Lyons Gate Holiday Park

View prices & book 9.3 235 reviews
Colourful site
Colourful site
Pitches by the lake
Lake on site
Aerial view
Lakeside pitches
Lakeside pitches
Plenty of space
Grab a spot to cast a line
1/279
Pitches by the lake
Lake on site
Aerial view

  • Peaceful woodland site in Dorset National Landscape
  • Half an hour from Jurassic Coast beaches; 20 minutes from Dorchester
  • Four well-stocked fishing lakes on site, plus woodland trails
A peaceful spot in the Dorset National Landscape, within easy reach of the famed Jurassic Coast and with lots nearby for history and heritage buffs? Sounds like a lucky catch… and that’s not all to reel you in at Lyons Gate Caravan Park and Fishery, a family-friendly site less than 10 minutes’ drive from the scenic Dorset village of Cerne Abbas. This site is heaven for anyone angling to do a spot of fishing on their hols: there are four well-stocked lakes here where casting a line could land perch, chub, roach, tench, rudd, barbel or 20-pound+ carp – plenty to keep novices and experts entertained for days. When nothing’s biting, hunger can be kept at bay with a cheeky takeaway, and there are a couple of pubs in Cerne Abbas if local eats are on the menu. Not hooked on spending getaways on the banks? Nature trails crisscross the woodland on site, or you can venture out into the National Landscape to wander the Jurassic Coast, lounge around on sandy beaches, and follow the Thomas Hardy trail to see Dorset as the poet and novelist did.

Site type

Tent pitches 13
Caravans for hire 2
Motorhome pitches 11
Touring caravan pitches 11
Open now
Opens 2 February
Please note

Admission

  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.

Dogs

  • The site does not accept breeds/crossbreeds listed in the Dangerous Dogs Act (i.e. XL Bully, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and Fila Brasileiro).

Extras

  • A charge of £0.50 applies for the use of the shower.

Occupancy

  • Single-sex bookings of 4 or more people (couples and immediate family members excepted) are not permitted via Pitchup.com.

Reception

  • Reception is unmanned after 6 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.
  • Fishing is £6 per person per day for up to 2 rods. Fires and firepits are prohibited. Charcoal barbecues will not be permitted in dry, windy and/or hot weather conditions.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Mon 2 Feb to

Open from Fri 1 Jan to

This site is a member of Lyons Holiday Parks group.

AA 4 pennants
View all Lyons Holiday Parks parks.

No availability here for your search criteria

Pitch types & availability

Accommodation

Tent pitchesTouring caravan pitchesMotorhome pitchesLodges, cabins, pods or hutsCaravans for hireRent a tent
Choose your dates
2 adults
0 children
0 dogs

Reviews

9.3

Overall rating from 235 Pitchup.com customers

  • 68%
    10
  • 9%
    9
  • 15%
    8
  • 1%
    7
  • 1%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 1%
    4
  • 0%
    3
  • 0%
    2
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    1
Location
 9
Value for money
 9
Accommodation
 9
Facilities / Activities
 9
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 9
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 5
Peaceful

95% would recommend this site to a friend

93% would stay here again

What customers say

Lyons Gate is praised for its beautiful, peaceful setting, excellent fishing, and the friendliness of its owners, Phil and Mandy. Many visitors highlight the immaculate cleanliness of the facilities and the helpfulness of the staff. While the fishing is a major draw, some guests note the toilet and shower blocks are dated but consistently clean, with a charge for hot water. WiFi is generally unavailable or unreliable. Some reviews mention pitches being close together.

Summary AI-generated from Pitchup.com customer reviews. Last updated 20/10/2026

Filter by topic

Reviews page 1 of 24
Arrival date (latest first)

Overall, very nice and we'll definitely be returning.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 9
Value for money
 9
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 8
Wifi
 4
Anonymous

Electric hardstanding touring pitch

Liked Lovely quiet setting, great fishing and friendly owners.

Disliked Facilities could do with an upgrade but they were clean and functional.
Coin-op showers are a bit temperamental.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review. We are pleased that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back to Lyons Gate.

Will be going again

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Facilities / Activities
 9
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 No rating
Lottie F. 1 review

Electric hardstanding touring pitch

Liked Really friendly owners, great fishing lovely wildlife and birds.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review. We are pleased that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back to Lyons Gate.

Very enjoyable every time we go.

