Stayed for a 3 night long weekend and …. wished it could be longer!
Stayed for a 3 night long weekend and …. wished it could be longer! Lydford Caravan and Camping Park is set on the very edge of stunning scenery of Dartmoor National Park. The site itself is of a very good standard, with pitches to meet most tastes and requirements. As has been mentioned, the amenity block is functional and is exceptionally clean and usable. One of the best things of course are the views eastwards towards Brat Tor (sometimes known as “Bray Tor”) and the rest of the Moors. There is an excellent dog walk around the edges of the top field (did I mention the brilliant views?) , and although dogs must be kept on a lead whilst on the site, there is a large playing field a short walk from the site entrance. The freedom and beauty of Dartmoor isn’t too far either, for the more energetic as is the “Granite Way”. This is a cycle way that runs along the old Okehampton railway, in a similar fashion to the Tarka trail. Great for cyclists and walkers. There’s much to see and do locally also. Lydford village is a short walk away, with a church that has 9th Century origins and Castle (originally a prison) of similar age. Keep going, down a steep hill, and you’ll come to Lydford Gorge, a fantastic natural deep canyon (gorge) that’s definitely worth a visit. So, finally, as the site is next to the A386 and not far from the A30, Lydford Caravan and Camping Park makes a great base for exploring Devon and Cornwall.
What a gem
This site is in one of the best that we have stayed on in 34 years of membership. The staff were approachable and very friendly. It is in a wonderous location with plenty of walking from site. It is kept tidy and although there have been comments that the loo block is dated this does not distract from the fact that the facilities are kept immaculately clean, they are constantly being checked for any problems. There is a wide choice of pitches some with the most wonderful views of Dartmoor. There are plenty of pubs within walking distance. We will be returning in the future, we feel the club could learn a few lessons from this site.
Lovely site!
Just spent 6 nights at this lovely, peaceful, relaxing site. Location is excellent -situated on the edge of Dartmoor and a visit to Lydford Gorge is a must. Some places in Cornwall are also within reach. The wardens are very friendly and go that little bit further to ensure that you have a good holiday. Would definitely recommend this site!
Relaxing stay
The site is well maintained. w/c and showers were always clean and tidy. The dog walk around the field was clean and had plenty of bins .The area for us was a base to explore and go for walks with the dog and of course a few pubs. The staff were helpful and friendly and local knowledge helped to plan our walks. We would use this site again in the near future. Thank you for our stay.
Great for Motorhomers & Lydford Gorge
Just got back in April, Lovely site within walking distance of Lydford Village & Gorge,excellent roads with bus stop near for further afield, being in a motorhome we prefer to walk & this is now a favourite for us. Toilets & showers a little dated but spotless, very friendly wardens who seem to go that little bit further, turn right to get to Lydford Castle & Gorge, turn left for the Granite walk to Dartmoor. Amazing views of Dartmoor from the site and near was we were told is a good pub. Lydford village is where time forgot, stone cottages, no running gas or street lights here. There are also other National Trust & English Heritage sites nearby. We also went to Buckland Abbey which is another NT property worth seeing. Will be back again if only to see the Gorge in a different season.
Great Location for Walking
We stayed at this site for a week in March. The staff were all very welcoming and the facilities were clean and tidy. This is a great location for exploring the west side of Dartmoor and there are numerous walks from the site so no need to drive very far. You can see our walks and the places we visited whilst staying here on our blog
Peaceful, well kept with friendly hosts
This affiliated site really tries harder for all its guests, including personal pitch choice to suit your needs….never had that before…well done Colin. We stayed a couple days and did the National Trust visits to Lydford Gorge and Buckland Abbey, plus transiting Dartmoor for Tor exploration. This is a very peaceful place and has great doggy walk areas with great views of Dartmoor and spotless facilities with a small well stocked shop in reception. The only sound you may hear at night is hooting owls. No traffic, no aircraft noise. We found Lydford Camping Park a charming place and well located for any west Devon activity.
