Camping in Loch Lomond

Camping at Loch Lomond is subject to rules that do not apply elsewhere in Scotland, and it is worth understanding them before you pitch. Scotland's access legislation permits responsible wild camping across most of the country, but Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park introduced camping management byelaws in 2017 covering designated lochshore zones. Within those zones, between the start of March and the end of September, you need either a permit or a booked place at a campsite. Permits are cheap and booked online, but limited, and popular bays go quickly for summer weekends. Outside the zones, and outside the byelaw season, ordinary Scottish access rights apply.

The terrain varies enormously. The southern and western shores offer flat, grassy, well-drained pitches close to villages and roads, while the eastern shore beyond Balmaha becomes steep, rocky and heavily wooded, with genuine camping spots limited to small shingle bays. The northern end is mountainous, with level ground at a premium. Ground conditions stay damp longer than you might expect: this is one of the wetter corners of Britain, with the hills wringing rain out of every westerly system that comes in off the Atlantic.

Weather is the other consideration. Rain is possible in any month and prolonged in autumn and winter, so a genuinely waterproof tent and a groundsheet you trust matter more here than in the south of England. Wind off the loch can be fierce on exposed shores, but it is also your friend, because it keeps midges away. Highland midges are the real test of a Loch Lomond camping trip, peaking on still, humid evenings from mid-June to early September, and a head net costs less than a pint.

The best months for camping are late April to early June, when the days are long, the woods are in fresh leaf and the midges have barely started, and then late September into October, when the woodland colour is at its best and the biting season is done. Many lochshore campsites open around March and close in late October, so check before travelling outside those months.