Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite

View prices & book 9.2 85 reviews
View of the campsite with Skiddaw in the background
View of the campsite with skiddaw in the background
View across over water
View of the campsite on a sunny day with skiddaw in the background
Views towards over water
View of the campsite with skiddaw in the background
Grass pitches
Grass pitches
Happy campers
1/108
View across over water
View of the campsite on a sunny day with skiddaw in the background
Views towards over water

  • Pop-up site on a working fell farm in the northern Lake District
  • Bassenthwaite Lake 10 minutes’ drive; Keswick 20 minutes
  • Views of Over Water; close to cycle routes and Wainwright hikes
A peaceful, off-grid spot for wild camping, Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite sits within sight of Over Water, a feeding place for ospreys, in the northern Lake District. Here, you get a front-row seat to views of the northern fells, including Longlands, Lowthwaite, Great Sca Fell, Knott, Great Cockup, Little Cockup, Meal Fell and Binsey. Indeed, the site’s location is so convenient that you will soon be bagging Wainwrights (as the local peaks are affectionately known) or pedalling down stunning cycle routes. More Wainwrights await at the ‘back o’ Skiddaw’ (20 minutes), as the locals call it. This area has cycling routes such as the Skiddaw Loop, the Lakeland Monster Miles Adventure Cross and the Lakes 100. Added bonus: somehow, big crowds have yet to discover it… Well-behaved dogs are welcome, but they must be kept on a lead at all times, since the site is on a working sheep farm with Herdwick and Swaledale flocks. The barn (which once featured on a ‘Top Gear’ episode) has covered picnic tables for rainy spells. Raised firepits and small, raised barbecues are welcome; logs are for sale on site. There are no showers or electricity here, but simple facilities extend to unisex portable toilets, a water source (not for drinking water) and rubbish bins. Please note that there is no public access to the lake, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest owned by the National Trust.

Campground type

RV & Motorhome sites 50
Tent sites 50
Open now
Opens 3 April
Please note
  • This campground/park has no on-site shower facilities.
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • Please note that the toilet facilities are unisex.
  • The campground/park does not accept breeds/crossbreeds listed in the Dangerous Dog Act (i.e. Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and Fila Brasileiro).
  • Discount cards and gift vouchers cannot be applied to bookings made via Pitchup.com.
  • Swimming in the lake is not allowed.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Fri, 3 Apr to

No availability here for your search criteria

Reviews

9.2

Overall rating from 85 Pitchup.com customers

  • 68%
    10
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    9
  • 12%
    8
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    7
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    6
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    5
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    1
Location
 9
Value for money
 9
Accommodation
 9
Facilities / Activities
 8
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 9
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 4
Lake and/or mountainPeaceful

93% would recommend this campground to a friend

87% would stay here again

What customers say

Peaceful, back-to-basics site with great rural views. Owners are super friendly & helpful, plenty of space, and clean portaloos. While no showers or drinking water, many loved the off-grid vibe, fire pit hire & log sales. Narrow access roads but overall, folks are keen to return.

Summary AI-generated from Pitchup.com customer reviews

Reviews page 1 of 9
Arrival date (latest first)

Brilliant site. Would return.

Overall

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

Unpowered grass tent or trailer tent site

Liked Plenty of space to pitch in a good spot. The owner was very approachable, made sure we were okay and had enough fire wood ect. Toilets were clean and well looked after.

Recommend to friends Visit again

I can't believe you can charge…

Overall

1 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 1
Facilities / Activities
 1
Customer service
 5
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 2
Wifi
 1
Anonymous

Unpowered grass campervan site

Liked I can't believe you can charge this much for an empty field. They must be making a fortune from this. Not even drinking water on site!!! Granted the views and scenery are amazing, but the toilets were like festival toilets, disgusting!! No drinking water is outrageous.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: We're sorry you didn't enjoy your stay with us this weekend. As a pop up campsite our listing states we are "a peaceful off grid spot for wild camping" and also states "simple facilities extend to unisex portable toilets, a water source (not for drinking water) and rubbish bins".
To address your comments about no drinking water on site there is no mains water in the hamlet of Orthwaite and all the properties there are spring fed. When you are greeted on site this is explained and we always check if anyone requires drinking water, which is provided free of charge if needed.
With regard to the toilets, as a pop up site we are not permitted to have a permanent toilet block and therefore have to have portaloos. The toilets are checked, cleaned and re-stocked a minimum of three times each day and unfortunately two of them had been well used between cleans from Saturday night to Sunday morning. Our apologies you encountered one of the well used units but there were six others available that were clean and tidy. We endeavour to keep the portaloos as clean and fresh as we can but unfortunately we are not able to be on site 24/7.

Beautiful spot, very spacious and clean…

Overall

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

Unpowered grass tent or trailer tent site

Liked Beautiful spot, very spacious and clean surrounded by hills. We had no service on our phones which was actually great. Thank you for having us!

Disliked Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you for your kind review, it was lovely to meet you and we are so pleased you enjoyed your stay with us.

Plenty of space in a nice…

Overall

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

Unpowered grass tent or trailer tent site

Liked Plenty of space in a nice area.

Disliked Pretty pricey considering the lack of facilities.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great campsite - keep up the good work

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 7
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 No rating
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 1
Anonymous

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Excellent campsite, well maintained and wasn’t over populated perfect for a quiet relaxing evening. The people who run it were great help also, could rent fire pits and buy logs. Would definitely recommend. They also kindly asked for drone footage I took an offered me a free stay one weekend which I thought was brilliant of them. Great campsite stumbled upon by accident but would definitely stay again.

