Dartmoor
Wild camping on the Dartmoor Commons is a confirmed legal right — for people who arrive on foot or on horseback. What Darwall v Dartmoor decided, where the right applies, and what it means (and does not mean) for a motorhome.
Dartmoor is the only place in England where wild camping is a confirmed statutory right — the Supreme Court settled it in May 2025. It is also the most misquoted ruling in UK camping, because the right belongs to people who arrive on foot or on horseback. If you are reading this from a motorhome, the famous part does not apply to you, and the useful part is further down.
The case, in plain terms
Landowners on Stall Moor challenged whether the public's access right under section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 — access "on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation" — included camping overnight. The High Court said no in 2023; the Court of Appeal reversed that; and in Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20 (21 May 2025) the Supreme Court decided it unanimously and finally:
- "Open-air recreation" includes camping. Backpack camping on the Dartmoor Commons, without asking the landowner, is lawful
- "On foot and on horseback" describes how you get there — the means of access, not a limit on what you may do once arrived
That second point is the one the headlines drop, and it decides the motorhome question.
What the right covers — and the boundaries
| Where | The Dartmoor Commons — the registered common land, roughly the open moor. Not the whole National Park, not enclosed farmland, not woods and plantations |
| Who | People who walked or rode in |
| What | Backpack-style camping, subject to the park authority's byelaws and code — small tents, short stays, away from roads and buildings |
| What it is not | A right to camp next to your car, light fires, or stay put for a week |
The park authority publishes a camping map and code; the byelaws still apply on top of the right. What a byelaw is.
So what about a motorhome?
The section 10 right cannot be exercised from a vehicle. You cannot drive onto the commons — driving on the moor is prohibited — so a motorhome cannot arrive "on foot or on horseback" in the way the Act requires. Sleeping in your van beside the moor is governed by completely different law: the road, its Traffic Regulation Orders, and any byelaw covering the car park you are in. The England and Wales position generally.
In practice, around Dartmoor:
- The moorland car parks are the pressure point. Several carry no-overnight restrictions, and enforcement visits are a known feature of summer weekends. Read the order, not the vibe.
- A layby rest is road law, not commons law — the ordinary lay-by rules apply
- The reliable answers are the usual ones: farms and pubs by arrangement (Dartmoor's farm network is strong), small and certificated sites, and campsites. How to ask a pub.
One genuinely good combination the ruling makes possible: park legitimately (a campsite, a farm, an arranged stop), and exercise the Dartmoor right on foot — carry a tent up onto the moor for a night under the Milky Way, with the van safely and lawfully elsewhere. The van is the base camp; the right is for the walk-in. That is not a consolation prize; it is the best legal wild-camping arrangement available anywhere in England.
Why this page exists
Because "wild camping is legal on Dartmoor now" is repeated everywhere, it reaches motorhome forums stripped of the on-foot condition, and people drive down expecting something the ruling never gave them. Both halves are worth having straight: the right is real, and it is not yours from a driver's seat.
In one line
Darwall confirmed a real right to backpack-camp on the Dartmoor Commons for those who walk or ride in — a motorhome cannot exercise it, but parked lawfully nearby, its occupants can.
Sources: Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20, judgment 21 May 2025 · Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, s.10(1) · Dartmoor National Park Authority camping guidance and byelaws.
Last reviewed 22 August 2026. General guidance, not legal advice.