys, along the Exe and the Barle or beside the Horner Water, are sheltered, green and often have swimming or paddling within a few paces. Sites up on the moor edge above Winsford or Wheddon Cross trade shelter for enormous views and much darker skies, but they catch every bit of wind. Coastal pitches near Porlock and Lynton sit between the two, with sea air and quick access to the cliff paths.

Weather deserves respect. Exmoor is high and close to the Atlantic, so rain arrives fast and often, and the moor tops can be twenty degrees cooler and considerably windier than a sheltered valley floor a mile away. Bring proper pegs, a groundsheet and warm layers even in July. Nights are cold on the high ground well into June.

Wild camping is not legal on Exmoor. Unlike parts of Dartmoor, there is no right to backpack camp on the commons here, so pitching without the landowner's permission counts as trespass. In practice most farms will refuse, and the sensible approach is to use the small campsites, several of which are quiet enough to feel wild anyway. A handful of sites permit real campfires in designated spots, which is unusual and worth seeking out.

The season runs from around mid-March or Easter to the end of October at most sites, with only a few staying open through winter. May, June and September are the sweet spot: settled enough for reliable weather, quiet enough to get a riverside pitch, and long enough in the evening for a walk after supper. Book ahead for bank holidays and August.