Hillside Auckengill Campsite

View prices & book 9.4 59 reviews
Hillside pitches (added by manager 15 Jun 2023)
Hillside pitches
The pitches
Pitches
Camping field
View to the sea
Lovely views from pitch
View from site
View to the sea from the pitches
1/45
Favourite
The pitches
Pitches
Camping field

  • Small, peaceful tourer site with sea views at Auckengill in Caithness
  • On the North Coast 500 driving route; John O’Groats 10 minutes’ drive
  • Grass pitches surrounded by grazing animals; pub five minutes’ drive
With spectacular views over Caithness farmland to the North Sea, Hillside Auckengill Campsite is a peaceful spot to park up for the night when you’re heading around north Scotland on the NC500. It’s also a handy base if you’ve got an early-morning start for the Orkney Islands, as it’s only 15 minutes’ drive from Gills Bay ferry port. And thanks to its location in the rural village of Auckengill, 10 minutes’ drive from John O’Groats and five minutes from the sea, the site also makes a convenient spot for hanging around and exploring Caithness in more depth. It’s a breeze to get to as well, being easily accessed from the A99 trunk road. The handful of grass pitches here are surrounded by fields full of livestock and have access to a single bathroom containing a toilet and shower. There are plenty of local walks direct from the grass pitches for hikers and dog-walkers – you might like to follow sections of the fairly strenuous John O’Groats Trail (five minutes’ walk) or simply amble down to Keiss Beach (an hour). Foodwise, barbecues are permitted on site, but if you fancy a change of scenery, head to the pub in Keiss (five minutes’ drive) for some wholesome grub. Restock with supplies at the supermarkets in Wick (20 minutes).

Site type

Motorhome pitches 10
Touring caravan pitches 10
Open all year
Opens
Please note
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • 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).
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • There is no reception on-site: on arrival please contact the number provided on your booking confirmation.

Languages spoken

English

Reviews

9.4

Overall rating based on 59 reviews View breakdown

Peaceful

Voted 81% of visitors View breakdown

97%

would recommend this site to a friend

93%

would stay here again

  • 79%
    10
  • 0%
    9
  • 15%
    8
  • 0%
    7
  • 3%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 0%
    4
  • 0%
    3
  • 1%
    2
  • 0%
    1

Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Lovely quant site, friendly host.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 8
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 8
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Edward B. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Friendly host, wonderful quant campsite.

Disliked: As advertised only one toilet/shower. A second or a separate toilet would be a good addition, as would washing up facilities (an outside sink). All as advertised though and would stay again. Worked well as only 3 pitches were taken including us, but with 10 pitches full might have been a queue for the toilet/shower.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Nice little site, close to John o' Groats. Good for a nights…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Nice little site, close to John o' Groats. Good for a nights stop off on the NC500 to shower & recharge your batteries, or in my case to wake up to a flat battery and unable to start the van... 10/10 for the owners, thanks again for the tow/bump start! 4g signal around 5mbps with the wifi hotspot up in the elevated roof of my van (rural location) so enough for mobile games/streaming services if you want them. Pitchup currently shows no shower available, but there is one here and it's well maintained.

Disliked: No dislikes. As others have mentioned, a washing up sink/area would be a good addition as you grow. All the best :0)

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great little stopover site

Overall 10/10
Location 8
Value for money 10
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Fully serviced and quiet site

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Good touring location. Basic site but very laid back. Level pitches.…

Overall 8/10
Location 8
Value for money 6
Accommodation 4
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 8
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 8
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Good touring location. Basic site but very laid back. Level pitches.

Disliked: Only single temporary toilet/shower available. Assume building work is for permanent facilities.

Recommend to friends Visit again

I would highly recommend

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 8
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Tara L. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Wonderful place for couples, very peaceful clean and the owners where very friendly and nothing was a bother.

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Quiet peaceful

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities No rating
Customer service No rating
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness No rating
Wifi No rating
martin e. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Quiet little site, tidy well kept.

Recommend to friends Visit again

sorry nothing…

Overall 2/10
Location 6
Value for money 2
Accommodation 2
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 2
Child friendliness 2
Cleanliness 4
Wifi 2
Sean K. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: sorry nothing

Disliked: very poor site with 1 toilet and 1 shower for the whole site

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi Sean when you first arrived at our campsite you didn't look happy I asked if everything was okay, and you said yes. You scored 4/10 for customer service I greeted you when you came into camp. I honoured your request with your booking. When you got lost my partner spoke to you and gave you directions. I am sorry you didn't enjoy our site. If you had told me when you arrived at the site I would have refunded you, your money. Can I ask if you read the description of our campsite on pitchup before you booked? I feel customers are not reading the location of the site or what facilities we have before they book? Then complain about the location which is a rural site, or there is not enough facilities etc. We are a new site, and are trying to build up our custom before we can add on more facilities. Myself and Andrew work hard to maintain a clean site, and we strive to make our customers happy. So I am very sorry you felt you didn't like anything about our site. In the future let the owners know how you feel. Hope the rest of your holiday was enjoyable take care.

