Cumbria

Free camping in St. Bees

The car park by the beach at St Bees, near Whitehaven. £2.70 no overnight restriction.

Free camping in Wasdale Head

  1. Follow signs for Wasdale Head from the A595. At the side of Wast Water there are one or two reasonably good sized gravel layby’s almost right on the waters edge, and no signs saying ‘no overnight stays’. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and it’s in the middle of nowhere so little chance of being bothered in the middle of the night.
  2. There is a large triangular grassy parking area at Wasdale Head.

Free camping in Buttermere

Unofficial overnight stop on the Buttermere side of Honister pass by the Big Boulder, along the B5289 from Borrowdale to Buttermere. It’s very isolated and no facilities. But cracking views.

Free camping in Braithwaite

Follow A66 about 3 miles past Keswick West bound, turn into the village of Braithwaite, follow main road through village and signs for The Pass (Whinlatter Pass). The road number is the B5292, roughly 2 miles on the left is a lovely forestry location. The entrance has a couple of tight hairpin bends, but is worth negotiating. Each individual parking place has a little path to its own picnic table and the table has a slate square for the B.B.Q.

Free camping in Ullswater

Unofficial overnight stop on the roadside down Ullswater about 3 miles short of Glennridding. Two big parking areas, the first does not have a "no overnight sign" (and must be the only one in the national park not to have one), the second one does.

Free camping in Glenridding

Centre of village tourist information. No problem with coachbuilt van if tucked away in a corner, but it would probably help if taken advise in tourist office.

Free camping in Kendal / Penrith

  1. On the A6 from Penrith towards Kendal is a very secluded large layby on LH side (4 miles South of M6 Junction 39 and 0.5 mile South of "Best Western" hotel). Perfect for overnight stop on way to/from Scotland.
  2. From the M6 Junction 40 (Penrith) Take the A66 West to the "Reghed" (Ullswater) Roundabout, then retrace towards the Motorway. On the Left just before the Motorway is the Cattle market. On Friday nights many traders for the Saturday market (400 stalls) sleep in their vans overnight. There is a gravel area as you enter the market that is used as a car park. Anybody camping on there is likely to be taken as a new trader waiting for the morning. Toilets open at 07:00 and one or more catering vans open from about the same time. Otherwise for those who do not mind staying on the road side there is a large area just before the Motorway when approaching from the East where truckers pull in.

Free camping in Tebay

Exit M6 at junction 38, follow A685 for a couple of miles then shortly after a fairly steep incline there’s a small car park ideally suited for an overnight stop. There are no signs saying you can’t stay overnight and there’s nothing nearby… no village, no shops, no anything, just fields. Perfect for those travelling to Scotland and in need of a quick stopover as it’s only a few minutes off the M6.

Free camping Near Kirkby Stephen

Four miles east of Kirkby Stephen on the B6270 to Keld and right on the county border is a decent sized layby.

  1. your not allowed to camp in wastwater anymore due to the masses of campervans using the laybys and causing damage to the area. Same goes for many supposed ” quiet places close to nature ? ” they have been trashed by overuse. The locals are pissed off and everyone is now seen as a problem fly camper who has no respect for the environment. Eg the top of walna scar road is now off limits. Due to the explosion of campervans this is will be an ongoing problem .

    Reply

    1. The more places shut down the worse this problem is going to become. Yes I get there’s some bad selfish dirty camper vanners like with everyone but the majority are respectful. I litter pick everywhere I stay over. I hate England with a passion only country in the world where everyone moans about someone else even if it doesn’t affect them.

      Reply

  2. reply
    can you please post a number for these sites that we can put in a sat nav would really help 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *