Loch Lomond and the camping byelaws

From March to September, sleeping in a vehicle in the National Park's four management zones needs a permit — but laybys are exempt, because they are roads. Both halves of that sentence surprise people.

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park has had Camping Management Byelaws since 1 March 2017. In season, they make it an offence to sleep overnight in a vehicle within the four management zones without a permit — but they do not apply on roads, which includes laybys. Almost everyone gets one half of that wrong.

This is the single most rule-bound place to park a motorhome in Scotland, and the rules are genuinely knowable. Here they are.

The two wrong answers people arrive with

"Scotland has a right to roam, so I can stay anywhere." Wrong twice over: Scottish access rights exclude motor vehicles entirely, and in this park a set of byelaws sits on top.

"The byelaws ban sleeping in your van around Loch Lomond." Also wrong. They regulate it in defined zones, for part of the year, and they contain a significant exemption — the road network itself.

What the byelaws actually say

Outside the four zones, the byelaws do not apply at any time of year — the ordinary Scottish position does, which for a motorhome still means no access-rights cover.

The layby exemption — the detail that decides most nights

The byelaws do not apply on roads, as defined by the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 — and a layby is part of the road. Laybys controlled by Transport Scotland on the trunk roads through the park (the A82 among them) are likewise outside the byelaws.

The park authority's own guidance says motorhomes and campervans may use laybys to stop and rest, including sleeping overnight. So a self-contained van, overnight in a layby, is not committing a byelaw offence even inside a management zone in July.

Two boundaries on that, before it sounds like an invitation:

• Road traffic law still applies. A rest is lawful; a permanent encampment on the road — chairs out, staying days — is an offence under ordinary roads legislation, and it is also precisely the behaviour that produced the byelaws in the first place
• A layby with its own prohibition sign is prohibited. Some carry clearway or no-overnight restrictions of their own. The signage is the law that applies to you.

So, practically

In season (March–September), inside a zone, you have three lawful options:

1. A campsite — several in and around the park
2. A permit — book a designated permit area for the night; motorhome permits exist and cost a few pounds
3. A layby — for a genuine overnight rest, self-contained, gone in the morning

Out of season, or outside the zones: the byelaws fall away, and the ordinary rules apply — landowner permission, car park orders, and signage.

Why this exists, and why it matters beyond Loch Lomond

The byelaws were a response to real damage — shoreline camping at density the place could not absorb. They are also the clearest example in Britain of what happens when informal stopping outgrows tolerance: the response was not more capacity, it was regulation. The NC500 is partway down the same road.

They are periodically reviewed and the details (zone boundaries, permit prices, season) can change — the park authority's own site is the source to check before you travel, and this page shows its review date for exactly that reason.

In one line

March to September, in the four zones: campsite, permit, or a genuine layby rest — and outside the zones or the season, Loch Lomond is just Scotland again, which was never "park anywhere" either.

Sources: Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Camping Management Byelaws (in force 1 March 2017) and the park authority's published byelaw and motorhome guidance; Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 for the definition that exempts laybys.

Last reviewed 22 August 2026. Zone boundaries and permit details change — check the park authority before you travel. General guidance, not legal advice.