Walesby Forest

View prices & book 8.4 324 reviews
Kayak at the site
Swimming pool
The lake
Exterior of kemp lodge

  • Adventurous site set in 250 acres of woodland and other rural scenery
  • A mile from Walesby village and 35 minutes' drive from Lincoln
  • On-site bar and shop; over 40 leisure activities on land and water
If you're looking to alternate between relaxing in 250 acres of Robin Hood country and a whole host of adventurous activities for guests over the age of four, seek out a spot at Walesby Forest in leafy Nottinghamshire. The vast range of leisure activities here should help even those averse to alfresco exercise get moving, with popular options including watersports, climbing, archery and rifle shooting. A friendly team of dedicated instructors is on hand to make sure all that outdoor action takes place in a safe, low-pressure environment. The programme is updated daily, with a flexible play and pay policy to keep it all affordable. Time to swap sporty sessions for a bit of downtime? Take your pick from drinks or snacks at the bar, a poolside snooze or rambles through the site's wild woodland areas, where all sorts of animals can be spotted. Angling fans may find it similarly peaceful to take advantage of the free river Maun fishing opportunities available on site. When it comes to food, there's a handy catering barn (which, with advance notice, can sort meals for guests with special dietary requirements), plus a small shop that stocks plenty of sweet treats and souvenirs. If you'd rather step out for dinner, make your way into Walesby (a mile away), where two popular establishments are all set to serve up pub-cooked food. While there may not be a playground on site, there are 250 acres of space for ball games and adventures.

Site type

Tent pitches 218
Touring caravan pitches 64
Motorhome pitches 4
Lodges, cabins, pods or huts 4
Open all year
Opens
Please note
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • Your dog must be tattooed or microchipped.
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • Facilities/activities including adventure activities are subject to extra charges payable on arrival.
  • The outdoor swimming pool is open between 02/05 and 31/08 (subject to weather conditions).
  • The restaurant is open between 29/03 and 31/10.
  • Entertainment and activities are available between 29/03 and 31/10.
  • The site caters for families (immediate members) and couples only - bookings from all other forms of groups are not accepted.
  • Discount cards and gift vouchers cannot be applied to bookings made via Pitchup.com.
  • Reception is unmanned after 5:30 p.m.. Please inform the site while on your way there should you expect to arrive after this time, so that the team can provide information about your unit/pitch.
  • A cable measuring at least 20 metres is needed for the electric hook-ups.
  • The bar is open between 29/03 and 31/10.
  • Guests are advised to bring a good quality torch with them as parts of the site are unlit.
  • No naked flames are allowed inside the hired accommodation units.
  • Swimming in the lake is not allowed.
  • If reception is closed on arrival: please contact the number provided on your booking confirmation.
  • Fires, barbecues and/or firepits will not be permitted in dry, windy and/or hot weather conditions.
  • The charging of electric vehicles is not permitted on site.

Languages spoken

English

Pitch types & availability

Reviews

  • 46%
    10
  • 2%
    9
  • 31%
    8
  • 1%
    7
  • 12%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 3%
    4
  • 0%
    3
  • 1%
    2
  • 0%
    1
Location
9
Value for money
8
Accommodation
9
Facilities / Activities
9
Customer service
9
Child friendliness
9
Cleanliness
8
Wifi
6

88% would recommend this site to a friend

83% would stay here again

What customers say

This is a very large campsite with a strong emphasis on activities, particularly for children. Visitors praise the spacious pitches, numerous activities, and friendly staff. However, a recurring concern is the cleanliness and maintenance of the toilet and shower facilities, with many suggesting they need updating. Some also noted issues with the power supply on electric pitches and the cost of certain amenities.

Summary AI-generated from Pitchup.com customer reviews

Reviews page 1 of 33
Arrival date (latest first)

campsite is big, staff are nice but power supply lose all the credit.

Overall

4 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
1
Accommodation
6
Facilities / Activities
7
Customer service
5
Child friendliness
7
Cleanliness
4
Wifi
1
Lai Man M.

Electric optional grass pitch (large, no pets)

Liked the campsite is big with many different facilities and the location is good and easy to get supply from local stores.

Disliked the electric hook up pitch is big but the power supply is very poor and unstable. We could not use our electrical appliances for cooking or hair dry nor anything. we paid for the electricity but didn't get what we suppose to have. very disappointed. complaint email been sent to the site manager but get no response. won't recommend to friends if they are going to use electric pitch.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Staff are fantastic and excellent site can’t wait to go back

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
10
Accommodation
10
Facilities / Activities
10
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
10
Wifi
No rating
Alan B.

Non-electric grass pitch (no pets, wild)

Liked Site is lovely and big. We stayed in the wild camping area. It was really quiet and pitches are huge.

Kids loved the onsite activities and had a blast getting back to basics.

