Barhams Woodland Camping Reviews

Quiet but muddy!

Very quiet and beautiful woodland campsite. Access roads are single track, classic west country roads, so tight for anything longer than 6 meters. Nobody to meet us on arrival, so we just guessed our pitch. Access into the site with our 6 meter Fiat Ducato was tricky, but doable. The muddy track made for an interesting entrance - we felt some bark chipping might help. Main issue was drinking water seemingly running out - we were fine as we had some with us, but others may have had an issue. Composting loos were clean. Loved having a campfire. Overall, a nice stay.

Site's response

Thank you for leaving a review, Ken. We always like it when people leave feedback so that we can improve all the time. With regards to you arriving with no one to meet you on arrival, you were emailed on August 31st to explain about our contactless check in. With the muddy track, as we are a woodland and it rained heavily. This is the nature of booking at somewhere that prides itself on being natural and not paved liked a lot of other sites. I am assuming that your vehicle made it ok? You will have seen that all of our paths were woodchipped so on foot at least, the mud wasn't an issue. Woodchip in ineffective with such heavy vehicles. We are sorry about the water issue. This was due to a malfunction with our pump, however as soon as we were told, as we didn't hear anything from anyone on site, we got a plumber out to fix it and this was sorted within a day. In the interim, we left out bottles of drinking water for people, so we did all that we could do. You will have noticed that the showers were unaffected. We are glad that you would recommend us again, liked our clean compost loos, that it was quiet and you had an overall nice stay. We are just a little disappointed that you only chose to give us a 2 out of 5 for facilities and standard of service, as this isn't consistent with your comments. We can control a lot on site, but unfortunately, weather isn't one of them and the email that we sent prior to your stay had all of the information you needed.

Quiet woodlands camping

Small site set in a woodland with individual pitches in the forest. The individual campfires are amazing and the facilities were better than expected - the showers were hot!! Would visit again.

Peaceful

We were amazed when we turned up. Easy to park, signs to our pitch, lovely private area, nice friendly people. Amazing views, fire pit area was lovely. Lots of space. Toilets and showers were kept clean. We will definitely be back again. Couldn't fault it. Really nice owners, you've done a great job. We will be letting all our friends and work colleges know about your beautiful campsite. All the best to you in the future and thank you.

Lovely quiet spot

What an absolutely adorable site. Ideal for a truly natural and wild camping experience. Christian is a lovely guy with a great ethos for the site. Look forward to staying again and seeing how this new site evolves. I am sure Christian will ensure its charm is retained as it grows.

Lovely woodland camping

Lovely to have our own secluded camping area. Loads of space and not too close to anyone else, even had our own fire pit to use. Very basic facilities but they were clean and nicely presented. Short walk up to Denby, which had a nice pub and gorgeous views of Hay Tor on the way back. Excellent position to explore Dartmoor and only 20 mins from the beach. We enjoyed crabbing in Teignmouth, Shaldon and Babbacombe

A very different approach to camping

This is a site with a theme of small group / family camping in a wild natural forest, separated as much as possible considering the inevitable nearness to other campers. It is not the most accessible place, with characteristic Devon single track roads to be negotiated. Cars and camper sized vans are ok but nothing bigger! However as an extended holiday base, both coast and Dartmoor are reasonably accessible (30-45mins) if you can repeatedly cope with the narrow roads. It is primarily set up for those with an ecologically minded family or couple, with separated pitches and pre-made wood or charcoal fire kit on every pitch.( bring your own wood though). When busy, it can get a bit smoky in the forest, a possible problem if you are asthmatic or if that's not your thing. It's isolated, lovely and safe - a place for kids to play hide and seek in the evenings. Adult (small) groups sit round their fires chatting. Most do settle when the sun goes down, but there is a bit of a lottery if your pitch is next to a late evening group. Your pitch is allocated so you have to accept blind, even if more remote pitches seem available. A great effort has been made to make the the pitches, parking area and paths 'all weather', but it can be a bit muddy in wet weather. wellies advised. Extremely sheltered, high winds are kept up in the trees and the noise is wonderful. The facilities highlight to ecological theme. Showers are simple and serviceable, with a noisy pump if you are on pitch 1 nearby. Toilets are composting in design that any reasonable person should be fine with. They close some loos if the numbers drop, and that can be a bit frustrating. There are 2 sinks for pans, but no hand washing etc. You need your own bowl near your tent. No power on site, lights are solar charged path lights only. Bring torches and all electronics will have to be car adapter charged. Given the trend to embrace wild camping in the UK, this site is a really good project for experiencing something closer to that, than most other commercial sites can offer.

Lovely stay

Enjoyed our stay here. The privacy of the pitches is a real bonus, and whilst facilities are basic they are to a good standard and well thought out. Fire pits are really lovely too. Would definitely stay again.

Amazing site!

A wonderful place for a quiet retreat and your own space. Each pitch is secluded and private from the others so you really can enjoy the peace and the surroundings. We really enjoyed the fact that a fire pit was provided and BBQs allowed. The facilities were excellent and booking was easy and efficient even when a last minute change had to be made. I would recommend this to anyone travelling in the area in either a campervan or tent.

Amazing stay

Lovely people, lovely little site, very clean. The location was great, the owner has ideas for expanding, we gave ideas for groups such as scouts and letter boxing type of games for the kids. As it is, we just can't recommend enough. Thoroughly lovely, will definitely go again and again.

Excellent chance to be in a woodland setting

Had an excellent stay in the ancient woodland at Barhams with my grown-up son. Great chance to be in nature with good basic facilities on site. We were actually visiting family by the coast and spent the daytime on the beach, but it would be a good location for exploring the surrounding countryside, hiking or biking. The fire pit is a big bonus and each group have their own area to camp in. It is dark and quiet at night, very peaceful. In the daytime the birds sing and the sun shines through the canopy of the trees. The site has been thoughtfully laid out with signs and maps of the site easily seen. The facilities are basic but good- compost toilets, hot showers and washing up area. All these are newly built and well maintained. The owners obviously care about the site. Would stay again. Recommended.