Finding the rules that apply where you are camping

What this page does, and what it deliberately does not do

There is no general rule about where you may sleep outdoors, light a stove or build a fire. There are thousands of specific rules, set by different bodies, that differ between one valley and the next and change with the season, the fire risk and the ownership of the ground.

So this page contains no statement that anything is allowed anywhere. What it contains is a procedure for finding the rule that applies, and an ordering of who has the final word when sources disagree. Where a published rule and anything on this site differ, the published rule governs.

1. Establish who is responsible for the ground

Start here, because the answer determines every other source you will consult. Ground is normally under one or more of:

• A national or regional authority — a national park, a nature reserve, a forestry body, a coastal or water authority.
• A local authority or municipality, which frequently has its own by-laws about overnight stops, vehicles and fires.
• A private landholder — a farm, an estate, a forestry company, a water company.
• A managed site, whose own site rules apply on top of everything above.

Work it out from the map before the trip, not from a signpost at dusk. Boundaries between these are rarely visible on the ground and the rules can change completely across them.

2. Then find the published rule, in this order

Consult, in sequence, and stop when you have a current published answer for the specific place:

1. The managing authority’s own published guidance for that park, forest or reserve, in its current edition rather than a summary written elsewhere.
2. The local authority’s by-laws or notices, particularly for anything near a road, a beach or a settlement.
3. The landholder’s permission, where the ground is private. Permission is a matter for the person who holds the land, and no third party can grant it on their behalf.
4. Signage and site rules on the ground, which override a general regional statement for that specific place.

Two practical notes. First, dates matter: a rule found in a search result may be several seasons old, and the current notice is the one that counts. Second, a rule you find for one area says nothing about the area next to it — this is the assumption that catches people who have camped somewhere for years and cross a boundary.

3. Treat fire and stoves as a separate question

Whether you may sleep somewhere and whether you may light something there are two different permissions, decided by different notices, and often at different times of year.

Some authorities restrict open fires while permitting a contained stove; some restrict both under one notice; many operate a seasonal or risk-based system that changes week by week and is published as a current status rather than a standing rule. In dry conditions the answer for a given place can differ from the answer for the same place a fortnight earlier.

Check the current status for the dates you will be there, and check it again close to departure. This is the item most likely to have changed since you planned.

4. The manufacturer’s instructions are the other authority

Alongside the public rule sits a second body of instruction that governs the equipment itself, and it is not optional either.

• Stoves. The manual states where and how the stove may be used. Follow it rather than general advice.
• Windshields. Makers of upright canister stoves generally state that a full wrap-around shield must not be used, because it traps heat around the canister; remote-canister and liquid-fuel stoves, which keep the fuel outside the shield, are usually sold with one. Read the stove’s manual, not the shield’s packaging.
• Gas canisters. Each canister carries its own handling instructions, and the valve type — EN 417 threaded, bayonet, or pierceable — has to match the stove exactly.
• Water filters. What a filter is intended for, how it must be backflushed and stored, and anything at all about whether water may be drunk are set by the manufacturer’s instructions and by the authorities for the area. A stated micron rating describes a product, not a source.
• Hammocks and suspension. Makers publish a stated load figure, and the maker’s instructions govern how the hammock is hung and used.
• Cord. Type III paracord carries a published minimum breaking strength for new, straight, undamaged cord. It is a manufacturer specification rather than a working load, and it is not made to the standards that cover climbing equipment — EN 892 and EN 12277 among them. It holds a tarp; it is not a piece of life-supporting equipment.

Where the manufacturer’s instructions and any general guidance conflict, the instructions govern the product.

5. Temperature ratings are a comparison tool, not a plan

A sleeping bag’s comfort and limit figures, where the maker names EN 13537 or ISO 23537, come from a heated mannequin in a laboratory rather than from people. A third figure sometimes printed below them is not a temperature to plan a night around.

These numbers exist so that one bag can be compared with another on a common basis. They are an indication, not a promise, and how the bag should be used is set by the manufacturer’s own guidance. The same caution applies to any liner sold as adding a number of degrees: that is the maker’s claim, it depends on the bag, the mat and the sleeper, and no standard governs it.

6. Signalling equipment carries its own instructions

Where you carry a signal whistle or an emergency blanket, what the product is intended for and how it should be used are stated by the manufacturer, and the instructions are the reference. A published decibel figure for a whistle is a manufacturer measurement taken at a stated distance, and it is only comparable between products when the distance is quoted with it.

7. Before you leave

Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, and tell them what would count as late. Then re-check two things: the current fire or stove status for the area, and any temporary notice or closure for the specific ground.

When the rule and the plan disagree

The rule wins, and it wins without negotiation. Rules on camping, fire and stoves exist because of conditions — fire risk, erosion, wildlife, water protection, ownership — that are not visible from a map or a listing, and the body that published the rule has information that a plan made at home does not.

If the answer for the ground you had in mind turns out to be no, or turns out to be unfindable, the correct response is a different pitch or a managed site, and the equipment questions on the rest of this site are unaffected by it.