Disliked Nothing.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Gorgeous views Owners friendly and came…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 No rating
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 10
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 1
Katherine D.

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Gorgeous views
Owners friendly and came round to check we was ok for everything we brought our own fire pit and wood but loved that you could get more wood and hire fire pit if needed also loved the fact can Che k in and out when suited yourself

Disliked Nothing loved that it was totally off grid no work just what we wanted

Recommend to friends Visit again

Lovely location and even at fully…

Overall

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

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Lovely location and even at fully booked there was so much space between everyone so you can chill and have your own privacy.

The owners are so nice! So friendly and helpful!

Not too far to Keswick in case you forget supplies which something which we always do!

Will defo be back next year!

Recommend to friends Visit again

Everything…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 No rating
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 1
Thomas B.

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Everything

Recommend to friends Visit again

All round great place

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 No rating
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 1
Anonymous

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Unreal campsite. Incredible views and stunning surrounding location. 20 mins drive from keswick. Great land owners too.

Disliked Neighbours we had were noisy until 1:30am struggled to sleep

Recommend to friends Visit again

Stunning views, lovely hidden gem. Plenty…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 No rating
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 No rating
Wifi
 No rating
Sarah N.

Unpowered grass tent site

Liked Stunning views, lovely hidden gem. Plenty of toilets. Good back to basics camping.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Features

Portable toilet

Pop-up campground

Dogs allowed

Campfires 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 site/unit Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Laundry 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

Camping 2.0

Jumbo tent sites

Themes

Lake and/or mountain Peaceful Remote location Spectacular scenery Walkers' paradise Wild camping

Utilities

Charging facilities Dump point Electric car charging point(s) Gas cylinders available No drinkable water point No hot water No running water Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby

Type

Farm Medium (26-50 sites) Pop-up campground

Nearby leisure

Canoeing/kayaking nearby Climbing nearby Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Golf nearby Indoor pool nearby Leisure/theme park nearby Mountain biking nearby Restaurant nearby

Location

Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite

Orthwaite Hall

Uldale

Wigton

Cumbria

England

CA7 1HL

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London +0100 (GMT+01:00)

GPS

54.704°N
3.15687°W

Route directions

What3words: ///spires.craziest.sedative

Nearest transport

Coach
11.4 km Bus Station
14.4 km Gallowbarrow
14.4 km Fairfield Junior School
Rail
12.8 km Aspatria Rail Station
13.9 km Wigton Rail Station
19.2 km Dalston (Cumbria) Rail Station
Ferry
12.1 km Nichol End (Derwentwater) Ferry Landing
12.2 km Keswick Ferry Landing
13.7 km Hawes End Derwentwater Ferry Landing

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

The area around Bassenthwaite Lake National Nature Reserve (10 minutes’ drive) includes Dodd Wood, whose forests are home to red squirrels, and Lake District Wildlife Park, with birds of prey, primates and farmyard animals. At the Lakes Distillery, you can take a tour of the facilities – complete with a whisky tasting, of course. In the lively market town of Keswick (20 minutes), the riverside Derwent Pencil Museum displays a huge pencil (almost eight metres long) and has a colourful shop stocked with quality art supplies. The town is also the gateway to island-dotted Derwentwater, with its splendid lakeside trails and assorted watery attractions. After visiting the ruins of the 14th-century castle in Penrith (40 minutes), linger a while in the surrounding park, where there’s a playground with a miniature adventure course for the kids. On the outskirts of town are a public pool and several golf courses, plus the Thacka Beck Nature Reserve, where you might spot birds and dragonflies.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020201920182017
Allonby 19.2 km Sea N/AGoodGoodGood
Southerness 34.2 km Sea N/AGoodGoodExcellent
St Bees 37.6 km Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Seascale 40.5 km Sea N/AGoodGoodGood
Sandyhills 41.3 km Sea N/AN/APoorPoor

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Mirehouse Historic House and Gardens 7.1 km

Whinlatter Forest & Visitor Centre 11.3 km

Castlerigg Stone Circle 11.9 km

Ullswater Steamers 22.5 km

Dalemain Historic House & Gardens 23.3 km

National Trust

Wordsworth House and Garden 14.3 km

Buttermere and Ennerdale 30.8 km

Grasmere and Great Langdale 30.8 km

Wasdale, Eskdale and Duddon 33.5 km

Townend 36.2 km

Cycle routes

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

Other

High Pike, Fellside 5.4 km

Ullock Pike - Longside Edge - Skiddaw 5.8 km

Dodd Wood under Ullock Pike 7.1 km

Bassenthwaite Osprey Walk 7.1 km

Latrigg, Blease and Lonscale 9.9 km

Local events

  • Kendal Calling (Thursday 30 July 2026 – Thursday 30 July 2026)

    Penrith, England 30.5 km

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 The Lake District and Cumbria?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite? The area around Bassenthwaite Lake National Nature Reserve (10 minutes’ drive) includes Dodd Wood, whose forests are home to red squirrels, and Lake District Wildlife Park, with birds of prey, primates and … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite?
    Camping and caravan
    Arrive:  Anytime –  Anytime
    Depart by:  Anytime
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Orthwaite Pop-up Campsite? From $47.25 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.