Regulations United Kingdom Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor backpack camping area 31
Camping & bivouac
Regulations on 30 October 2026
Signs at the site and later resolutions prevail; check the source.
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Regulated
Camping & bivouac · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
How do I backpack camp (wild camp)?
- - Backpack camping means carrying your own equipment as part of your walk and staying one or two nights max. You may camp overnight in certain areas highlighted on the map and provided you follow the Code of Conduct
- - No overnight stays in vehicles, campervans or motorhomes.
- - No large tents or large groups camping.
- - Leave no trace - don't light fires and take all rubbish home.
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Dartmoor Live Firing
Please note that part of the camping map is within the area that the military use for training. The boundaries of these range danger areas are marked on the ground by a series of red and white posts with warning notices. The public has access to these moorland areas except when the ranges are in use for live firing. […]
Published by Dartmoor National Park Authority · Camping Map | Dartmoor
In Dartmoor National Park
Regulated zone
Dartmoor National Park
These hold everywhere inside the boundary, whether or not a site is marked.
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Regulated
Camping & bivouac · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
Backpack Camping Code
Following the Backpack Camping Code will help to protect Dartmoor’s fragile moorland environment.
Travel light
- - Use a lightweight tent and equipment that fits into a backpack you can carry
- - Staying one or two nights max as part of your longer walk or expedition
Stay out of sight
- - Small and lightweight tents which easily blend into the landscape
- - Out of sight from roads and buildings
- - There must be no more than six people in a group
Tread lightly
- - No open fires or BBQs
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- - Avoid disturbing wildlife, particularly during lambing and bird breeding season (1 March - 31 July)
Published by Dartmoor National Park Authority · Camping | Dartmoor
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Regulated
Camping & bivouac · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
BYELAWS made under Section 90 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and Section 11 of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 by DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL acting as Dartmoor National Park Authority with respect to access land within the Dartmoor National Park.
1 Interpretation
In the construction of these byelaws “the Authority” means Devon County Council acting in its capacity as Dartmoor National Park Authority and “access land” shall be all that land:
(i) defined as “the commons” in Section 2 of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 and
(i) land within the Dartmoor National Park to which the public has access by virtue of the Authority having an interest in that land and which is more particularly identified in Schedule 1 to these byelaws.
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6 Camping
- 1. No person shall knowingly use any vehicle, including a caravan or any structure other than a tent for the purpose of camping on the access land or land set out for the use or parking of vehicles except on any area which may be set apart and indicated by notice as a place where such camping is permitted.
- 2. No person shall knowingly erect a tent on the access land for the purpose of camping:
(a) in any area listed in Schedule 2 to these byelaws;
(b)within 100 metres of any public road or in any enclosure.
- 3. No person shall camp in a tent on the same site on the access land for more than two consecutive nights, except on any area which may be set apart and indicated by notice as a place where such camping is permitted.
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Schedule 2
Additional areas where camping is prohibited (identified by reference to the common land unit number recorded in the Register of Commons Land maintained by Devon County Council).
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Published by Dartmoor National Park Authority · Byelaws | Dartmoor
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Regulated
Paragliding · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
BYELAWS made under Section 90 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and Section 11 of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 by DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL acting as Dartmoor National Park Authority with respect to access land within the Dartmoor National Park.
1 Interpretation
In the construction of these byelaws “the Authority” means Devon County Council acting in its capacity as Dartmoor National Park Authority and “access land” shall be all that land:
(i) defined as “the commons” in Section 2 of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 and
(i) land within the Dartmoor National Park to which the public has access by virtue of the Authority having an interest in that land and which is more particularly identified in Schedule 1 to these byelaws.
[…]
17 Aircraft
No person shall take off from or land upon the access land in an aircraft, helicopter, hang-glider or hot-air balloon (except in an emergency) unless he is authorised to do so by the Authority.
Published by Dartmoor National Park Authority · Byelaws | Dartmoor
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Regulated
Camping & bivouac · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
- 1. This case is about the extent of the public’s right of access to Dartmoor under section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 (“the 1985 Act”). The question the court has to decide is whether section 10(1) confers on the public a right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on the Dartmoor Commons (“the Commons”).
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- 17. The starting point is the wording of section 10(1) itself. There are several indications that wild camping by individuals who have entered the commons on foot or on horseback is made a matter of entitlement by that provision. […]
(i) Section 10(1) states that “the public shall have a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation”. In our view, as a matter of ordinary language, camping is a form of “open-air recreation”. Therefore, the provision confers on members of the public a right of access to the Commons, provided that it is exercised by going onto the Commons on foot or on horseback, for the purpose of camping there. […]
(ii) The right in section 10(1) is expressed to be subject to the provisions of the 1985 Act and compliance with all rules, regulations or byelaws relating to the Commons which are in force. […] The public right of access under section 10(1) is qualified by the requirement of compliance with those forms of public regulations, so non-compliance with them triggers the possibility of landowners being able to sue in trespass. […]
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- 60. For the reasons set out above, we would dismiss the appeal.
Published by The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, 21 May 2025 · Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20
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Regulated
Hiking · All year
In force on 30 October 2026
B. Provisions concerning public access to commons
- 10.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and compliance with all rules, regulations or byelaws relating to the commons and for the time being in force, the public shall have a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation; and a person who enters on the commons for that purpose without breaking or damaging any wall, fence, hedge, gate or other thing, or who is on the commons for that purpose having so entered, shall not be treated as a trespasser on the commons or incur any other liability by reason only of so entering or being on the commons.
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(4) Nothing in this section shall prejudice or affect the exercise of powers under any enactment whereby access to the commons may be regulated or prohibited; and, subject to subsection (8) below, the Park Authority may by notices posted in such places on the commons as they think fit regulate or prohibit for such period as may be reasonably necessary access by all, or any part of, the public to any part of the commons (including any footpath or bridleway thereon)—
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Published by UK Parliament, 30 Oct 1985 · Dartmoor Commons Act 1985