Camping Near the North York Moors

At 553 square miles North York Moors National Park is the smallest of Yorkshire's three National Parks, but is home to the largest expanse of unbroken wild heather moorland in England. The moors cover around a third of the park and run to the coast between Staithes and Scarborough, the location for one of our Club campsites. Camping in the North York Moors provides beautiful views and from July to early September the heather bursts into flower turning the moors a vivid purple.

Pilgrims found peace and settled on the Moors. Their legacy remains in the wealth of important ruined abbeys, historic churches and priories across the area. Discover the impressive ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, one of England’s most powerful Cisterian monasteries, in the North York Moors National Park. The landscape is dotted with crosses that helped them find their way and are, perhaps the most recognisable feature of the Moors today.

On the Parks’ western boundary are the Hambleton and Cleveland Hills. The dales are a greener, more gentle landscape within the Park, with pockets of woodland and dotted with stone villages, abbeys and castles.

About one fifth of the National Park is covered with trees, providing the habitat for many species of wildlife and a place for recreation with a plentiful supply of waymarked walks and cycle routes and easy access trails. Keep an eye out for fascinating wildlife including the moorland merlin, the UK’s smallest bird of prey. To identify more birds, check out our British bird identifier guide. This is a great area for those considering camping in North Yorkshire and our Scarborough campsite is a top site for families.

Things to do from the campsite

Enjoy a 15 minute cliff top walk to the beach from the campsite. The site is ten minutes' walk from the 109 mile Cleveland Way National Trail which hugs the North Yorkshire coast. A traffic-free cycle path passes close to the site on the way to Whitby.

Activities

West of Scarborough campsite North Riding Forest Park (or Dalby Forest as it is also known) has many waymarked trails for walkers and mountain biking and family cycling trails. You can go orienteering here too and there are adventure play areas for children. Go Ape offer tree top adventure with ropes and zip slides or, if you prefer to keep your feet on the ground, enjoy the forest on a Segway.

Places to visit

Head north to Staintondale and the Shire Horse Centre. Meet the equine residents and enjoy farm walks. Learn about the North Yorkshire coast at the Ravenscar Coastal Centre, a National Trust Heritage site, with activities and exhibitions. From here you can enjoy a three-mile beach walk to the pretty fishing village of Robin Hood’s Bay. Ten miles from Ravenscar is the pretty habour town of Whitby where Captain Cook famously set sail in the Endeavour. Visit the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Lifeboat Museum and Whitby Abbey and don’t forget to sample the town’s famous fish and chips! From Whitby catch the train to Grosmont, the terminus for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. This 18-mile heritage line runs from here across the National Park to Pickering. Jump off at Goathland (or Aidensfield for TV’s Heartbeat fans).