Caravan Parks In Yorkshire | MOTORHOMEingLife

It depends which side of this huge county you want, and picking a region will halve your driving. For the Yorkshire Dales, sites around Settle and Skipton such as Langcliffe Park put the limestone dales and Three Peaks on your doorstep. For the North York Moors and coast, parks near Pickering and Thornton le Dale like Black Bull and Overbrook give you moorland, the steam railway and easy runs to Whitby and Scarborough. Canada Fields near Northallerton sits between both national parks if you cannot choose, and York-area sites suit anyone focused on the historic city. Do not try to cover all of Yorkshire from one pitch.

Yes, an electric hook-up is standard across the region, usually a 16 amp supply and increasingly metered so you pay for the power you use. Overbrook Caravan Park, for instance, has 16-amp metered electric hook-up on all 50 of its hardstanding pitches, and Langcliffe Park and Black Bull offer electric touring pitches too. Fully serviced pitches that add water and drainage turn up at the larger parks near the coast and York, though they are less common on simple Dales and Moors sites. When you book, confirm whether the pitch is grass or hardstanding and whether electric is metered or included, so there are no surprises on arrival.

Yorkshire has an unusually good mix. The public side is dominated by two national parks: the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the west and the North York Moors National Park in the east, both of which list official campsites and holiday parks within their boundaries. Camping and Caravanning Club certificated locations add basic public-value pitches across the region. The private side is the family-run touring parks such as Overbrook, Black Bull, Canada Fields and Langcliffe, which provide the comfortable everyday bases with fuller facilities. Most tourers stay on a private caravan park and spend their days walking in the national parks, which is the best of both.

May through September gives the warmest, driest touring with long daylight, and summer highs around 20°C suit walking in the Dales and along the coast. Remember the high country is cooler, wetter and windier than the lowland average, so pack layers even in July. Spring brings lambing in the dales and quieter, cheaper pitches, while late August into September delivers the heather bloom on the North York Moors, a genuine highlight but a busy one. Winter is cold with snow possible on high roads, and many rural parks close, so plan an off-season trip carefully and stick to lowland sites.

Some are, so plan your routes. Across the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors the lanes can be steep, narrow, walled and occasionally gated, with gradient warnings on several passes such as those over the high moor. In a long or heavy outfit take these slowly, use low gears on descents, and avoid the tightest passes if you can route around them on the main roads. Main routes like the A1(M), A64 and A170 are straightforward. In winter, snow and ice are real risks on high ground, so check conditions before crossing and be ready to change plans if a pass is closed.

Book ahead for the busy periods. Yorkshire is a hugely popular touring region, and summer weekends, school holidays and the late-August heather season fill the best-placed parks fast, especially near the coast, York and in the Dales. Reserve Overbrook and Langcliffe early for those dates. Booking online before you travel lets you request hardstanding or a fully serviced pitch rather than taking whatever is left, and confirms the site is open, since many rural parks run only through the touring season. Midweek and shoulder-season you can be more spontaneous, but even then the honeypot villages get busy, so a call ahead saves disappointment.

Every licensed caravan park and national park campsite in Yorkshire has a chemical disposal point on park for the toilet cassette, plus grey-water drainage and a fresh-water tap for refilling. In open countryside this really matters: you must never empty tanks in a passing place, field gateway or stream, both because it breaks the rules and because it fouls the very landscape you came to enjoy. Use the proper on-park facilities, which are included in your pitch fee. Because high-moor and Dales services are thin, top up fresh water and empty waste before you head into the hills rather than hoping to find facilities en route.

Yes. Both the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park contain official campsites and holiday parks, and their authority websites list places to stay within the boundaries. Langcliffe Park near Settle sits inside Dales country, and there are farm and club certificated locations dotted through both parks for a more basic stay. What you cannot do is wild camp or park overnight at the roadside within the parks, which is not permitted. Staying on a licensed site inside or on the edge of a park gives you walking straight from the pitch while keeping the landscape protected, which is the whole point of the arrangement.

Plenty, which is why Yorkshire suits mixed groups. The historic city of York offers the Minster, medieval walls and museums, all reachable by train from a Vale of York base. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs heritage steam trains across the moors from Pickering, the Settle-Carlisle line is one of the great scenic railways, and the coast gives you Whitby, Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay. Harrogate and its spa heritage, Fountains Abbey, and countless stone market towns with good pubs fill the rest days. Between the two national parks, the coast and the cities, you can build a varied week without long drives if you base sensibly.

