Know Where You May and May Not Camp

England and Wales have no general right to wild camp. That surprises a lot of people, but it is the starting point for everything else in this article. Unless you have the landowner's permission, you are camping somewhere by agreement — a campsite, a certified site, a farm field, or one of the few places where a national park has a formal permission scheme in place. Scotland is different: the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives a right of responsible access that includes lightweight wild camping, but even there it is not absolute. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, for example, has seasonal byelaws requiring permits in certain areas during the summer months.

Dartmoor is the other place that catches people out. Wild camping there has been the subject of legal argument in recent years, and the position now depends on the specific common and on the park's permitted camping scheme. If you are heading there, check the current rules on the day rather than trusting an old blog post — including this one. The New Forest, most heathland nature reserves, and nearly every stretch of lowland common do not allow overnight camping at all.

So the practical rule is simple: assume you need permission, and go looking for it. Farmers and small campsites are often far more accommodating than people expect if you ask politely in advance rather than turning up at dusk.

Arrive Late, Leave Early, and Stay Small

The old bothy and backpacking convention is to arrive late in the evening and be gone by early morning. It is not just about avoiding awkward conversations. Late arrival keeps you out of the way of dog walkers, grazing livestock and nesting birds, and it means you occupy a spot for the shortest possible time. A pitch used for eight hours leaves far less mark than one used for thirty.

Keep the footprint tiny as well:

• One small tent or bivvy, not a sprawling base camp with a windbreak and a gazebo.
• Pitch on bare or already-worn ground where you can, not on heather, bilberry or lichen.
• Move on the next day rather than staying two nights in the same wild spot.
• Avoid the softest, most tempting patches — they are often the most fragile.

If a location is genuinely inaccessible, the question is usually whether you should be there at all. On heathland, the answer is often no.

Take Everything Home, Including the Small Things

The single biggest lie in outdoor literature is that some items are "biodegradable" and can therefore be left behind. On lowland heath and acid grassland, the breakdown process is slow and the soil is poor. An orange peel can sit there for years. Tea bags, apple cores, nut shells, wet wipes and the tiny corners of wrappers all persist far longer than you would think, and food waste draws in crows, foxes and rats that then predate ground-nesting birds.

Carry a dedicated rubbish bag from the start, and one spare. Then:

• Collect micro-litter as well as obvious items — cable ties, hair bands, the plastic seal from a gas canister.
• Never bury food waste. Animals dig it up.
• Take used toilet paper away in a sealed bag. It does not decompose neatly in a shallow scrape.
• Leave no scorch mark, no flattened grass ring, no stones rearranged into a hearth.

If a site looks worse after you leave than before, something has gone wrong. The aim is for the next person to see nothing at all.

Use a Stove, Not an Open Fire

Heathland is one of the most fire-prone habitats in Britain. The combination of dry heather, gorse, dead bracken and — crucially — deep peat soils means a fire can spread across the surface quickly and then keep smouldering underground for days after you have gone. Peat fires are notoriously hard to extinguish and can reignite in dry weather weeks later.

A small gas or alcohol stove weighs very little, lights in seconds, and gives you a hot meal and a brew without any of that risk. Even a fire pit or a raised hearth is a poor idea on heathland; the heat alone can kill the seed bank and lichen crust beneath it.

If you are on a proper campsite where fires are allowed, use the established hearth, keep it small, and never leave it unattended. Check the fire danger rating before you travel — after a dry spring, many areas ban open flames entirely, and that includes disposable barbecues.

Toilets, Water and the Wildlife You Share It With

If there is no facility, dig a hole about 15 to 20 centimetres deep, well away from water — at least 30 metres from any stream, ditch or pool — and refill it properly afterwards. Carry out the paper.

Water from streams and seepages on heathland should be treated. Boiling is the simplest method, but a filter is lighter on fuel for larger volumes. Do not assume clear water is clean water; agricultural run-off and animal contamination are common.

Remember what lives there. Nightjars, woodlarks, Dartford warblers, curlews and adders all use these habitats, and ground-nesting birds will abandon eggs if you walk through their patch repeatedly. Keep noise low after dark, use a red or dimmed torch, keep dogs on a short lead around livestock and nesting season, and leave gates exactly as you found them.

The Morning After: Packing Up Properly

Before you leave, walk a slow loop around your pitch with your head down. Check for tent pegs, guy line offcuts, dropped tent poles and the small stuff that falls out of pockets. Fill in any scrape you made. Give the ground a chance to spring back.

Then check the weather and the ground underfoot on your way out, so you are not the person who discovers too late that a heel has cut a new path through fragile heather. Camping responsibly in Britain is not complicated, but it is deliberate: permission first, small pitch, quiet hours, no fire, nothing left behind. Do those things and you will be welcome back.