Riverside Caravan and Camping Park

Liked The park area is spacious with good play equipment for kids, and the forest walks are a nice touch. All hardstanding pitches come with a picnic bench. There's a small Sainsbury's a few minutes' drive away, and the site is close to the main road for easy access. The entertainment schedule was well put together with plenty on offer, and the bar had a good beer selection. The Elsan point itself was well done, with a sink alongside it to wash your hands afterwards.

This isn't a bad site overall — just not what suited us. If you're not put off by the points below, it's worth a look.

Disliked Shop — Advertised as "well stocked," but this meant camping equipment and a wall of pot noodles and long-life cakes rather than fresh food, bread, milk, eggs etc. that similar sites' shops carry. Opening hours were also inconsistent across sources — website says 18:30, on-site signage says 17:00, reception actually closed at 17:30.

Pitches & Access — Barrier entry with cars parked haphazardly around the site, making access tight (twin-axle vans would likely struggle). Many pitches are used as seasonal/long-stay, and allocations were small enough that you're effectively sharing space with your neighbour. Our pitch was tarmac (caravan) + gravel (presumably awning) + a small grass strip — but the seasonal pitch next door parked vehicles on and in front of "our" grass area, making it unusable. Water/electric hookup was on a makeshift wooden board between pitches with a hosepipe rather than proper standard pipework. The grey waste point was an open, uncovered hole in the ground — the same style used for the static caravans' waste, large enough to suggest it likely also takes black waste — with a persistent bad smell and enough debris in it that emptying a waste master into it caused overflow onto the pitch. It was also positioned on the door side of our pitch, making it awkward to reach without long pipework. Separately, pitches 34 and 35 looked more like laybys or passing spaces than proper pitches, with no allocated parking — the car ended up parked partly across the path leading to the Elsan point.

"Enclosed" Dog Walking Field — Marked on the map as enclosed, but it's really a hilly, uncampable area with a fence loosely put around it. One of the two gates was missing, and the far boundary was just brambles/bushes rather than fencing — easy for a smaller or more energetic dog (ours is a collie) to get through. The lack of a proper barrier also meant foxes came and went freely, leaving several deposits our dog found before we did.

Play Park — Good facilities, but sited on open grass near the river with no matting or surfacing — the ground under the swings and slide became muddy pools whenever it rained.

Showers & Toilets — Generally clean but not thorough — an empty beer can sat on a windowsill in the gents for several days, and there was visible grime in the ladies'. Showers are push-button only with no temperature control, and no dry area for clothes/shoes/towels. Worth noting: the cleaning log board on display showed the last recorded check was the 29th — we left on the 31st, so it hadn't been updated since. I'll also just mention that the same handwriting appeared in both the "checked by" and "supervisor check" columns.

Country Club / Bar / Restaurant — Seating is long canteen-style rows with minimal separation between tables — not somewhere you can eat without feeling like you're sitting with strangers, and awkward to navigate with a pushchair. We visited during the site's 20th anniversary bank holiday event, which may have added to the noise and some colourful language from nearby outdoor tables — but even allowing for that, it didn't feel like an environment we'd want our younger children in (older kids/teens, fine).

Evening Entertainment — Runs late and loud — if you've young children trying to sleep, expect a long night, especially on pitches closer to the venue.

Staff — Friendly enough but low on enthusiasm. I hadn't asked about food at all — just ordering drinks at the bar — when I was told "menus are on the bar" completely unprompted, delivered in a flat, almost rehearsed tone, like it was a line they'd been told to say rather than something offered naturally. A "if you fancy food, menus are just there" would have landed completely differently — this felt more like a box being ticked than a genuine offer.

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Liked Great base to go exploring North Devon.
Staff are helpful and friendly.
20 minutes from Barnstable with supermarkets and big stores if needed.
Nice enough walks around the site.
Fully serviced pitch was as expected and glad the gray water drain was at ground level and not raised up as some are.
Pitch was flat, gravel to the side and a small grass pitch with a bench. (Needed jet washing)

Disliked At the time of our 8 day visit, only two male toilets available out of three for the majority of the site. Not enough toilets for the size of this site.Having to stand and wait in a line for the loo should not be a thing.
There is no signage around the site. So for a new visitor, you dont know where your pitch is, as the map looks simple, bit it is not to scale.
The fishing pools are all wired off, so only for fishermen/women.
Other sites have the pools as a nice place to walk around. More like a commercial fishery than an additional to the site.
The fully serviced pitches are closer together than most sites. You feel on top of each other. There should be a separate car park, as allowing cars to park infront of the tightly not pitches, just makes the row look like a terraced street.
Building work going on and a constant movement of Caravans coming out of storage and being put on pitches ready for incoming visitors.
This could be a great site, but the pitches are just not relaxing due to the tight nit edge to edge.

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Liked Excellent site with large pitches for camping, and water next to each pitch - a big plus! Clubhouse was excellent, with excellent food at relatively reasonable prices, a very friendly atmosphere, and good ale. The fishing lakes were good, and well stocked. All of the staff who we interacted with were friendly and efficient, and very helpful. Excellent stay!

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Liked Good size pitches

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Liked Loads for the kids to go off and explore. Really good playground.
Amazing little stream/river.
Huge open spaces.
Easy to find and to get too.
Good shop.
Good bar and restaurant.
Some entertainment (singers).
Friendly staff.
Great for dogs.
Good facilities.

Disliked My only minor dislike was I wish they advertised when and what the entertainment was, as we managed to find out what was on, but didnt know when.

Something to note is there is heavy road noise if you are on the pitches by the playground, although didnt bother us too much as we are used to it.

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Liked Excellent sized pitches, well serviced pitches, easy check in.

Disliked Shop was poorly stocked and not within walking distance of another shop and site allowing use of e-bikes and e-scooters for "play purposes" is dangerous.

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Liked Great serviced pitch, level and clean. Bar and restaurant were reasonable prices and the food was really good.
Staff were very helpful when we had a problem with the caravan and sorted it on site.

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Liked Was nice and clean . Even tho it was busy it was still peaceful. Lovely relaxing short stay . Will definitely be returning

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Liked Lovely grounds. Shower blocks modern.
Pitch was good size and the staff were very helpful in reception.

Disliked Showers were hit and miss. One day the pressure was good and the shower hot the next was cold shower and no pressure at all.
Would like to see a adult only area as lots of children kicking footballs around our vehicle.
I appreciate its summer holidays but we were put in between 2 tents with babys/toddlers crying all hours.
Restaurant was expensive and the lady not very welcoming unfortunately.

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Liked Carvery on thursday excellent pitch flat and all facilities on pitch

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