Some are, but many rural ones are not, so always check. Higher parks in the Dales and Moors often run only from around March or April to October to avoid the harsh winter and to protect soft ground, while lowland parks near York and the coast are more likely to keep hardstanding pitches open year round. Winter here can bring snow to the high moors and cold, wet weather everywhere, and soft grass is a persistent problem, which is why year-round sites lean on hardstanding. For an off-season trip, confirm opening dates and whether the facilities block, electric hook-ups and any shop are running.

Generally yes, particularly on hardstanding pitches at the larger lowland parks, but ask when you book. Sites like Overbrook with 50 hardstanding pitches and the bigger parks near York and the coast handle larger units well, while small Dales and Moors farm sites can be tighter with awkward access down narrow lanes. Hardstanding bays are usually the roomiest and easiest to level on this often-sloping ground. Mention your overall length and whether you are twin-axle so staff can allocate a suitable pitch, and plan your route to avoid the steepest, narrowest moorland passes in a long outfit.

They have quite different characters, and many people visit both across a trip. The Yorkshire Dales National Park in the west is limestone country: green dales, dry-stone walls, the Three Peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, and stone villages like Settle and Hawes, with excellent walking and the Settle-Carlisle railway. The North York Moors National Park in the east is heather moorland, big skies, the heritage steam railway from Pickering, and a dramatic coastline at Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay. The Dales feel more enclosed and pastoral, the Moors more open and wild. Basing between them, near Northallerton, lets you sample each without moving pitch.

Very much so, and it pairs naturally with a North York Moors base. The coast within and beside the national park runs from Staithes and Whitby down through Robin Hood's Bay to Scarborough and Filey, mixing fishing villages, cliffs, sandy beaches and fossil-hunting on the shore. Whitby adds its abbey and strong seafood, while Scarborough is a traditional resort with plenty for families. Parks around Pickering and Thornton le Dale, such as Black Bull and Overbrook, put the coast within a short, scenic drive across the moor. Combining moorland walking with a beach day or two makes for one of the best-value touring weeks in England.

It depends which side of this huge county you want, and picking a region will halve your driving. For the Yorkshire Dales, sites around Settle and Skipton such as Langcliffe Park put the limestone dales and Three Peaks on your doorstep. For the North York Moors and coast, parks near Pickering and Thornton le Dale like Black Bull and Overbrook give you moorland, the steam railway and easy runs to Whitby and Scarborough. Canada Fields near Northallerton sits between both national parks if you cannot choose, and York-area sites suit anyone focused on the historic city. Do not try to cover all of Yorkshire from one pitch.

Yes, an electric hook-up is standard across the region, usually a 16 amp supply and increasingly metered so you pay for the power you use. Overbrook Caravan Park, for instance, has 16-amp metered electric hook-up on all 50 of its hardstanding pitches, and Langcliffe Park and Black Bull offer electric touring pitches too. Fully serviced pitches that add water and drainage turn up at the larger parks near the coast and York, though they are less common on simple Dales and Moors sites. When you book, confirm whether the pitch is grass or hardstanding and whether electric is metered or included, so there are no surprises on arrival.

Yorkshire has an unusually good mix. The public side is dominated by two national parks: the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the west and the North York Moors National Park in the east, both of which list official campsites and holiday parks within their boundaries. Camping and Caravanning Club certificated locations add basic public-value pitches across the region. The private side is the family-run touring parks such as Overbrook, Black Bull, Canada Fields and Langcliffe, which provide the comfortable everyday bases with fuller facilities. Most tourers stay on a private caravan park and spend their days walking in the national parks, which is the best of both.

May through September gives the warmest, driest touring with long daylight, and summer highs around 20°C suit walking in the Dales and along the coast. Remember the high country is cooler, wetter and windier than the lowland average, so pack layers even in July. Spring brings lambing in the dales and quieter, cheaper pitches, while late August into September delivers the heather bloom on the North York Moors, a genuine highlight but a busy one. Winter is cold with snow possible on high roads, and many rural parks close, so plan an off-season trip carefully and stick to lowland sites.

