Lake District and Cumbria by campervan: where to stay

Last checked November 2026.

Cumbria is England’s north-west corner: the lakes and fells of the Lake District National Park, the west coast from Millom to St Bees and the Solway Firth, the Eden valley and Carlisle, and the Cumbrian end of the Yorkshire Dales around Sedbergh and Kirkby Stephen. Since April 2023 it has two councils: Cumberland in the north and west (Carlisle, Keswick, Cockermouth, Whitehaven, the coast, Wasdale and Eskdale) and Westmorland and Furness in the south and east (Windermere, Ambleside, Coniston, Ullswater, Kendal, Penrith, Barrow, Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh). It’s superb country for a van, but the free overnight spots by the lakes have gone. Westmorland and Furness bans overnight stays in vehicles on all council land, roads and lay-bys included, and the National Trust, the National Park Authority, Forestry England and United Utilities, which own much of the land around the lakes, don’t allow them either. Plan your nights on campsites or one of the few paid overnight car parks.

Where you can and can’t stay overnight

There’s no general law in England against sleeping in a van that’s legally parked on a public road, but local rules are common and you have to read the signs. There’s no right to wild camp in a vehicle anywhere in England, the Lake District included: you need the landowner’s permission. The National Park Authority’s advice is that no one has a right to pitch up for a night or two, and that campervan and motorhome “fly camping” has become a problem in parts of the park. More in wild camping and free camping.

Westmorland and Furness Council: its public spaces protection order (PSPO), in force from 15 November 2024 for three years, says no one may position a vehicle, campervan, motorhome, caravan or tent for an overnight stay on any land the council owns, including car parks, verges, lay-bys, highways and streets, without the council’s written consent. Its only car parks where motorhomes can stay overnight are the two paid ones at Bowness and Windermere (below).
Lakeshore land added in 2026: since January and March 2026 the same order also bans overnight stays in vehicles, and fires and barbecues, on National Trust land at Blea Tarn, Coniston’s east shore, Windermere’s west shore, Bowness and Millerground, Ambleside, Brotherswater, and Glencoyne and Aira Force on Ullswater; at the National Park’s Brown Howe car park on Coniston Water; on United Utilities’ land at Haweswater; on the Gowbarrow Hall lay-bys and lakeside on Ullswater; and around Glenridding and Patterdale.
Cumberland Council: the car-park order for Keswick, Cockermouth, Workington, Maryport, Allonby and Wigton bans using a car park, or a vehicle parked in it, for sleeping, camping or cooking, and those car parks take vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. The 7pm to 7am overnight ticket in Keswick is for leaving a car, not sleeping in it. Cumberland’s own PSPO bans camping or sleeping overnight on public land where it causes or attracts anti-social behaviour or harms local people’s quality of life. In summer 2026 the council moved people on, started issuing fixed penalty notices and put up message signs in Keswick and Wasdale.
Lake District National Park Authority: its byelaws ban camping in any vehicle in its car parks, which include Glenridding, Kirkstone Pass, Hawkshead, Grasmere, Rydal, Pooley Bridge and Ravenglass.
National Trust: no overnight parking at any of its places. At Wasdale it sends campervans and motorhomes to its campsite instead.
Forestry England: no camping or overnight stays anywhere in Whinlatter or Grizedale forests, car parks included. Its summer 2026 campervan stopover trial didn’t include any forest in Cumbria.
United Utilities (Thirlmere and Haweswater): no camping overnight and no fires or barbecues.
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority: no overnight occupation of vehicles in its car parks. The roads and council car parks around Sedbergh and Kirkby Stephen are Westmorland and Furness’s, so its order applies there.

Breaking a PSPO is a criminal offence. Westmorland and Furness issues a £100 fixed penalty, or a fine of up to £1,000 in court; since 26 October 2026 councils can set PSPO fixed penalties at up to £500. Any council can also direct people living in a vehicle on a roadside or other land to leave, and ignoring the direction, or coming back within three months, can mean a fine of up to £1,000.

If you do stop on a road, park facing the direction of traffic at night, use your parking lights on roads with a limit over 30 mph and in their lay-bys, and don’t block passing places or gateways. The National Park Authority points out that lay-bys are part of the road and that the police can ask a vehicle causing an obstruction to move, even in the middle of the night.

