Camping on the Coast to Coast — Campsites and the Law

The Coast to Coast was laid out village to village, and the accommodation guide is honest that camping is the thin end of what is on offer: a few sites, not a network. That does not make a camping crossing impossible. It makes it a walk that has to be planned around specific pitches, with two or three nights where a tent will not help you. This guide lists every campsite or camping field the stage pages name, sets out the law on wild camping, and puts the whole thing together as an outline.

Nothing here is a booking recommendation. Sites open, close and change their rules; the stage pages record what they do at the time of writing and the operators' own pages are the final word.

The legal position on wild camping in England

The short version: there is no general right to wild camp in England, and the Coast to Coast does not cross the one exception.

• The National Trail's own information page says that in England and Wales there are normally no rights for National Trail users to wild camp along the way, so seeking the landowner's permission is recommended. It also notes that there are campsites along the trail, shown on its interactive map.
• The Countryside Code lists camping among the activities for which you may need to get permission from the landowner, and asks you to stay on marked paths and leave gates and property as you find them.
• Ordnance Survey's guide puts the position the same way — wild camping is not legal in England and Wales without the landowner's permission — and notes that Dartmoor is the exception, where a Supreme Court ruling upheld the right to backpack camp without asking. Its advice for anyone who does camp with permission is the familiar one: pitch late, leave early, and leave the site exactly as found.

On the Coast to Coast that translates into a simple rule: use the campsites, and if you want to pitch anywhere else, ask the farmer. Much of the high ground is open access land, but the National Trail's statement above is about exactly that ground — access is a right to walk, and camping still needs permission. The same applies inside all three national parks the route crosses.

Every campsite the stage pages name

West to east. "Named" means the stage page's accommodation or water note mentions it; we have not added sites from other sources.

Sixteen places in total, and three stage ends with nothing. The pattern is clear: the Lakes and the Dales are campable every night, the Vale of Mowbray and the Moors are the problem.

The sparse middle

Two stretches need a decision before you set out.

Reeth to Danby Wiske. The last named camping is at Reeth; the next is the White Swan at Danby Wiske, 41.6 km further on across Reeth to Richmond and Richmond to Danby Wiske. Richmond is the largest town on the walk and has every kind of roof except a campsite on its stage page. The options are a B&B night in Richmond — many walkers take a rest day there anyway — or a long day of 41.6 km with only 621 m of climbing, which strong walkers do because the ground is easy. The itineraries already join these two stages on the 12-day plan.

Clay Bank Top. The col has a car park and nothing else. Lord Stones Country Park, roughly halfway along Osmotherley to Clay Bank Top, has camping and pods, and it is also the only water and toilets of the day. Stopping there shortens stage 13 to a half day and lengthens the next one: from Lord Stones to the Lion Inn is the rest of the Cleveland ridge plus the 16.3 km of moor with no water, no shelter and no escape. The alternative is to come off the ridge at Clay Bank to a B&B in Great Broughton or Chop Gate, as most walkers do; the stage page says many hosts collect from the car park.

Grosmont. No camping is named at the stage end. Robin Hood's Bay is 24.1 km on with 784 m of climbing, and Hawsker's campsite sits 5 miles before the finish, so a camper can either walk stage 16 as one day and finish in the village, or stop at Hawsker and walk into Robin Hood's Bay the next morning for the boot-dip with a short day in hand.

A campsite-to-campsite outline

One way to string the named sites together. It uses the 16 stages as published and only departs from them where there is no pitch.

Night 14 is the long one and the committing one: the Cleveland ridge from Carlton Bank over the Wainstones, then the whole of the Blakey moor. Walk it only with a good forecast, and book the Lion Inn's garden before you book anything else. The weather escapes guide explains why.

Weight, water and the Lakes

The FAQ makes the point that camping kit adds weight on exactly the days that already have the most ascent, and the numbers back it: the five Lakeland stages carry 3,879 m of the route's 8,813 m. The packing list is written for a daypack; a tent, bag and mat on top of it changes Patterdale to Shap considerably. The usual answer is baggage transfer — the companies listed under transfers will move a bag to a campsite as readily as to a B&B, and most campers on this route walk with a daypack for that reason.

Water is the other thing a camper has to plan that a B&B walker does not. The water guide has every stage's sources; for a camper the important ones are that Keld has no shop, that Clay Bank Top has nothing, and that the Lion Inn is the only refreshment on stage 14. Treat or filter every beck; the stage 9 note about lead in the water on the mining moor is worth remembering when you are choosing where to fill up for the evening.

Dogs and camping

If you are camping with a dog, YHA's policy allows dogs with your own tent at hostels that offer pitch-up camping, on a short lead at all times and at most two per booking, but not in the buildings. Whether the other sites take dogs is a question for each site. The dog guide has the rest.