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 10
 Graham P. 7 reviews

Electric hardstanding touring pitch (waterside)

Liked Very peaceful, well kept, and friendly site.

Disliked Nothing.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review. We are pleased that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back to Lyons Gate.

Camping so close to the lake…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 10
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 No rating
Jack H. 1 review

Electric hardstanding touring pitch (waterside)

Liked Camping so close to the lake is great.
All the locals on site and very nice and chatty

Disliked All was very good and could do with the shop open a little bit more

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review. We are pleased that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back to Lyons Gate.

Would visit again

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 8
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 No rating
Anonymous

Electric hardstanding touring pitch

Liked Lovely and very helpful caretakers who made sure we knew to come to them if we needed anything. Lovely peaceful spot surrounded by lakes and forest. Amenities were clean (basic but good) and showers, at 20p, were great. No god awful push button showers and I was happy to pay 20p for Lovely hot showers that flowed freely with plenty of time

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review. We are pleased that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back to Lyons Gate.

Will Visit Again with my BBQ

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 8
Facilities / Activities
 9
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 No rating
pat c. 12 reviews

Electric hardstanding touring pitch (waterside)

Liked Fishing, helpful staff, the tackle shop and location

Disliked NO BBQ’s Please ban disposable BBQ but let us reasonable off the ground users enjoy there holiday, in the hot dry weather fine ban all.
The pitches a bit to close together.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your review, we are pleased you had an enjoyable stay. Unfortunately the charcoal BBQ ban was a company decision along with a county ban. Hopefully if you visit again the situation may be different we will have to wait and see what happens in the future.

Great spot

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 No rating
Value for money
 9
Facilities / Activities
 8
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 No rating
Christina S. 5 reviews

Electric grass tent or trailer tent pitch

Liked Fantastic hosts great fishing good woodland walks

Disliked Weather lol 😂

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you so much for your kind words. We're pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Lyons Gate.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and we are grateful for your support. We hope to see you back at Lyons Gate soon. Loved meeting the dogs.

Would come again!

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 9
Facilities / Activities
 9
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 2
Anonymous

Electric hardstanding touring pitch (waterside)

Liked Friendly arrival, good advice and info. Only stayed for one night, but arrived as soon as able to take advantage of the fishing another lake behind our EHU pitch. A couple of very good Rudd, and areally decent 8lb mirror well worth fishing for the afternoon on a £6 day ticket.
20p showers were sufficient, and bought a couple of bits from the shop.
The site was kept clean and tidy with reasonable pitch sizes, but we had no one either side of us, otherwise it might have been a bit tighter than we would have liked.

Disliked Lack of mobile and wifi, nice to be offline but concerned couldn't call family. But that's the location.of, not the site's fault.
Several obviously permanently sited units with a couple of drivers selfishly driving at speed through site.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you so much for your kind words. We're pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Lyons Gate.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and we are grateful for your support. We hope to see you back at Lyons Gate soon.

Phil was very friendly, helpful and…

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 No rating
Anonymous

Electric hardstanding touring pitch

Liked Phil was very friendly, helpful and accommodating. Lovely quiet little site. Rural location. Level pitch.
Toilet blocks are a little dated but are very clean.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you so much for your kind words. We're pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Lyons Gate.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and we are grateful for your support. We hope to see you back at Lyons Gate soon.

Lovely little campsite. Mostly occupied with seasonal owners.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 8
Value for money
 8
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 8
Wifi
 No rating
Terri m. 9 reviews

Electric hardstanding touring pitch (waterside)

Liked Loved the owners, so friendly and welcoming.

Disliked Having to pay for hot water for showers and washing up.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: ank you so much for your kind words. We're pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Lyons Gate.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and we are grateful for your support. We hope to see you back at Lyons Gate soon.