Paid overnight parking

Bowness and Windermere: Westmorland and Furness lets motorhomes stay overnight in its Braithwaite Fold car park, 800 metres south of Bowness near the ferry, and Rayrigg Meadow in Windermere. You pay the day tariff (£10.60 all day) plus £13.40 for 8pm to 8am; three-day and seven-day passes don’t include it. No awnings, furniture, barbecues or generators. Its other Bowness car parks, such as Glebe Road, Ferry Nab and Rayrigg Road, don’t allow motorhomes overnight.
West Cumbria: Cumberland Council sells a campervan overnight ticket, £8.80 in November 2026, in some car parks in Whitehaven (including the Beacon car park by the harbour and North Shore), Egremont, Cleator Moor, Millom and two small ones in Eskdale, Moorhead and Smithy Brow. The beach car park at St Bees isn’t one of them.
Silecroft beach, south of Bootle: Whicham Parish Council has five overnight spaces for motorhomes and campervans (no caravans) in the beach car park. Book online, for up to three nights. It’s by donation, £10 a night from October to April and £15 from May to September. Vans up to 8.5 m; arrive from 1pm, leave by noon. There are 24-hour toilets and a water tap, but only green toilet chemicals may be emptied.
Tebay Services on the M6: when its caravan park is full or closed, as it is for the rest of 2026, caravans and motorhomes can park overnight in the main car parks for £28, including a £10 voucher for the kitchen; pay at the Quick Kitchen. There’s no water, waste disposal or hook-up, but the toilets and showers are open 24 hours. The services suggest the picnic area at Tebay South, which you can reach from both sides of the motorway.

Campsites

There are campsites in almost every valley, from big club sites with hardstanding to farm fields with no hook-ups. Many valley sites only take vans up to about 6.5 m because of the narrow lanes, and the busy ones fill up in summer, so book ahead. Seasons are for 2026, or 2027 where the 2026 season is over or no longer shown. National Trust campsites are booked online.