Good clean site, friendly host but remote and exposed.

Overall 8/10
Location 8
Value for money 10
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 2
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Great remote location, pitches well serviced and site very clean and tidy. Very welcoming friendly host.

Disliked: Might be too remote for some, very exposed so very windy. Only one bathroom which was fine as quiet but could be waiting a while if site is full. Owner said they are getting a bigger block in though.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Perfect location

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Heidi E. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: Friendly host Alan welcomed us on site. Beautiful surroundings. Toilet and shower facilities A*. Super clean and warm and shower powerful and hot. Laundry great. Just what we needed. Highly recommended

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

We arrived a the site much later than anticipated due to long…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Pam N. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Fully-serviced hardstanding and grass touring pitch

Liked: We arrived a the site much later than anticipated due to long delays on the road up. This was our first stop off and our first time in a motor home. We were greeted by a very friendly and helpful owner. The site was small but perfectly formed. I can not get over how clean and well stocked the toilet and shower were. It has made me prefer small sites compared to big ones. I would certainly recommend this site.

Recommend to friends Visit again

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 Car parking by pitch/unit Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Launderette Parent & baby washroom Pick-up from public transport Picnic table 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

Utilities

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

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby

Type

Tiny (1-10 pitches)

Accessibility

Disabled facilities

Nearby leisure

Golf nearby Sailing nearby

Touring and motorhomes

Drainage hook-up points for tourers Water hook-up points for tourers

Location

Hillside Auckengill Campsite

Auckengill

Wick

Caithness

Scotland

KW1 4XP

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London BST (GMT+01:00)

GPS

58.57135°N
-3.09278°W

Nearest transport

Rail
9 mi Wick Rail Station
13.6 mi Georgemas Junction Rail Station
15.8 mi Thurso Rail Station
Ferry
5.1 mi John O' Groats Ferry Terminal
5.3 mi Gills Bay Ferry Terminal
12.4 mi Burwick Sth Ronaldsay Orkney Ferry Terminal
Airport
8.2 mi Wick Airport
27.3 mi Kirkwall (Orkney) 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

To learn more about Caithness heritage, pay a visit to Nybster Broch (five minutes’ drive), the circular ruins of a former Iron Age settlement with a 19th-century tower covered in gargoyles built into it. Just down the road, the Caithness Broch Centre (also five minutes) displays Viking and Pictish artefacts found in local brochs, including pottery and gaming tokens. Have a nose around the dramatic clifftop ruins of Bucholie (five minutes) and Old Keiss castles (10 minutes), or for a regal day out, tour the sumptuous apartments and neatly planted walled gardens at the 16th-century Castle of Mey (25 minutes’ drive), once the home of HM, The Queen Mother. Head to John O’Groats (10 minutes) for beer and whisky tastings or to pick up pretty souvenirs in the art gallery. To admire the wild Caithness coastline from the sea, join a boat cruise from Wick (20 minutes) and get up close to caves and jagged sea stacks while looking out for puffin colonies tucked into the cliffs and seals basking on the rocks.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020 2019 2018 2017
Dunnet 9.8 mi Sea N/A Excellent Excellent Excellent
Thurso 15.5 mi Sea N/A Good Good N/A

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

The Castle & Gardens of Mey 6.6 mi

Cycle routes

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

Other

The Stacks of Duncansby 5.5 mi

Noss Head and Sinclair and Girnigoe Castles 6.7 mi

Staxigoe to Noss Head 8 mi

Dwarwick to Castletown 10.4 mi

Brough Harbour – Marry Geo - Remains of Castle – Kerry Geo 10.4 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 Caithness?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Hillside Auckengill Campsite have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Hillside Auckengill Campsite dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Hillside Auckengill Campsite? To learn more about Caithness heritage, pay a visit to Nybster Broch (five minutes’ drive), the circular ruins of a former Iron Age settlement with a 19th-century tower covered in gargoyles built … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Hillside Auckengill Campsite?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  1 p.m. –  7:30 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.

    Please telephone the site 30 minutes before arrival.

    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Hillside Auckengill Campsite? From £29 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.