Best campsites for the North Devon AONB
Here is our pick of the Alan Rogers Assessors, expert-recommended campsites for the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Spread across 66 square miles of some of England’s most attractive and important coastline, the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty features dramatic cliffs, tumbling waterfalls, secret coves, sandy dunes and wooded valleys. Each habitat represents shelter and an environment where different species can find refuge, as well as providing geological and cultural interest for visitors.
There are countless villages and little ports to visit, including Clovelly with its pirate history, historic Bideford and Woolacombe with its magnificent beach. The enormous sweep of Barnstaple Bay and the sands of Westward Ho! and Braunton Burrows are in stark contrast to the jagged cliffs that face resolutely out to the Atlantic at Hartland Point. Further variety can be found in the cliff-top grasslands, many incorporating Sites of Special Scientific Interest and harbouring rare species like marsh orchids.
Walkers can enjoy the Hartland Easy Access Trail or the Combe Martin Cultural Trail, while the Tarka Trail is popular with both cyclists and walkers.
Top North Devon AONB Camping Options
Mill Park is a small family-run sheltered touring caravan and camping site set in an attractive wooded valley on the North Devon Coast. It has a shop, a takeaway, a games room, laundry, and many other facilities such as gas-changing and ice pack freezing. Several glamping options, including three bell tents and three glamping pods, are available on-site. There is also an on-site pub serving a modest menu. Mill Park is surrounded by attractive woodland and is an ideal family site as it's just a short walk to quiet sand and pebble beaches.
Exmoor House Caravan and Motorhome Club site is well situated on the outskirts of the charming country town of Dulverton, alongside the River Barle. It is professionally run and all facilities are maintained to a very high standard. The site is well landscaped with tarmac roads and a choice of 66 pitches, all gravel hardstandings and a further 8 fully serviced. Some are quite small but certainly not cramped. All have 16 amp electricity hook-ups. Walls and hedges divide the site into smaller areas. It is ideal for those who simply want to relax and enjoy the birdsong, but there are numerous opportunities for an adventurous stay, with canoeing and kayaking on the doorstep and sailing and fishing at Wimbleball Lake, just five miles away.
Willingcott Caravan and Motorhome Club site is a spacious site divided into separate areas by Devon Banks. The site is both quiet and peaceful out of peak season yet offers a vibrant family site at other times of the year. Glimpses of Lundy Island can be seen across the water. The site boasts direct access for cyclists to the National Cycle Network route 27 and North Devon Cycle Network. It has 127 grass/hardstanding pitches (some seasonal) all with electricity 16amp.
Set on a small hillside, Minehead Caravan and Motorhome Club site is spread across several flat areas, all of which are attractively screened from the road with plentiful trees and bushes. For shopping and all the attractions of a traditional British seaside resort, Minehead is only a 15-minute walk away. Other tempting attractions to visit when touring in Somerset are Dunster Castle and beautiful Exmoor, famous as Lorna Doone country, which is also a popular draw especially for walkers and those with dogs. There are also excellent bus links to explore the Quantocks, Porlock, Taunton and Dulverton. The site has 49 hardstanding pitches all with 16 amp electricity.
Devon Banks is a campsite exclusively for adults located on the edge of Exmoor national park between Bratton Fleming and Challacombe in North Devon. This small quiet campsiconsistssts of 5 hard-standing pitches, and during the summer months, there are five grass pitches, all with electric hookup points available. You can bring your four-legged friends with you as a 3-acre fenced exercise area is known for off-lead play.
This superbly located farm campsite can be found nestling in a valley beside the River Exe. The working farm provides four meadows, all without electricity, and is ideal for ‘back to basics’ style touring. Uniquely, open fires are permitted in one field with logs being available to purchase. You can marvel at the wildlife, wander around the working farm and sample the farm’s own produce in the shop, which also stocks basic provisions. Walking maps can be found at reception which is located in the old dairy.