Area	Campsite	Details
Keswick	Keswick Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Crow Park Road, CA12 5EP	Tel: 01768 772392. All year, non-members welcome. On Derwentwater’s shore, with the Derwentwater club site (01768 772579) next door
Keswick	Castlerigg Hall, CA12 4TE	Tel: 017687 74499. Reopens 10 March 2027. All hardstanding
Keswick	Castlerigg Farm, CA12 4TE	Tel: 017687 72479. All year. Gate closed to vehicles 10pm to 8am
Braithwaite	Braithwaite Village Camping and Caravanning Club Site (was Scotgate), CA12 5TF	Tel: 01768 778343. All year, non-members welcome
Borrowdale	Borrowdale Club Campsite (Caravan and Motorhome Club, was Low Manesty), CA12 5UG	Tel: 01768 777275. 19 March to 1 November 2027, non-members welcome. Up to 7.5 m. No toilet block
Borrowdale	Chapel House Farm, CA12 5XG	Tel: 01768 777256. Mid-March to 30 September. Campervans; motorhomes over 6 m ask first. No hook-ups, cash only
Lorton, for Buttermere	Wheatsheaf Inn, Low Lorton, CA13 9UW	Tel: 01900 85199. February half term to 3 January. Ten hook-ups behind the pub
Wasdale	National Trust Wasdale Campsite, Wasdale Head, CA20 1EX	All year except 24 to 26 December. Up to 6.5 m, no caravans
Wasdale	Church Stile Farm, Nether Wasdale, CA20 1ET	Tel: 01946 726252. 19 March to 4 October 2027. Gate locked 10.30pm to 6am
Eskdale	National Trust Eskdale Campsite, Boot, CA19 1TH	12 February to 31 December 2027. Up to 6.5 m. Minimum two nights
Eskdale	Fisherground, CA19 1TF	Tel: 01946 723723. 20 March to 27 September 2026. Hook-up pitches up to 6.5 m. Barrier locked 9pm to 8am
Ravenglass	Ravenglass Camping and Caravanning Club Site, CA18 1SR	Tel: 01229 717250. 22 March to 25 October 2027, non-members welcome
St Bees	Seacote Park, on the seafront	Tel: 01946 822777. Hardstanding, up to 9.4 m on the sea-view pitches. Book by phone
Silloth	Stanwix Park, Greenrow, CA7 4HH	Tel: 01697 332666. Holiday centre, open all year
Carlisle	Englethwaite Hall Club Campsite (Caravan and Motorhome Club), Cumwhinton, CA4 9SY	Tel: 01228 560202. 19 March to 1 November 2027, non-members welcome. Up to 10 m. Come from M6 junction 42
Windermere	Bowness on Windermere Camping and Caravanning Club Site (was Braithwaite Fold), Glebe Road, LA23 3HB	Tel: 01539 442177. All year, non-members welcome
Windermere	Park Cliffe, Birks Road, LA23 3PG	Tel: 01539 531344. 1 March to 13 November 2027. Run by the Caravan and Motorhome Club since February 2026, non-members welcome. Up to 8 m. Approach from Newby Bridge
Ambleside	National Trust Low Wray, LA22 0JA	12 February 2027 to 9 January 2028. Hardstanding for vans, no caravans. Minimum two nights
Ambleside	Skelwith Fold, LA22 0HY	Tel: 015394 32277. 1 March to 22 November 2026. All hardstanding, up to 9 m. No tents
Langdale	National Trust Great Langdale, LA22 9JU	All year, no arrivals 24 to 26 December. Up to 6.5 m. Can flood
Langdale	Baysbrown Farm, Chapel Stile, LA22 9JZ	Tel: 015394 37150. 25 March to 3 October 2027. Small campervans only, no motorhomes, no bookings
Coniston	Coniston Park Coppice (Caravan and Motorhome Club), LA21 8LA	Tel: 01539 441555. 19 March 2027 to 3 January 2028, non-members welcome. Up to 9 m
Coniston	Coniston Hall, LA21 8AS	Tel: 015394 41223. Reopens 26 March 2027. Tents and motorhomes, no hook-ups. Book online
Ullswater	Gillside Farm, Glenridding, CA11 0QQ	Tel: 017684 82346. March to mid-November. Only five hook-up pitches, so book
Ullswater	Sykeside, Brotherswater, CA11 0NZ	Tel: 01768 482239. All year except Christmas. Hardstanding up to 8 m; you can only sleep in a vehicle on these. Arrive by 9.45pm
Ullswater	Waterfoot Park, Pooley Bridge, CA11 0JF	Tel: 017684 86302. 1 March to 15 November. Up to 8 m, all hardstanding. No tents
Near Penrith	Troutbeck Head (Caravan and Motorhome Club), CA11 0SS	Tel: 01768 483521. 19 March to 1 November 2027, non-members welcome. Up to 9 m
Kendal	Kendal Club Campsite (Caravan and Motorhome Club), Sedgwick, LA8 0JZ	Tel: 01539 560186. 19 March to 1 November 2027, non-members welcome. Up to 8 m
Kirkby Stephen	Pennine View Park, Station Road, CA17 4SZ	Tel: 017683 71717. 6 March to 8 November 2026
Grange-over-Sands	Meathop Fell (Caravan and Motorhome Club), LA11 6RB	Tel: 01539 532912. All year, non-members welcome. Up to 11 m

There are also many Certificated Locations (Caravan and Motorhome Club) and Certificated Sites (Camping and Caravanning Club) on farms around the county. They’re for club members only and take up to five vans, so they’re quiet and usually cheap. In England, pop-up campsites can now open for up to 60 days a year and take campervans and motorhomes as well as tents. Brit Stops members can also stay a night at some pubs, farm shops and other hosts that take self-contained vans.

Getting there and driving

The M6 runs up the east side of the county. Leave at junction 36 for Kendal, the A590 to the south end of Windermere and Furness, or the A591 through Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere to Keswick. Junction 40 at Penrith is the way to Ullswater on the A592 and west on the A66 to Keswick and Cockermouth, and junctions 42 to 44 are for Carlisle. The A595 follows the west coast.