Great location, and friendly staff
Stayed here for 3 nights. After a horrendous journey there, the staff were extremely patient and accommodating of our late arrival and even lent us a longer cable as ours didn’t reach the hook up point. Lovely clean site, showers are great. Good size pitches. Little shop in the office for essentials. My only comment is that if you are bringing dogs the ‘onsite walk’ is on lead only and you do need to go off site if you want to give your dogs a bit of a run about, but there is a sports field a very short walk away that you are able to use. I would stay again and would recommend to friends.
Wet March week
Wet & windy Dartmoor last week, enjoyed it despite the weather. Lots of walking and places to visit locally. Lydford Gorge a must, Dartmoor itself superb walking and touring, Buckland Abbey a brilliant National Trust attraction. The site is very rural, a few pubs locally, Bearslake Inn, Castle Inn both very nice, decent food and reasonable value. Not much else in Lydford but great place to relax. Site was clean & tidy, shower block more than sufficient & all well managed by a very friendly and efficient team of Wardens. I can see that the grass might get worn and muddy this time of the year as the on site roads are narrow and there is not much hard standing for parking by your pitch. Having said that thoroughly enjoyed our stay and will come back again one day.
Tranquil Place
We stayed on the campsite in our campervan for 3 nights (T, F & S). Plenty of stuff to keep us occupied; the three nights were just right to enjoy the Lydford Gorge, The Granite Way, moorland walks and Finch Foundry on the way home. Super attentive staff, very clean utilities, well kept pitches and views on site to boot.
Little quiet site – lovely
We have been coming to this site quite a lot the last two years and enjoy the views and Tavistock which is up the road. Toilets are clean, and the wardens are great – we will going back in October. Love Lydford – such a peaceful village and there are lovely walks and bike rides if you have your bikes.
Nice and quiet campsite near Dartmoor
We spent a week on this very well kept campsite. We were unlucky with the weather as it was nice on arrival but got poor during the week, but we still had a great stay.
On arrival the reception was very friendly, checked us in and after providing us with a good amount of local and site information we were directed and guided to the tent area as we would be camping in our large family tent.
Together with the warden we picked the best suitable spot for the upcoming wet weather, and set up camp there.
The site is well kept and divided over several individual fields with a lot of hardstands and a large tent area with both electrified (16A) and non-electrified large pitches.
The toilet and showerblock is of good quality and thoroughly cleaned daily between 11:00 and 12:30. In this timeframe another toilet is available.
The showers have a push button which provides water for only half a minute or so when pressed. This can be annoying when you want a relaxing shower after a long walk without constantly pushing a button for water.
Dishwashing area is also clean and has 4 large sinks and sufficient hot water.
The only thing which raised my brow is that even in 2017 WIFI apparently is an issue in rural areas. This site has a WIFI hotspot, but the signal strength next to it is so poor and narrowed down in bandwith that it was virtually impossible to download the daily newspaper (a <5 MB PDF file) or to look up local information.
In general it is a nice and quiet site where people are mainly minding their own business and enjoying their holiday or weekend. I have seen little social interaction between campers.
Closest pub to the site is “the Castle Inn”, which serves good ales and good quality food. A little longer walk goes to “the Dartmoor Inn” which is a more upscale restaurant with matching pricing. very good quality, but a bit to the expensive side.
Large supermarkets can be found in Tavistock, a 20 minute drive from the campsite, however the site shop also has basic supplies.
Week of bliss
Stayed here for a week in May – excellent from booking to leaving
Great friendly staff always ready for a chat, helpful advice and guidance.
Pitches are slightly tight but no worries there.
Lovely views from the back field across Dartmoor
Walkable to the local dog friendly pub
Farm type shop at top of road, bit limited in choice – more deli than supermarket but all the basics and some nice treats
If coming from afar you must try the local Hogs Pudding – awesome
Only downside the free internet only works within 20 metres of the washroom – so its not campsite wide
Staff absolutely AMAZING! Perfect for camping, great walks and nearby pubs!
