Woodland Camping

Woodlands are a great place to explore and watch nature, and just with the seasons, woodland becomes a very different place at night. Camping in your woodland is a great activity to do whether you pitch a tent, make a shelter or build a yurt.

There are many planning restrictions on woodland - you couldn't permanently live among the trees and bushes without planning permission. Regulation is governed by local planning officers' interpretation of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) 1995. Part 4 of GPDO states that on a holding exceeding five acres, up to three caravans can be stationed for human habitation at any one time, provided that the site is not used for this purpose for more than 28 days in a year.

Camping in your woodland should cause no problem providing more privacy compared with a camping site and you find that wild animals and birds haven't been scared off by a constant stream of campers.

Your woodland will lack the facilities of a commercial campsite so you'll have to get back to nature. An "earth closet" can take care of business, it is simply a hole in the ground with a strong bucket placed upside down over it. If you have a container of old ashes from the campfire you can use this instead of a flush! Other people just keep a spade and roll of loo paper available and to hand.

Never heard of a yurt?

The yurt (see photo above) is probably the most practical temporary dwelling available. The English word Yurt is derived from the Russian Yurta which describes a circular trellis walled framed tent. The Russian word Yurta is derived from a Turkic word describing a camping ground.

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