Some are, so plan your routes. Across the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors the lanes can be steep, narrow, walled and occasionally gated, with gradient warnings on several passes such as those over the high moor. In a long or heavy outfit take these slowly, use low gears on descents, and avoid the tightest passes if you can route around them on the main roads. Main routes like the A1(M), A64 and A170 are straightforward. In winter, snow and ice are real risks on high ground, so check conditions before crossing and be ready to change plans if a pass is closed.

Book ahead for the busy periods. Yorkshire is a hugely popular touring region, and summer weekends, school holidays and the late-August heather season fill the best-placed parks fast, especially near the coast, York and in the Dales. Reserve Overbrook and Langcliffe early for those dates. Booking online before you travel lets you request hardstanding or a fully serviced pitch rather than taking whatever is left, and confirms the site is open, since many rural parks run only through the touring season. Midweek and shoulder-season you can be more spontaneous, but even then the honeypot villages get busy, so a call ahead saves disappointment.

Every licensed caravan park and national park campsite in Yorkshire has a chemical disposal point on park for the toilet cassette, plus grey-water drainage and a fresh-water tap for refilling. In open countryside this really matters: you must never empty tanks in a passing place, field gateway or stream, both because it breaks the rules and because it fouls the very landscape you came to enjoy. Use the proper on-park facilities, which are included in your pitch fee. Because high-moor and Dales services are thin, top up fresh water and empty waste before you head into the hills rather than hoping to find facilities en route.

Yes. Both the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park contain official campsites and holiday parks, and their authority websites list places to stay within the boundaries. Langcliffe Park near Settle sits inside Dales country, and there are farm and club certificated locations dotted through both parks for a more basic stay. What you cannot do is wild camp or park overnight at the roadside within the parks, which is not permitted. Staying on a licensed site inside or on the edge of a park gives you walking straight from the pitch while keeping the landscape protected, which is the whole point of the arrangement.

Plenty, which is why Yorkshire suits mixed groups. The historic city of York offers the Minster, medieval walls and museums, all reachable by train from a Vale of York base. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs heritage steam trains across the moors from Pickering, the Settle-Carlisle line is one of the great scenic railways, and the coast gives you Whitby, Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay. Harrogate and its spa heritage, Fountains Abbey, and countless stone market towns with good pubs fill the rest days. Between the two national parks, the coast and the cities, you can build a varied week without long drives if you base sensibly.

Some are, but many rural ones are not, so always check. Higher parks in the Dales and Moors often run only from around March or April to October to avoid the harsh winter and to protect soft ground, while lowland parks near York and the coast are more likely to keep hardstanding pitches open year round. Winter here can bring snow to the high moors and cold, wet weather everywhere, and soft grass is a persistent problem, which is why year-round sites lean on hardstanding. For an off-season trip, confirm opening dates and whether the facilities block, electric hook-ups and any shop are running.

Generally yes, particularly on hardstanding pitches at the larger lowland parks, but ask when you book. Sites like Overbrook with 50 hardstanding pitches and the bigger parks near York and the coast handle larger units well, while small Dales and Moors farm sites can be tighter with awkward access down narrow lanes. Hardstanding bays are usually the roomiest and easiest to level on this often-sloping ground. Mention your overall length and whether you are twin-axle so staff can allocate a suitable pitch, and plan your route to avoid the steepest, narrowest moorland passes in a long outfit.

They have quite different characters, and many people visit both across a trip. The Yorkshire Dales National Park in the west is limestone country: green dales, dry-stone walls, the Three Peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, and stone villages like Settle and Hawes, with excellent walking and the Settle-Carlisle railway. The North York Moors National Park in the east is heather moorland, big skies, the heritage steam railway from Pickering, and a dramatic coastline at Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay. The Dales feel more enclosed and pastoral, the Moors more open and wild. Basing between them, near Northallerton, lets you sample each without moving pitch.

Very much so, and it pairs naturally with a North York Moors base. The coast within and beside the national park runs from Staithes and Whitby down through Robin Hood's Bay to Scarborough and Filey, mixing fishing villages, cliffs, sandy beaches and fossil-hunting on the shore. Whitby adds its abbey and strong seafood, while Scarborough is a traditional resort with plenty for families. Parks around Pickering and Thornton le Dale, such as Black Bull and Overbrook, put the coast within a short, scenic drive across the moor. Combining moorland walking with a beach day or two makes for one of the best-value touring weeks in England.