The staff were absolutely amazing, it was perfectly located for walks and had everything you could possibly need for a very comfortable camping holiday. Showers were free to use, always very clean and hot water available. We came as a couple mainly for hiking and sampling of the local pubs, and so The Castle which is a short distance away was perfect for us. The Lydford Gorge didn’t massively appeal to us as it was a bit tame in terms of terrain but I can see it being perfect for kids and so a great location for families as it was only a very short walk away with tea rooms and lovely views of the waterfall. I just wouldn’t recommend for any seasoned trekkers looking for a bit more adventure. We drove to Chagford which is a gorgeous little town and walked to Castle Drogo along the River Teign which was awesome.
Peaceful campsite with excellent facilities
Two of us plus small dog in our caravan, perfect location for relaxing, walking etc. A local bus service runs between Okehampton and Tavistock. Helpful friendly staff, spotless facilities. Central heating in shower rooms. Good laundry, wifi zone hot spot with chairs to sit whilst on line. I managed to connect to wifi in our caravan, in sight of the zone.
Nothing to fault about this lovely site.
Excellent Campsite
Had a lovely few days at this excellent campsite. The wardens Colin and Shirley gave us a very warm welcome on arrival and were very helpful throughout our stay here. We had a choice of pitches and chose a pitch in Tavy Field with amazing views of Dartmoor. There was a well stocked shop and lots of local information was available including the weather forecast for the area. The toilet/shower facilities were extremely clean and well cared for throughout our stay. The whole site was well maintained and we were impressed with the flower displays in the borders and around the entrance. This is a nice quiet site and perfect for a relaxing break in the countryside. This site is in a perfect location with the Granite Way cycle trail very close by and an excellent village pub just up the road. The National Trust’s Lydford Gorge is a very pleasant walk away and worth a visit. Would recommend a stay at this campsite, you won’t be disapointed and we will definately be returning soon.
Another excellent stay
We stayed for 4 nights over the Easter holiday, and as usual had a brilliant stay. The staff are extremely helpful, and on arrival we were shown several pitches to choose from, all of which would have suited us fine.The site is very well kept, the grounds are well maintained as are all the facilities.
We walked the moors on our first day, the weather was on our side and there were spectacular views from the top of the tors. We walked over to Bleak House and then back along the old railway line.The next day we cycled to Okehampton along the Granite Way, an easy ride through beautiful and differing countryside. On our final day we cycled into Lydford Forest, somewhere we had not been before. Although not huge we had a more strenuous ride for the morning, plenty of hills to tackle. On Saturday night we ate at the Castle inn in the village, great food, but you definitly need to book in advance. This is such a good site to stay on, and we can’t wait for our next visit.
Relaxing break
Just returned from a fabulous weekend away at Lydford caravan and camping park. The managers could not have been more helpful – very welcoming, even when we were delayed and therefore late arriving, always friendly and the whole park was exceptionally clean and well maintained. We have stayed at many sites in the area and cannot believe we haven’t been here before – a real gem of a site!
The dog walk is perfect – just long enough for a decent stretch and there are plenty of bins etc. Dogs must stay on leads which is perfect for us as one of our dogs is nervous of others so it prevents any unpleasant encounters! There is however a field nearby that you can let your dog off-lead if you so desire.
The nearby pub has a wide selection of good food and there are some cracking walks accessible from the site.
Dishwashing facilities are exceptionally good. Outstanding views from the site, particularly the top of the dog walk.
I cannot wait to visit again – perfect mix of relaxation and things to do nearby if wanted.
We’ll be back!!
June visit
Booked and stayed three nights in June, met by great manager an his wife helped us out with some wood chocks as I had damaged the rear van steadies on the journey down. We found all the staff were very pleasant, nice and clean facilities, free Wi Fi hotspot in the laundry, just wish we had stayed longer but had fourteen nights booked in Cornwall a very nice site.