Features

Dogs allowed

Leisure on site

Bar or club house 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

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

Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

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

Themes

Lake and/or mountain Peaceful Remote location Walkers' paradise

Utilities

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

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby Public transport nearby

Type

Medium (26-50 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Fishing nearby Restaurant nearby

Touring and motorhomes

Seasonal pitches

Location

Lyons Gate Holiday Park

Cerne Abbas

Dorchester

Dorset

England

DT2 7AZ

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London BST (GMT+01:00)

GPS

50.85569°N
2.48163°W

Nearest transport

Coach
6.7 mi Greenhill
6.8 mi Coldharbour
7.7 mi Queens Head
Rail
4.1 mi Chetnole Rail Station
4.9 mi Yetminster Rail Station
5.7 mi Thornford Rail Station
Ferry
17.2 mi Weymouth Ferry Terminal
23.7 mi Poole Ferry Terminal
23.9 mi Poole Quay Ferry Landing
Airport
28.9 mi Bournemouth International 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

Cerne Abbas has been called ‘Britain’s most desirable village’ to live in and it’s easy to see why. Start stays with a ramble around the stunningly pretty village, stopping in at the pubs to sample the local beer and tottering along to Cerne Abbey where the village’s tradition of brewing began. Of course, beer isn’t what Cerne Abbas is most famous for, so a trip to the Cerne Abbas Giant (a chalk hill figure of a happily anatomically correct man) comes highly recommended. There’s a viewing spot in the village and closer looks are a stroll away along a waymarked circular trail managed by the National Trust. If naked desires (sorry) skew more towards grand estates, Minterne House and Gardens are less than five minutes from base – the house isn’t open to the public, but it’s a spectacular backdrop to wanders among Himalayan gardens, designed in the style of Capability Brown. More urban days are within easy reach at Dorchester, 20 minutes away. The town is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, and visits to Hardy’s Cottage and his home later in life (Max Gate) are absolute musts. It’s not just literary history here either: there’s the Tutankhamun Exhibition, a Roman amphitheatre, a display of Terracotta Warrior replicas, and a handful of museums for everything from teddy bears to dinosaurs.
(within 6.2 mi)
Castle, Aquarium, Theme park, Zoo and Cashpoint (within 10 mi)

Food and drink

  • Hunter's Moon 0.8 mi
  • The Gaggle of Geese 1.8 mi
  • The Halsey Arms 3.2 mi
  • Royal Oak 3.2 mi
  • The Giant Inn 3.2 mi
  • The New Inn 3.3 mi
  • New Inn 3.3 mi
  • Chetnole Inn 3.9 mi
  • Rose & Crown 4.1 mi
  • The Brace of Pheasants 4.2 mi

Parks and play

  • Thornhackett Recreation Area Playground 5.4 mi
  • Hazel Wood park 5.6 mi

Family days out

  • Henley Hillbillies & Badger Watch Visitor attraction 2.5 mi
  • Cerne Abbas Giant Visitor attraction 2.9 mi
  • Sherborne Castle 6.3 mi
  • Sherborne Old Castle 6.6 mi
  • Sturminster Castle 8.8 mi

Public transport

  • Evershot, School Corner 5.5 mi

Other nearby

  • Folke Golf Centre 4.7 mi

Local services

  • Sainsbury's Bank Cashpoint 6.3 mi
  • Lloyds Bank Cashpoint 6.5 mi
  • Santander Cashpoint 8.7 mi
  • Murco Fuel station 4.5 mi
  • Gulf Fuel station 4.7 mi

© OpenStreetMap contributors

Must see

Hardy's Birthplace 9.6 mi

Mapperton House & Gardens 10.7 mi

Montacute House 12.1 mi

Fleet Air Arm Museum 13 mi

Haynes International Motor Museum 13.2 mi

National Trust

Hardy's Cottage 9.6 mi

Max Gate 10.5 mi

Montacute House 12.1 mi

Tintinhull Garden 13 mi

Clouds Hill 13.8 mi

Cycle routes

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

Other

MINTERNE 1.4 mi

Beneath The Feet Of Cerne's Giant 3.2 mi

CHANTMARLE 5.2 mi

MELBURY PARK 5.2 mi

SHERBORNE CASTLE 6.2 mi

Local events

  • Glastonbury Festival (Wednesday, 23 June 2027 – Wednesday, 23 June 2027)

    Glastonbury, Somerset 21.5 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.

Want to know more about camping in Dorset?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Lyons Gate Holiday Park have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Lyons Gate Holiday Park dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Lyons Gate Holiday Park? Cerne Abbas has been called ‘Britain’s most desirable village’ to live in and it’s easy to see why. Start stays with a ramble around the stunningly pretty village, stopping in at the … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Lyons Gate Holiday Park?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  12:30 p.m. –  9 p.m.
    Depart by:  11:30 a.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  2 p.m. –  9 p.m.
    Depart by:  10 a.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Lyons Gate Holiday Park? From £24.30 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.