No, you cannot wild camp in the Yorkshire Dales unless the landowner has said yes first. The National Park Authority puts it plainly: wild camping is not permitted anywhere in the Yorkshire Dales without prior permission from the landowner. It adds that it has no power to allow camping on private land, and that it does not permit camping on the small amount of land it owns. In a van or motorhome the answer is shorter still: sleeping in the Authority’s car parks is banned at any time. Verified against the Authority’s pages and byelaws on 25 October 2026.

The right to roam stops at the tent

About 60% of the National Park, more than 120,000 hectares, is open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The Authority describes it as open for walking, climbing and running, with cycling, horse riding and motor vehicles not allowed. The Act itself is explicit about camping: Schedule 2, paragraph 1(s), takes camping out of the access right altogether.

In practice: you can walk anywhere on that moor, but pitching on it without asking is trespass. Height, distance from the road and leaving before dawn change nothing. Access land can also close at short notice for nesting birds, land management or fire prevention, so check Natural England’s mapping before you set off. From 1 March to 31 July, dogs on access land must be on a lead.

The National Trust, which looks after land around Malham Tarn and Upper Wharfedale, gives the same answer for its ground: it does not allow wild camping or overnight parking, and it asks visitors not to light fires or barbecues.

Vans and motorhomes: park by day, sleep on a site

This is the part that matters if you are traveling in a vehicle.

  • Authority car parks: no overnight occupation. The Authority runs car parks at Aysgarth Falls, Buckden, Clapham, Grassington, Hawes, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Kettlewell, Linton Falls, Malham and Stainforth. Its car parks page states that overnight occupation of vehicles is prohibited in all of them, and that camping and overnight occupation of motorhomes is also prohibited.
  • The byelaw behind it. The Authority’s car park byelaws, made on 29 March 2022, say no one may use any vehicle, “including a caravan or caravanette”, for camping on that land without the Authority’s consent. Breaking a byelaw carries a fine of up to £500 on conviction.
  • Long tickets are for leaving the van, not sleeping in it. Charges from 1 April 2026 run from £3.80 for up to 2 hours to £7.00 for 24 hours, £8.50 for 48 hours and £20.00 for 7 days. Those longer tickets suit a multi-day walk while you sleep at a campsite or bunkhouse. The machines are card-only. To pay cash, go inside the visitor centres at Grassington, Malham, Hawes or Aysgarth Falls during opening hours.
  • Stargazing is not a loophole. Buckden, Malham and Hawes are Dark Sky Discovery sites, and parking there is free from 7pm to 6am if you are stargazing. You still cannot spend the night in the vehicle.
  • No driving onto the moor. Motor vehicles are not allowed on access land, so pulling off the road onto open ground is not an option either.

Useful on the way through: the toilets at all the Authority’s car parks are open 24 hours a day, and every car park has electric vehicle charging.

Other car parks in the Dales belong to councils and private owners, each with its own rules. Unless the sign at the entrance says overnight stays are allowed, do not plan on one. Some British councils run car parks where motorhomes can stay overnight on set terms; our guide to UK motorhome aires covers how that works.

Where to sleep instead

The Authority points you to booked campsites through its where-to-stay search, and notes that many extra pop-up campsites open through the year. Pop-ups are legal, short-season fields; ask each one whether it takes vans before you drive over.

If a farmer gives you permission, you have the one thing the law asks for. Keep it to a night, arrive late, leave early, take everything away, and use a stove rather than a fire. If a sign, a ranger or the landowner tells you something different from this page, they are right.

How the Dales compare

The Dales match most of England. The Peak District also requires the landowner’s permission and bans overnight stays in its car parks. The Lake District also refuses permission, though it publishes the conditions under which landowners tolerate a one-night camp of one or two tents above the highest fell wall. Dartmoor is the English exception, and only for tents. Every framework we cover is listed on the rules pages.

Sources

  1. Motorhome and campervan hire and camping, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
  2. Yorkshire Dales National Park car parks and toilets, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
  3. Byelaws relating to car parks (made 29 March 2022), Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
  4. Open access, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
  5. Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Schedule 2, legislation.gov.uk
  6. What to expect on your visit to the Yorkshire Dales, National Trust

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