Upper Booth Farm & campsite

Last week I went on a spontaneous camping trip with my boyfriend. We were looking at campsites near train stations and came across this one. Although we decided to hire a car in the end we stuck with Edale after being recommended the area by a friend.
If you are camping and travelling by train I would maybe suggest another campsite nearer the station, as this could be a bit of a walk if you have a lot of stuff — not impossible though! And if you fancy the walk you should go for it as I cannot recommend this campsite highly enough.
A map really is your friend on this journey. We didn’t have a map, just scribbles from AA route planner — lets just say we found it, eventually! Look out for a tiny lane and an even tinier sign.
When we arrived we were greeted by the owner who was lovely and runs the farm as well as the campsite. The site itself is small which is lovely, and you can either pitch up by your car, or use a separate pitch closer to the house with no cars.
This place really is nestled between the hills, you really cannot see anything but countryside, it’s marvellous! At night you can see the stars so clearly — truly breathtaking for a city dweller like myself.
You can use bbq’s here too as long as they are kept off the grass which is great as not all campsites allow this. We don’t have a stove so this was a perfect way for us to get some hot food in us.
The washing facilities are fairly new, and pleasant. They are super eco friendly too which is great. There are also recycling facilities.
One of the best bits about this campsite though is the walks available at the gate. To name just a couple you can take the Penine Way to Edale village, and this walk is BEAUTIFUL in the evening. You can also take this trail the other way so far it went well off the map. You can also walk to Jacobs Ladder which again is stunning with a fabulous view at the top — climb Jacobs Ladder and come back down via the rubble bridleway.
Nearby is Castleton, which is a lovely village with many walking routes from here. We walked to Mam Top and the disused A-​road. All again with amazing views. There are also caverns here which are so vast you can take boat trips inside. Castleton is home to the ‘Devils Arse’ a huge cavern which is said to have been a barrier reef back in’t day.
10 miles away in Hathersage there is an outdoor pool heated to 29 degress. It’s well worth a trip especially after a days walking to wind down. Go on their website to check times as there are public swimming times and members times.
I would defininitely visit here again and use this campsite, so much to see — 2 days in not enough! Car or no car you well walked, but happy, afterall that’s what the countryside is for!

There were quite a few people there but despite this there was only one shower between everyone. The shower regularly ran out of hot water and was in a toilet block that smelt terrible.
I think they should either have less people allowed to camp or build more showers. We were there to enjoy the hills and came back tired and muddy so the prospect of queuing for a cold shower was annoying.
It is a beautiful location and it was nice not to be in a characterless caravan park, but much of the field we were in was on a slope. All in all I’ve camped in equally wild places but with more space and warm water.

At the foot of the Pennine way and just below Kinder Scout, this campsite must be one of the most beautiful in Britain. Opening the tent in the morning to see tendrils of mist clinging to the hills while the sun illuminates the hill tops, is just sublime.
This is a working farm but there are two camping fields and a camping barn. Hot water is available in the shower/​toilet block. Fresh farm produce is also available by prior arrangement.
It is semi-​wild camping: no electrical hookups, no enormous camper vans, no late night-​rowdiness, and numbers limited to a manageable few. It is as peaceful a site as you can imagine and deserves its place in ‘Cool Camping’s’ list of the top 40 campsites. I have stayed there three times and will visit again. And another thing: you can’t get a mobile phone signal! Imagine a weekend — or more — without hearing anybody’s ringtone! Utter bliss!