A truly rural park with beautiful, moorland views, you may be lucky enough to glimpse red deer across the valley or see ponies and foals grazing outside the main gate which is adjacent to the moor. Two open, neatly cut fields (level at the top) back onto traditional hedging and slope gently to the middle and bottom where wild flowers dominate. One field provides 10A electricity points and is used for motorhomes, caravans and tents requiring electricity, the other is for tents. Reception is in the farmhouse – leave your unit by the toilet block and walk down to the farm kitchen to book in.
Occupying a prime position in a wooded valley alongside the River Exe, within the National Park, Exe Valley Caravan Site is ideally situated for visiting Tarr Steps, Dulverton, the North Somerset coast and many other beautiful places in the area. This quiet, adult only, four-acre campsite is owned and managed by Paul and Christine Matthews and their excellent wardens. Set beside the River Exe, or the millstream, there are 50 large pitches (mostly grass but with some hardstandings at the top end and one near the entrance), of which 47 have 10A electricity and TV hook-ups (cable provided on loan). Reception is now at the entrance. The owner’s home is an old mill, complete with working water wheel and millstones, that opens to visitors most Sundays at 10 am.
Lowtrow Cross is a small, adults only park situated just inside Exmoor National Park and is ideal for owners of well behaved dogs. It is quietly located on a hillside giving lovely views north towards the Brendon Hills. There are 28 mixed pitches, four occupied by caravan holiday homes (two for hire) and six seasonal, and all the remaining touring pitches are hardstanding with grass surround, with 16A electricity and TV socket. An adjacent meadow with stunning views over the rolling countryside can be used for tents. Although there is no bar or restaurant on site there is Lowtrow Cross Inn at the gate with local cask beers and excellent food.
Lynmouth Holiday Retreat is a quiet park situated in a sunny, south-facing position overlooking Lynton and Lynmouth. The park is divided into two areas, an open area that is sheltered by bushes and trees, and one that is more exposed but enjoys panoramic views over the coast. The gently sloping ground provides fairly level pitches with 31 touring pitches, 17 have 16A electricity and the remainder are fully serviced. The grass is well cared for and there is site lighting, although a torch would be useful.
Lobb Fields is a stunning four star caravan and camping park set within North Devon’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It has two camping areas providing 180 pitches on sloping grass, with a few hardstandings. Seventeen pitches are reserved for seasonal caravans, 107 have 16A electricity hook-ups and 10 are on hard standing. A third field is open for campers for 28 days only in high season. The pitches are marked and grass roads lead to the amenities, and as the two toilet blocks are at the very bottom or very top of the fields, some up and down walking is inevitable. With the village of Braunton and Saunton Sands right on the doorstep and the beautiful Croyde, Putsborough and award-wining Woolacombe beach just a short drive along the coast road, you’ll never be stuck for choice when it comes to finding new adventures. There is everything you need for the perfect holiday, from fully equipped laundry rooms to showers with unlimited hot water, glamping tents for hire with all the trimmings and surf equipment hire on-site!
Sandymouth is a popular family park with a good range of amenities. It is situated on the side of a valley with wonderful views but also a lot of up-and-down walking. There are 204 pitches with 21 serviced pitches for motorhomes and caravans, arranged either side of a tarmac roadway. There is a large, sloping, open field for 70 tents, 17 of the pitches have 16A electricity. There is also a good range of fully equipped mobile homes, chalets and lodges available to rent. On-site amenities include an indoor pool (with water slide), sauna and free membership of the Ocean Bar and Club.
Wooda Farm is spacious and well organised with some nice touches. A quality, family run park, it is part of a working farm set within 40 acres, under 2 miles from the sandy, surfing beaches of Bude. In peaceful farmland with plenty of open spaces (and some up and down walking), there are beautiful views of the sea and countryside.
Twitchen House is located next to ‘Britain’s best beach’ with its own footpath down to the sea. The holiday park is hidden away in the trees with a historic Edwardian manor house right in the centre plus there is a scenic walk through the woods connecting you to the famous South West Coastal Path.
There is a superb selection of caravan holiday homes plus all-weather camping and touring pitches with immaculate on-site facilities.
Almost every facility has been redeveloped over the past couple of years plus there is an extensive selection of all-weather activities, many of them free.
This is a leisurely medium size park, nestled in acres of woodland.