Hilly Springs

View prices & book 8.6 34 reviews
Grassy pitches
Grassy pitches
Sunset view
Lake
Non-electric grass tent or trailer tent pitch
Non-electric grass tent or trailer tent pitch
Lake view
Pitch
View of the pitches
1/22
Sunset view
Lake
Non-electric grass tent or trailer tent pitch

  • Quiet adults-only site with a lake three miles from the Peak District
  • A 15-minute drive from Alton Towers; 20 minutes from Carsington Water
  • Pubs and town centre close by
At Hilly Springs, you’ll be planting down three miles from the edge of the Peak District National Park on a small, quiet site in Derbyshire. While things are nice and peaceful on the site, there’s a lot of activity to be had in the surrounding attractions, which include Alton Towers’s theme park rides 15 minutes’ drive away and Carsington Water’s watersports haven 20 minutes’ drive away. There’s water on the site too, this time in the form of a small lake. This is a dog-friendly, adults-only site, by the way, so there’s little disturbance and dogs are required to be kept on a lead. You’ll have access to a portable toilet and, aside from that, permission to start a barbecue. But where to source the burgers, drinks and buns, or whatever else you like on the grill? Well, there’s a farm shop five minutes’ drive away for that purpose or the town centre within walking distance of the site. Five minutes’ walk away, there’s also a pub for those of you who fancy the cooking done for you.

Site type

Tent pitches 20
Open now
Opens 1 April
Please note
  • This site has no on-site shower facilities.
  • 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).
  • Single-sex bookings of 10 or more people (excluding couples) are not permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • Facilities/activities including fishing are subject to extra charges payable on arrival.
  • Guests under the age of 15 are not allowed on site.
  • Discount cards and gift vouchers cannot be applied to bookings made via Pitchup.com.
  • At least one of the party members must be aged 18 or over.
  • Swimming in the lake is not allowed.
  • There is no reception on-site: on arrival please contact the number provided on your booking confirmation.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Wed, 01 Apr to

No availability here for your search criteria

Reviews

8.6

Overall rating from 34 Pitchup.com customers

  • 50%
    10
  • 11%
    9
  • 23%
    8
  • 2%
    7
  • 2%
    6
  • 0%
    5
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    4
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    3
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    2
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    1
Location
 9
Value for money
 9
Accommodation
 9
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 5
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 5
Budget/backpacker

88% would recommend this site to a friend

88% would stay here again

What customers say

Hilly Springs: serene, basic camping near Ashbourne town. Guests love the clean loos, friendly staff, and country vibe. Adult-focused, but some noise/grass issues sorted. Sloping pitches exist, but flat ones too. Bring your own hot water for washing up.

Summary AI-generated from Pitchup.com customer reviews. Last updated 2026/06/23

Filter by topic

Reviews page 1 of 4
Arrival date (latest first)

Basic

Overall

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

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Nice and clean site with flat pitches. No children allowed so we’ll definitely be back.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Would go there again

Overall

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

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Clean site clean toilets very peaceful

Disliked Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Nice quiet place, short walk into…

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
Anonymous

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Nice quiet place, short walk into the town. Ideal for a couple of nights.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Nice quiet site. Good location

Overall

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

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Nice quiet site. Basic but clean facilities. Great location on the outskirts of Ashbourne.

Disliked The toilets ran out of paper :(

Recommend to friends Visit again

Nice little site, worth a visit!

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 7
Value for money
 8
Facilities / Activities
 5
Customer service
 8
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 8
Wifi
 No rating
Anonymous

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Nice little site. Toilets were reasonable. Fairly basic but a good semi wild camping experience.

Disliked But if noise but didn't go on late so was fine. Slightly tricky to find the entrance but fine if you follow the Google point on the instructions.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Good location. Plenty of space. Easy…

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 9
Value for money
 10
Facilities / Activities
 7
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 7
Wifi
 No rating
Emma P. 1 review

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Good location. Plenty of space. Easy access to local amenities. Great place for an overnight trip. Probably wouldn’t do a longer stay as no showers although there is a leisure centre with swimming pool close by

Recommend to friends Visit again

Very nice place ,very close to…

Overall

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

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Very nice place ,very close to shops and pub

Recommend to friends Visit again

Plenty of Space, very friendly, nice…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 8
Value for money
 8
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 No rating
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 No rating
Liz W. 4 reviews

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Plenty of Space, very friendly, nice clean site, nothing fancy but everything you'd need. Short walk to an Aldi and a pub, little bit further for the centre of Ashbourne and the Tissington Trail.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great Location!…

Overall

3 out of 10
Location
 6
Value for money
 3
Facilities / Activities
 1
Customer service
 2
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 4
Wifi
 1
Anonymous

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked Great Location!