There are no clean air zones in Cumbria. If you’re carrying on into Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have low emission zones; see Scotland. Campervans and motorhomes up to 3.05 tonnes unladen have the same speed limits as cars. Heavier motorhomes are limited to 50 mph on single carriageways and 60 on dual carriageways.

Passes and narrow roads

The fell passes are steep, narrow and twisting: Hardknott and Wrynose between Eskdale and Little Langdale, Honister between Borrowdale and Buttermere, Newlands, Whinlatter and Kirkstone. Cumbria Tourism asks motorhome drivers to avoid narrow passes and single-track roads where they can. Its route map warns that the B5289 through Buttermere isn’t recommended for larger vehicles, that large vehicles can’t pass each other on several stretches of the Kirkstone Pass, and that the B5285 from Coniston to Hawkshead is easier in that direction than the other. English Heritage, which looks after the Roman fort beside it, calls the Hardknott Pass narrow, steep and hazardous in bad weather, and the National Trust says it isn’t suitable for campervans or motorhomes, so reach Eskdale from the A595. The passes are sometimes closed for ice or roadworks, so check before you set off; Cumberland Council’s highways hotline is 0300 373 3736. Several campsites, the club sites included, ask you not to follow your satnav for the last few miles.

The Windermere ferry

The council’s ferry crosses Windermere from Ferry Nab, just south of Bowness, to Far Sawrey in about 10 minutes, and takes up to 15 vehicles. You can’t book. In 2026 a vehicle up to 6 m long pays £8 and one over 6 m £14.50, by card on board. It runs from 6.50am (8.50am on Sundays) to 9.50pm in summer and 8.50pm in winter, but not on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Tel: 01539 713066.

Keswick, Braithwaite and Whinlatter

Keswick sits at the north end of Derwentwater, with the boat landings and the Theatre by the Lake on the shore and Skiddaw behind the town. The two club sites on Crow Park Road are on the lakeshore, a short walk from the centre. The town car parks take vans by day but not for sleeping.

Follow the A66 west about three miles past Keswick, turn into Braithwaite and follow the B5292 for the Whinlatter Pass. About two miles up on the left is a lovely forest picnic spot. The entrance has a couple of tight hairpin bends, but it’s worth negotiating, and each parking place has a little path to its own picnic table. Whinlatter Forest is Forestry England’s, with no overnight stays in any of its car parks; the main visitor centre car park is open from 8.30am to 8.30pm. Stay at the Braithwaite club site at the bottom of the pass.

Borrowdale, Honister and Buttermere

South of Keswick the B5289 runs down Borrowdale to Seatoller, then climbs over Honister Pass and drops into Buttermere. On the Buttermere side of the pass there’s a big boulder by the road, very isolated and with no facilities, but cracking views. For the night, stay in Borrowdale, or at Lorton beyond Buttermere; the farm campsite in Buttermere village is for tents only. Cumbria Tourism doesn’t recommend the B5289 through Buttermere for larger vehicles, so in a big motorhome stay on a campsite and take the bus; from the Borrowdale club site, buses go to Honister and Buttermere. By day, park in the car parks in the village, not on the verges.

Wasdale

Follow signs for Wasdale Head from the A595. Beside Wast Water there are one or two good-sized gravel lay-bys almost on the water’s edge, and there’s a large triangular grassy parking area at Wasdale Head. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and it’s in the middle of nowhere. The National Trust, which runs the car parks in the valley, doesn’t allow overnight parking and sends vans to its campsite at the head of the lake. The road in is narrow and single track in places, with a narrow bridge, which is why the campsite only takes vans up to 6.5 m. Church Stile Farm at Nether Wasdale is the other choice.

Eskdale and Ravenglass

Eskdale runs inland from Ravenglass up to Boot and the foot of Hardknott. Come in from the A595, not over the pass. Besides the campsites, the Moorhead and Smithy Brow car parks sell a campervan overnight ticket. Ravenglass has a club site; its directions warn that satnavs may send you over Corney Fell, which is unsuitable for motorhomes.

