Looking for basic, family friendly, 'wild' campsites

[Mt563]

Planning our camping for this year, we love small sites with a wild/ natural feel, easy access to walks and nature. We don't need electric, but with the kids do appreciate a good toilet block and possibly a small covered area for washing up. Love if there are animals on site/ nearby. Looking to pay up to £30, have a 4m bell tent so largish plot.

Hollows farm in Grange, Lake District is lovely. Very peaceful, right next to a river and lots of walks from the site. Facilities are basic but very clean.

Our three favourites are Ling’s Meadow, Blackberry Wood and The Sunny Field

Wall park caravan and camping in Brixham
good loo/ shower block and covered washing up area
lovely walks over to berry head
play area for kids

Are you in the Camping and Caravan Club? Their CS sites offer what you’re looking for.

Have you looked on The Greener Camping club? Lots of smaller sites with a more nature based focus. We’ve been to a few and they have been great.

Look at the pop up sites, they tend to be much more basic and quite often on farms/in fields owned by farmers to boost income so great for kids.

Eweleaze, near Weymouth, is amazing

We loved Cwrt Hen in Wales.
https://www.cwrthencamping.com/

There are lots of similar on the Greener camping club website.
https://www.greenercamping.org/

Fisherground in eskdale, basic but decent toilet block. Play area and Walking distance to shops and village. Can walk up to the mini stream train. Our kiddos loved

Mill Meadow in Cornwall, near Port Isaac. It’s our fav site! Basic toilets and showers, lots of space to run around for kids. Even a metal shed with a fridge/freezer/washer and dryer. John, the owner, is a fab bloke! We’ve been two years in a row. £21 for our caravan, 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog with electric. He takes tents too.

We love sites like this too, current favourite is red sky at night campsite in Monmouthshire.

loving the recommends here - few to check out thanks all

Do you want some Scottish and Irish suggestions or is that too far?

Tom's Field near Swanage

Comrie Croft in Perthshire - nice toilets down in the main bit, with a great cafe . Toilets in the higher fields are compost ones, but OK. Decent shop as well
Balloch O’Dee in Dumfries and Galloway - great toilets and nice site with chickens that run about
The Hideaway by Baxby Manor in Yorkshire. Great toilets and shower block that is always super clean, nice staff, and on site pizza shack

Maisie’s campsite North Devon. Has the absolute basics and in the most beautiful environment. Only open for about 8 weeks in the summer. Absolutely gorgeous place run by a friend of mine.

What area?
I am in the south west so can only recommend that area. I can also recommend Toms field in swanage, also Woodyhyde which isn’t far from Swanage (near Corfe castle). Litton Lakes near Bridport is also great, it has a small lake that you can kayak/paddleboard on and isn’t far from west bay and Devon border.

Scotland:

https://rothiemurchus.net/visit/stay/

https://www.thesecretglen.co.uk/ (fabulous place - facilities are some of the bestI have ever had, plus squirrel watching from your pitch)

https://www.comriecroft.com/camping

Loo and a tap - but you won't get much wilder than this unless you head into the hills: https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/tay-forest-park/kilvrecht-campsite

Unique / hippy as well as wild - and often great live music in the blackhouse through the season. I had otters running around the beach while I cooked breakfast a few metres from them...: https://lickistoblackhousecamping.co.uk/

Mull is jammed with wildlife - and this was a real gem of a find a few years back. Looks like it has been renovated too:
https://fiddenfarm.co.uk/

I have a few more if you want...

Tortworth Forest Centre just north of Bristol is pretty magical. Slightly more than your budget but you get the place to yourself. Great if you can get another family to split the cost with.

tortwortharboretum.org/woodland-hire/

Noongallas Farm nr Gulval, Penzance

There's one in Morvah that is just a field and a wonky toilet block- you'll see it if you go to Morvah. It was £5 pp last time I went.

South Penquite Farm on Bodmin Moor, although that's on the posh side- it even has a reception!

Lower Pennycrocker Farm above (I mean 200m above, near the cliffs!) Boscastle- it has a couple of fields with EHUs where all the campers are jammed in cheek by jowl, and a couple of basic fields that were nearly empty when I went in August. I love the current trend for everyone to think they need an EHU 😈.

Trees Mill Farm, nr Tywardreath/Fowey ("I'm out DJing at a rave tonight, so just stick a tenner through the letterbox" 😆)

Keveral Farm, nr Looe.

Cockingford Mill, Brimpts Farm, Huccaby Farm- all on Dartmoor.

The Doone Valley on Exmoor has 3 campsites strung along it- I stayed in the first one which was good and basic, then there was another similar one, then Cloud Farm which is a NT campsite and looks stunning.

Paddington Farm, Glastonbury (it's behind the Tor, so you can walk there down quiet lanes)

Steeple Leaze Farm, Kimmeridge, Dorset.

All of the above are around a tenner a night per adult (last time I was there) and allow fires.

A good way to find campsites like this (that don't always have websites) is to do a search for "Farm camping" on Google maps.

yes but it’s not ‘wild’!