Little or no phone signal allowed everyone to unwind and relax.

Recommend to friends Visit again

A very windy and enjoyable break.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
10
Accommodation
7
Facilities / Activities
9
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
6
Wifi
8
Gareth P.

Electric optional grass pitch (large, no pets)

Liked A great pitch with electric. The activity were great for my daughter and being fairly quiet managed to use several times.

Disliked The toilet block at H was dirty and smelled. The block on A was excellent, although a bit of a walk in the middle of the night.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Fun place to stay but the toilet/shower facilities need to some work.

Overall

5 out of 10
Location
7
Value for money
7
Accommodation
10
Facilities / Activities
7
Customer service
7
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
2
Wifi
2
Michelle G.

Electric optional grass pitch (large, no pets)

Liked The range of activities on the site are good and good value. The space you get is great and the fact you can have a good sized camp fire, using the fire bins they provide is also good. I had a really great time due to this.

Disliked The toilets/showers need a deep clean. They wipe them down somewhat often but the dirt in the corners etc shows how long it’s been since they’ve had a deep clean.

Also there was nowhere to put your clean clothes whilst showering. Could do with another hook. So you have one for your towel and one for your clean clothes.

The showers had no temperature control. And the automatic timer was way too short.

Going to the toilet at night, the lights go off if you spend too long on the toilet. Not a very nice experience.

Apparently the boys urinal was constantly blocked and it stunk of stale urine due to this and was unbearable.

Lots of rubbish around the site.

Also we were told that we could use the code to get in before 10pm. We were lucky to have the phone number on us in order to ring so someone would let us in. It was before 10pm both times it happened. It should be mentioned when checking in and written in the welcome packs that you can’t get in using the code after a certain time and to make sure you have the phone number to hand.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Very large well kept site

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
10
Accommodation
No rating
Facilities / Activities
10
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
No rating
Cleanliness
8
Wifi
No rating
J B.

Non-electric grass pitch (no pets, wild)

Liked - Large open spaces
- lots of activities
- Well kept site
- nearby to some beautiful parkland (clumber park etc)

Disliked - Toilets in wild camping area needed a bit of TLC

Recommend to friends Visit again

Thank you

Overall

7 out of 10
Location
7
Value for money
8
Accommodation
7
Facilities / Activities
7
Customer service
9
Child friendliness
8
Cleanliness
5
Wifi
1
Anonymous

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked Environment of long walks and loads of accessible toilets

Disliked Food

Recommend to friends Visit again

Good stay. Friendly staff. Lots of open outdoor spaces. Huge pitch.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
9
Value for money
7
Accommodation
5
Facilities / Activities
8
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
6
Wifi
2
Anonymous

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked Huge campsite. Lots of activities for the kids. Pool tables in the bar. Friendly staff. Huge pitches and can bring the car to your pitch.

Disliked Toilets / shower blocks are all very dirty, filthy floors, spiderwebs and dirt everywhere. Never seemed clean at all. Could really do with some focussed attention

Recommend to friends Visit again

Overall really good value for money and a really enjoyable holiday

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
10
Accommodation
7
Facilities / Activities
10
Customer service
9
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
5
Wifi
No rating
Helen W.

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked Very reasonably priced, the site is vast and beautiful and the activities were great. We did Jacob’s ladder, low ropes, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, and axe throwing all for £11 each for a half day wrist band. Amazing value and the instructors were absolutely lovely. They also had plenty of fire pits available scattered about.

Disliked The showers weren’t all that clean - the whole place was sopping wet and the floor was muddy, and there was nowhere to put dry clothes while you have a shower. They could do with more bins especially by the washing up station.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Loved this camp site. So much to do for the kids. Its…

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
7
Accommodation
10
Facilities / Activities
9
Customer service
9
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
5
Wifi
4
Stephanie H.

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked Loved this camp site. So much to do for the kids. Its big and spacious around pitchs aswell. I really had a lovley weekend hear. Would definitely come back. Was quite aswell.

Disliked The showers and toilets were too far from us and they were very clean. Need upgrading, i think. I also think the half hour in the pool and waiting in a line for each session was annoying. Also, the wasp swarming around, but that's no ones fault.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Spacious pitches. We requested a quieter area for our dogs with it…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
10
Value for money
10
Accommodation
10
Facilities / Activities
8
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
No rating
Cleanliness
8
Wifi
No rating
Adam M.

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked Spacious pitches. We requested a quieter area for our dogs with it being their first time camping and we placed in a nice quieter corner of the dog friendly field. Ground was even and took pegs well!

Disliked Toilets were a little run down, but all in working order.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great site, great activities, lots of space terrible toilets

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
7
Value for money
10
Accommodation
10
Facilities / Activities
10
Customer service
10
Child friendliness
10
Cleanliness
1
Wifi
8
Vinnett W.

