Yes, you can wild camp on Dartmoor without asking the landowner, and since May 2025 that is settled law. The catch is in the details: it has to be backpack camping, in a small tent you carried in on foot, for one or two nights, on the parts of the commons the National Park Authority shows on its camping map. A van, campervan or motorhome is not covered anywhere on the moor. Verified against the Supreme Court judgment and the Authority’s pages on 1 October 2026.

What the Supreme Court decided

Section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 gives the public a right of access to the Dartmoor commons on foot and on horseback for open-air recreation. The commons are the open, unenclosed moorland, privately owned, where local commoners have the right to graze livestock. A landowning couple argued that this did not include camping, won in the High Court in 2023, and lost in the Court of Appeal later that year. On 21 May 2025 the Supreme Court dismissed their appeal, all five justices agreeing.

Camping, the court said, is, in ordinary language, a form of open-air recreation, so you may go onto the commons on foot or on horseback for the purpose of camping there. Because Parliament gave that as a right, the landowner’s usual claim in trespass is displaced. The right is expressly subject to the byelaws, which is where the practical limits live.

Two things the ruling did not do. It did not cover the whole National Park: the commons are about 37% of its area, according to the judgment. And it did not touch vehicles, because the right is about arriving on foot or on horseback.

What counts as backpack camping

The Authority’s own definition: if you can carry everything you need in your backpack as part of a Dartmoor walking expedition, you are welcome to camp for one or two nights in some areas of open moorland, out of sight of roads or settlements. Its Backpack Camping Code fills in the rest:

  • A lightweight tent and gear that fits in a backpack you can carry.
  • One or two nights at most, as part of a longer walk.
  • Small tents that blend in, out of sight from roads and buildings.
  • No more than six people in a group.
  • No open fires or BBQs. Take all litter home, because there are no bins.
  • Bury poo and toilet paper under at least 15cm of turf, so pack a trowel.
  • Take extra care during lambing and ground nesting bird season, 1 March to 31 July.

The Authority’s own test: if you need a bin, a toilet or more kit than you can carry, use a campsite.

The byelaws, which are the enforceable part

The Code asks. The byelaws require, and a breach can lead to a fine on summary conviction. For camping, byelaw 6 says:

  • No vehicle, caravan or structure other than a tent may be used for camping on access land or in land set aside for parking.
  • No tent in any area listed in Schedule 2, within 100 metres of a public road, or in any enclosure.
  • No more than two consecutive nights in a tent on the same site.

Byelaw 8 bans lighting a fire. A proper camping stove, used safely, is allowed.

Where the map says no

The camping map is the document that decides where you pitch. It shades the commons where backpack camping is permitted; anything outside the shading is not. Schedule 2 to the byelaws also names commons where camping is prohibited, among them Haytor Down, Spitchwick Common, Roborough Down, Whitchurch Down and Holne Moor. The schedule says it is occasionally updated, so trust the current map over any list, this one included.

Part of the mapped area lies inside the military ranges. Their boundaries are marked with red and white posts, and when red flags fly by day or red lamps show by night, live firing is on and you stay out. Check the Dartmoor firing times before you set your route.

If you are driving something you sleep in

The answer is no, and the ruling changed nothing here. The Authority states that overnight sleeping in vehicles at the roadside or in car parks is not permitted under National Park byelaws, and that you cannot park a motorhome or campervan overnight in laybys, at the roadside or in car parks. Pulling into a layby for the view and a cup of tea is fine. Sleeping there is not.

Book a campsite or caravan park that accepts motorhomes; the Authority publishes a searchable list. Some Dartmoor roads are too narrow for a big vehicle, so plan with the Authority’s coach and motorhome route map rather than satnav.

A ranger’s direction and the notice on the ground beat this page. If the sign says something different, the sign wins.

Our Dartmoor backpack camping rules page has the full byelaw detail. For contrast, the Lake District only tolerates wild camping, Wales comes out differently again, and every framework we cover is on the rules pages.

Sources

  1. Camping, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  2. Backpack Camping Code, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  3. Camping Map, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  4. Byelaws, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  5. Camping and motorhomes, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  6. Visiting FAQs, Dartmoor National Park Authority
  7. Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20, The National Archives
  8. Dartmoor firing times, Ministry of Defence

When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.