St Bees, Whitehaven and the coast

St Bees, just south of Whitehaven, is the start of the Coast to Coast walk. The beach car park, St Bees Foreshore, charges up to £8.80 for 12 hours and has no campervan overnight ticket; Seacote Park is on the seafront too. In Whitehaven, the Beacon car park by the harbour and several others sell a campervan overnight ticket. Further south, Silecroft has the parish council’s five overnight spaces. Up the coast, the Solway shore at Allonby, Maryport and Silloth looks across to Scotland. The car parks at Allonby and Maryport don’t allow overnight occupancy; at Silloth, stay at Stanwix Park.

Windermere, Bowness and Ambleside

Windermere has the lake cruises and the busy towns of Bowness and Windermere on its east shore, with Ambleside at the top. Bowness and Windermere also have the only Westmorland and Furness car parks where a motorhome can stay the night, Braithwaite Fold and Rayrigg Meadow. The west shore, from Wray Castle down to the ferry landings, is quieter, but its National Trust land is covered by the overnight ban.

Langdale and Coniston

Great Langdale runs west from Skelwith Bridge and Elterwater to the Langdale Pikes, with the National Trust campsite at the head of the valley. Blea Tarn, on the narrow road over to Little Langdale, is National Trust land covered by the overnight ban. Coniston Water has the village and the Old Man at its north end; the National Park’s Brown Howe car park and the east shore are covered by the ban too.

Ullswater and Glenridding

The A592 runs along Ullswater from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding and Patterdale, then climbs over the Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside. About three miles short of Glenridding there are two big roadside parking areas by the lake that vans used to use for the night. The lay-bys on the A592 are covered by Westmorland and Furness’s ban, and since March 2026 so are the lakeside land and lay-bys at Gowbarrow, Aira Force and Glencoyne and the lakeside at Glenridding and Patterdale. The main Glenridding car park, by the information centre, is the National Park’s, where camping in a vehicle is banned too. The east shore road from Pooley Bridge to Howtown is a dead end, narrow in places and partly a clearway, so you can’t stop on those stretches at all.

Penrith, Shap and Tebay

For a stop on the way to or from Scotland, the lay-bys on the A6 over Shap, which runs alongside the M6, and on the A685 near Tebay used to be handy, but they’re on Westmorland and Furness roads, where the overnight ban applies. Tebay Services is the easy answer: overnight parking in the main car parks or, in season, the caravan park, which has hook-ups and is booked online. In Penrith, campervans under 3,500 kg can use all the council’s pay and display car parks, and motorhomes can stay up to 24 hours in Bluebell Lane, but not to sleep. Troutbeck Head, west of Penrith off the A66, is the nearest big site.

Kendal and Grange-over-Sands

Kendal, off the M6 at junctions 36 and 37, is the way into the southern Lakes. Besides the Kendal Club Campsite at Sedgwick, the Camping and Caravanning Club has a site at Millcrest on the Shap road (01539 741363, 22 March to 29 November 2027). Meathop Fell, open all year, is handy for Grange-over-Sands and Cartmel.

Kirkby Stephen and the Cumbrian Dales

Kirkby Stephen is in the upper Eden valley, with Mallerstang to the south and the B6270 climbing east over the moors to Swaledale. Four miles east of the town on the B6270, towards Keld and near the county boundary, there’s a decent-sized lay-by. It’s on a Westmorland and Furness road, so it’s for a break, not the night. Stay at Pennine View in Kirkby Stephen.

Carlisle

Carlisle has a castle and a cathedral. By day, the council’s Castle car park has 16 bays for motor caravans, campers and caravans, at £4.20 for the day, but it’s closed from 8pm to 6.30am. Englethwaite Hall, south-east of the city near the M6, is the place to stay.

More on England

Sources: Westmorland and Furness Council public spaces protection order 2024 No. 004 and its 2025 and 2026 variations, car park pages and Windermere ferry page; Cumberland Council public spaces protection order 2024, Allerdale off-street parking places order 2018, car park pages and news; Lake District National Park Authority car parking byelaws, car park list and campervan advice; Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority; National Trust; Forestry England; United Utilities; Whicham Parish Council; Tebay Services; Cumbria Tourism; English Heritage; Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014; Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; gov.uk speed limits, Highway Code and clean air zones; the Caravan and Motorhome Club, the Camping and Caravanning Club and campsite websites; checked November 2026. Know of a change? Tell us in the comments below.