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked Lots of space and great activities. Liked the fact uou turn up with wristband and don't have to book activities.
Staff were really friendly and helpful.
Gift shop was great

Disliked Washing facilities and toilets were poorly maintained and seldom cleaned. It really needs updating or at least a cleaning schedule throughout the day and evening. Some if them were horrendous.

Recommend to friends Visit again


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house Covered terrace area Cycle hire Evening entertainment Fishing Fitness centre Games room Indoor swimming pool Kids' club On-site restaurant/cafe Outdoor swimming pool Play area TV room Take away Tennis Watersports

Amenities on site

Baby-changing facilities Bath available Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Launderette Parent & baby washroom Pick-up from public transport Portable toilet Pub toilets Public telephone Shower available Toilet block Washing-up area Wifi

Groups welcome

D. of E. welcome Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Rallies welcome Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided Barbecues allowed Campfires allowed Commercial vehicles allowed Dogs allowed Dogs allowed all year

Camping 2.0

Jumbo tent pitches

Themes

Forest Peaceful Spectacular scenery Walkers' paradise Wild camping Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities Chemical disposal Electric car charging point(s) Gas cylinders available Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby Nearby farmers' market Shop nearby

Type

Very large (over 200 pitches)

Accessibility

Accessible parking at pitch Bathrooms: Large spacious shower Bathrooms: Large spacious toilet Bathrooms: Step-free access Bathrooms: Wheelchair accessible shower Bathrooms: Wheelchair accessible toilet Bathrooms: Wide doorways (over 30 inches/75cm) Level site, no steep slopes Smooth, hard roads e.g. tarmac Step-free or level access

Nearby leisure

Canoeing/kayaking nearby Climbing nearby Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Fishing nearby Leisure/theme park nearby Mountain biking nearby Outdoor pool nearby Watersports nearby

Location

Walesby Forest

Brake Road

Newark

Nottinghamshire

England

NG22 9NG

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London BST (GMT+01:00)

GPS

53.22455°N
0.99979°W

Nearest transport

Coach
6.4 mi Hetts Lane
6.5 mi Bingo Hall
7.1 mi Bus Station
Rail
6.6 mi Retford Low Level Rail Station
6.6 mi Retford Rail Station
7.9 mi Worksop Rail Station
Airport
17.7 mi Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport
18.1 mi Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport
19.8 mi Sheffield City Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

With its tales of Robin Hood, ancient oaks, country houses and lush leafy landscape, Sherwood Forest has something to keep most sorts content. Clumber Park (15 minutes' drive) has long avenues of limes and open heath to stroll through, while over by the Major Oak (10 minutes) you can get acquainted with one of the area's stand-out trees before setting out on several waymarked hiking routes (maps available at the visitor centre next door). Similarly close to base is Go Ape Sherwood (10 minutes), where a medley of segways and zipwires nicely complement any on-site activities you've got up to during your stay. Kids not quite old enough for that kind of activity? Fear not, as families with younger members will find plenty of age-appropriate entertainment at Wheelgate Waterpark (15 minutes) or Sundown Adventureland (20 minutes). Spending time in town is also doable here, as Walesby Forest is just over half an hour from Lincoln's castle, cathedral and urban arboretum. Meanwhile, over in Newark (30 minutes), there's Civil War heritage, antiques shops and weekly markets in a handsome Georgian square, plus hovercraft tours if you fancy something a little different.

Must see

Sherwood Forest Country Park 3 mi

Mansfield Museum 10 mi

Bolsover Castle 12.2 mi

Hardwick Hall 12.9 mi

Hardwick Old Hall 13.4 mi

National Trust

Clumber Park 4 mi

Mr Straw's House 7.8 mi

The Workhouse, Southwell 10.2 mi

Hardwick Hall 13.4 mi

Hardwick Estate: Stainsby Mill 13.4 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Bothamsall - Robin Hood's Cave - Walesby - Bothamsall 1.9 mi

THORESBY PARK 1.9 mi

The Major Oak and Sherwood Forest 3.1 mi

The Major Oak - Sherwood Forest - Edwinstowe 3.1 mi

Clumber and Surrounding Forests - Robin Hood Way 3.9 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Nearest sites

Unfortunately, we have no nearby bookable sites.

Want to know more about camping in Nottinghamshire?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Walesby Forest have a swimming pool? Yes View all features
  • Is Walesby Forest dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Walesby Forest? With its tales of Robin Hood, ancient oaks, country houses and lush leafy landscape, Sherwood Forest has something to keep most sorts content. Clumber Park (15 minutes' drive) has long avenues of … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Walesby Forest?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  2 p.m. –  10 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  2 p.m. –  10 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.

    Please call the duty manager on the number provided if you are running late.

    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Walesby Forest? From £18 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.