Disliked The Grass was way way too long making it really hard to set up the tents!!

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi,

Firstly thank you for coming to stay with us at Hilly Springs, we are very sorry that you had an unfortunate experience due to long grass, unfortunately we had a minor set back over the busy bank holiday weekend which led to our field not being mown on time, we are now back on track and fields are mown and ready to go. Hopefully you join us again in the future! :)

The views were really nice, we…

Overall

2 out of 10
Location
 7
Value for money
 4
Facilities / Activities
 4
Customer service
 No rating
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 7
Wifi
 No rating
Ebony S. 1 review

Non-electric grass tent or motorhome pitch

Liked The views were really nice, we enjoyed the scenery a lot

Disliked The grass in the second field was up to your knees, which made it really difficult to find a good spot to camp and move around comfortably. Setting up camp was awkward because everything was so overgrown and we ended up getting bitten to death the whole time we were there.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi,

Firstly thank you for coming to stay with us at Hilly Springs, we are very sorry that you had an unfortunate experience due to long grass, unfortunately we had a minor set back over the busy bank holiday weekend which led to our field not being mown on time, we are now back on track and fields are mown and ready to go.

Again, apoligies for the miss hap, we hope you return in the future ! :)

Features

Pop-up campground

Dogs allowed

Adults only

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 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

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

Themes

Budget/backpacker Lake and/or mountain Peaceful Remote location 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 Public transport nearby Shop nearby

Type

Farm Pop-up campground Small (11-25 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Fishing nearby Golf nearby Indoor pool nearby Leisure/theme park nearby Mountain biking nearby Restaurant nearby

Touring and motorhomes

Seasonal pitches

Location

Hilly Springs

Lodge Farm Cottage

Clifton Road

Ashbourne

Derbyshire

England

DE6 2DH

Directions

Timezone

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

GPS

53,00787°N
1,74268°W

Route directions

Access to the site is from a small junction on the A52. Please use the map marker provided, as the site's location does not show up correctly on Google Maps.

Nearest transport

Coach
17,3 km Fishpond Hotel
17,3 km Fishpond Hotel
17,4 km Bus Garage
Rail
14,6 km Uttoxeter Rail Station
16,5 km Tutbury & Hatton Rail Station
17,4 km Duffield Rail Station
Airport
34,3 km East Midlands 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

Attractions and activities nearby include: - Alton Towers (theme park): 15 minutes’ drive - Ilam Park Dovedale & the White Peak (country park and estate managed by The National Trust): 15 minutes - Carsington Water (watersports): 20 minutes - Black Rocks (woodland trails): 25 minutes - Gulliver's Kingdom (theme park): half an hour - Heights of Abraham (country park and show caverns with a cable car and deep limestone gorge): half an hour - Thor's Cave (natural cavern): half an hour - Matlock Bath (village known for its spa waters): half an hour - Chatsworth House (house, garden, farmyard animals and playgrounds): 45 minutes.

Must see

Alton Towers Resort 10,1 km

Sudbury Hall 13,1 km

Kedleston Hall 14,1 km

Sir Richard Arkwright's Masson Mills 16,7 km

Arkwright's Cromford Mills 16,9 km

National Trust

The Old Manor 6,1 km

Sudbury Hall and the National Trust Museum of Childhood 13,4 km

Kedleston Hall 14,8 km

Winster Market House 16,3 km

Calke Abbey 29 km

Cycle routes

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

Other

Ashbourne (Bellevue) - Hanging Bridge - Clifton - Wyaston - Osmaston - Ashbourne 1,2 km

Ashbourne - Mapleton - Swinscoe - Mayfield - Ashbourne 1,4 km

Osmaston - Shirley - Longford - Rodsley - Osmaston 3,4 km

Thorpe - Fenny Bentley - Parwich - Tissington - Thorpe 4,8 km

Dove Dale (Isaak Walton) - Ilam - Castern - Wetton - Stanshope - Hall Dale - Dove Dale 6 km

Local events

  • Bloodstock Open Air (Thursday, 6 August 2026 – Thursday, 6 August 2026)

    Swadlincote, 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 Derbyshire?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Hilly Springs have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Hilly Springs dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Hilly Springs? Attractions and activities nearby include: - Alton Towers (theme park): 15 minutes’ drive - Ilam Park Dovedale & the White Peak (country park and estate managed by The National Trust): 15 minutes … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Hilly Springs?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  noon –  10:30 p.m.
    Depart by:  1 p.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Hilly Springs? From R390,85 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.