Camping in a campground is fine, but there are many who want to get even closer to nature. They enjoy wild camping, which is pretty much what it says on the tin, camping away from civilisation, and without the modern conveniences of the camp site.
It’s not for wimps, since this is real 'roughing it', but those who have the taste absolutely love it. The thing to remember, though, is that all the land in the United Kingdom is owned by someone, meaning that there are laws that apply to wild camping, those that apply in England and Wales, and different ones in force in Scotland.
Generally wild camping is quite acceptable if you’re more than half a day’s hike from a campground, although, within the UK, that’s generally unlikely.
Within the National Parks, wild camping is a right. However, there are certain limitations. It has to be on access land (and not all land in a National Park is access land), more than 100 metres from a road, and you must use a tent, not a caravan – for pretty obvious reasons. But in Dartmoor the right allowing wild camping is enshrined in an amendment to the Countryside Act of 1949.
There will also be exceptions at times. In the Peak District, for example, wild camping has often been banned when the moors are dry to avoid the danger of fires which can be difficult to put out and can easily destroy acres of land.
When wild camping, you do need to observe good camping etiquette, by leaving the land just as you found it, taking all litter with you, making sure there’s only a small group of you, and ensuring that your toilet is more than 30 metres from any water, taking care to carefully bury your toilet waste – so be sure you have a small digging implement with you. You should never spend more than two nights in the same camp, whether on private or National Park land.
Where no access rights exist, wild camping is not permitted without specific permission, so you need to be very aware of where you are and what kind of land it is before trying to set up camp. You should not exceed two, or at most three, nights in any one spot.