Wild camping for the Way of the Roses coast to coast route?
Todd Sweeney
Posts: 117
Hello,
Myself and 3 friends are planning to cycle the Way of the Roses route over 3 days on the weekend of the May day bank holiday/royal wedding. Each of us will be camping, taking our own small tent. We planned to camp around Pately Bridge, then York, and then at the finish in Bridlington.
However, we have run into a problem with booking campsites. Every campsite we have tried has said no, either because they require us to book a minimum of 3 nights that weekend, or because they will apparently not take same sex groups. I can understand the first reason, as it is bound to be a busy weekend at their campsites, but the second reason seems bizarre. We are all in our mid-thirties with kids etc, and after a hard day in the saddle are unlikely to be holding any wild parties in our tents!
We have therefore started to consider wild camping. I have never done this before so I wondered whether anyone could advise on whether it would be an option worth considering for this ride? Are there suitable places to camp along the route, and is it likely that farmers/landowners would give us permission to camp overnight?
Thanks in advance for any advice - it would be very much appreciated.
Myself and 3 friends are planning to cycle the Way of the Roses route over 3 days on the weekend of the May day bank holiday/royal wedding. Each of us will be camping, taking our own small tent. We planned to camp around Pately Bridge, then York, and then at the finish in Bridlington.
However, we have run into a problem with booking campsites. Every campsite we have tried has said no, either because they require us to book a minimum of 3 nights that weekend, or because they will apparently not take same sex groups. I can understand the first reason, as it is bound to be a busy weekend at their campsites, but the second reason seems bizarre. We are all in our mid-thirties with kids etc, and after a hard day in the saddle are unlikely to be holding any wild parties in our tents!
We have therefore started to consider wild camping. I have never done this before so I wondered whether anyone could advise on whether it would be an option worth considering for this ride? Are there suitable places to camp along the route, and is it likely that farmers/landowners would give us permission to camp overnight?
Thanks in advance for any advice - it would be very much appreciated.
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Comments
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Someone on another forum elsewhere suggested that you try using Camping and Caravan Club sites. Although I suspect that his assertions that all of the sites have to offer you a pitch because you arrived on a bike is a bit wide of the mark, membership of the club does get you their handbook and a large list of campsites affiliated or listed by them. It's worth a punt. I have used the handbook in the past but now make do with speculative turning up at a camp site and wildcamping if I'm turned away.
As for the wildcamping - I seek a spot that out of the line of sight of cars and buildings at dusk, pitch late and leave early. Stealth camping is the alternative phrase. Try it. There's plenty of dry stone walls offering shelter from prying eyes.0 -
I have done heaps of stealth camping as the above poster put it, and his advice is spot on: seek out your spot around dusk, just when it is dark enough so that on-coming traffic (if any) will have their lights on, but still light enough so you can see in the gloom. Go well into what ever cover you can find, and leave by sunup the next morning - with no one the wiser. Don't build any fires, just nip in there to sleep and then be on your way. Dead easy.0
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On the other hand..
"Hi my name is Todd Sweeney, myself and a few friends want to stay in your camp site.."
[phone is put down]
".. hello"
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