New Forest?

[chipstick]

Does anyone know what goes as far as camping is concerned, since the New Forest became a national park? Have they softened their approach towards wildcamping at all?
Thanks for any answers, both of the New Forest websites don't say a thing about it.

 

[Sickboy]

As far as i'm aware you should feel lucky they let you walk on it, camping's punishable by instant lynching Maybe wrong but i doubt it Lot's of campsite's though if you have a caravan and six kid's

 

[Zammo]

I emailed them about six months agao and got a resounding NO!

 

[Bushcraft4life]

Its a shame you can't wildcamp in the new forest.

When i emailed them a few months back, i got a rude email very much the same as Zammo, a big fat NO, they even went as far to say that wild campers were bad for the forest, what, and the twenty commercial campsites with over 500 pitches EACH isn't

 

[chipstick]

Reminds me of the Ashdown Forest argument that bicycles aren't allowed on the Forest becayuse they're somehow bad for the state of the tracks, yet horse riders, who create more mud than anyone, are permitted. That's what happens when a bunch of old fogeys are left in charge of something.

 

[oilyrag]

I lived in the NF for over 30 years and although i used to wild-camp as a lad, I always had a FC Officer in hot pursuit threatening to tell my mum. These days I think they tell the Police. The best campsite for those of a bushcraft dissuasion is Setthorns. It's the only site open all year round, you're not pestered by officials every time you cook a meal, it has the best wildlife and even though it's on the national cycle route, it's not as touristy as the other sites. The pub in the village is superb (Forest Heath), with friendly local characters with excellent foraging/fishing knowledge. Ask a local about Jack Hargreaves.

As for cycling, the linear tracks left by cycles allow surface water to run and exacerbate soil erosion. Horses hoof prints are not connected, thereby pooling the water and allowing it to drain.

 

[Sickboy]

I can understand if they were jittery about fire's but just camping's abit to much, think i'll find the bylaw's on the net and have a good read, local woodland prohibit's tent's and caravans/campervans but no mention of bivi's, think it's difficult to ban people from passing out drunk under a plastic sheet if need's be just looking after yourself as best you can

 

[FGYT]

would you want 8 million visitors a year camping any where and lighting fires its bad enough with Chavs n disposable BBQ's

I to was born 'n brought up there and did my fair share of overnighting
and passing out o nthe way home from teh pub too ( even woke up on the Island in teh middle of a small lake once )
mornin Officer

ATB

Duncan

 

[John Fenna]

I understand that some naughty people go into the woods and camp even when they know they are not allowed! They turn up late at night, when people can't see them and leave before anyone else is about so don't get seen then either!
If they get stopped by "authorities" their kit is generally still in their pack and they claim to be on a night hike, and when they do set up their bivvi they are in deep cover, show no lights and go straight to sleep and no-one knows they are there. If they get stopped in the morning, they boast of their early start in getting away from civilization. If they are seen eating their evening meal/breakfast (and they generally cook on a fast burning stove to cut down on cooking time and eat well away from where they set up their bivvi) they ask if it is a crime to take meals in the outdoors! Sitting on a rucksack doing 'bushcrafty' things may look sus but they cannot be done for wild camping if there is no sign of a camp! They tend not to use open fires as these are too easily spotted and investigated by "authorities"...
Covert, minimal impact, wild-campers are the bane of the "authorities" lives as they break the rules but are almost never caught....naughty people!

Is it justified, I ask you, to take such a bucaneering stand, living by the motto of "What the eye don't see the heart don't grieve over" enjoying simple (if banned) activities that harm no one and nothing and KNOWINGLY breaking the rules!

If I ever catch such a naughty person I would certainly give them a lecture on the responsibilities of the citizen in the 21st century!

Signed

Disgusted of Cardigan

 

[dave k]

I understand that some naughty people go into the woods and camp even when they know they are not allowed! They turn up late at night, when people can't see them and leave before anyone else is about so don't get seen then either!
If they get stopped by "authorities" their kit is generally still in their pack and they claim to be on a night hike, and when they do set up their bivvi they are in deep cover, show no lights and go straight to sleep and no-one knows they are there. If they get stopped in the morning, they boast of their early start in getting away from civilization. If they are seen eating their evening meal/breakfast (and they generally cook on a fast burning stove to cut down on cooking time and eat well away from where they set up their bivvi) they ask if it is a crime to take meals in the outdoors! Sitting on a rucksack doing 'bushcrafty' things may look sus but they cannot be done for wild camping if there is no sign of a camp! They tend not to use open fires as these are too easily spotted and investigated by "authorities"...
Covert, minimal impact, wild-campers are the bane of the "authorities" lives as they break the rules but are almost never caught....naughty people!

Is it justified, I ask you, to take such a bucaneering stand, living by the motto of "What the eye don't see the heart don't grieve over" enjoying simple (if banned) activities that harm no one and nothing and KNOWINGLY breaking the rules!

If I ever catch such a naughty person I would certainly give them a lecture on the responsibilities of the citizen in the 21st century!

Signed

Disgusted of Cardigan

Fantastic

:yelrotflm :yelrotflm :yelrotflm :yelrotflm

 

[BlackPacker]

I grew up in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest here in California. In my teenage years, I would often go up and camp wherever I damn well pleased. At sixteen, I was camped out in a clearing deep in a valley. I had walked there (they usually find you by spotting your car) and used a deer trail to get to my spot. About an hour or so after setting up my tent, I hear thrashing through some bushes. My first thought is bear, but it turns out to be a park ranger. His response was great, at first he seemed all bulstery with authority, and pretty upset.

As he realized how young I was, he calmed down and was more interested in how I had made it there, was astounded I had walked from my home (only about 8 miles away, and only 3000 feet down) When I explained that I hated camping with a bunch of drunk idiots in cars and RVs, he laughed. He made me break down my tent and offered me the option of a ride to an official campsite with a fee waiver or home, I chose home.

On the way back up the hill on a trail he didn't even know was there, I buttered him up by asking him about his job, neat things I might not have seen in the forest (I wound up telling him some places he didn't know about) and when we got to his truck, he gave me a phone number and told me how to get a backwoods permit, which would allow me to camp anywhere I wanted in state and national parks in California.

They don't advertise it, and you have to know the terminology to ask for it, and I agree with this. If they allowed everybody to go backwoods, then all the drunk idiots who can't clean their site, even with dumpsters placed between every other campsite would be out there leaving cases of beer cans, burning down the woods and leaving turd monuments at every clearing.

I do LOTS of stealth and guerrilla camping, and have been busted once recently, camped out in a forest behind a vineyard. Only reason I got busted was because it was POURING out, and the vineyard was flooded so I stayed in the tent until 10 am. My thoughts were, "Forget it, they are going to have to boat me out of here. . ."

 

[commandocal]

im abit drunk, but if its about camping on private land i do it alot really, i live in a city/town and the closest and only woods or wildlerness near me is private i basha it down and camo net it up and pend most of the day making sur ei dont get caught and open fire is no problem since they tend not to check their land at night, i have troulbe finding my own camp even so lucky so far i have not been cfaught