Wild camping Glencoe/Glen Nevis

[budvarone]

Sorry if there is already a thread for this, but i couldn't find one...although I didn't look THAT hard!

Is it still possible to wild camp in Glencoe and/or Glen Nevis, I'm sure I read somewhere online that it wasn't, although I can't remember where! If it IS ok, does anyone have any suggestions as to where to camp!?

Ta much in advance!

Gavin

[Kevin29035]

Hey

Camping is banned in Glen Coe. Glen Nevis is fine, although in the lower glen you'll find a lot of 'no camping' signs. Both are so popular, obviously go with the 'leave no trace' and all that. Upper Glen Nevis, beyond the road end is very, very nice.

[murphy999]

I was completely unaware of a camping ban in Glencoeand as such am guilty of flouting it! When did this come into force?

[bootsandpaddles]

I was completely unaware of a camping ban in Glencoeand as such am guilty of flouting it! When did this come into force?

News to me too. As far as I am aware the only place to have a camping ban is on the east side of Loch Lomond.

[Kevin29035]

Probably an informal thing. I've heard folk for years; "aye, you can't camp in Glen Coe", in that sort of way. If there is any truth in it, it's probably got something to do with people camping around the Clachaig, which I'm guessing was stopped for one reason or another.

[Michael Thomson]

Aye you can't camp at the Clachaig, but out the back of the Kingshouse is as popular as ever.

I've camped in the coe more times than I can count, there's plenty spots, some close to the road if you're lazy. I prefer to camp high if I can.

Up Glen Nevis, I'd suggest the Steall meadow as a pleasant place to stop.

[Tom Lane]

I'll second what Michael wrote, in June I climbed three Mamores then camped in the Coire Ghabhail by a waterfall. No problems, wonderful views and great peace and quiet. Steall meadow was busy by tents as well. Never heard camping is banned in Glen Coe, but have seen signs near Red Squirrel.

[Border Reiver]

A lot of years ago, there used to be loads of tents on the land next to the river, between the A82 & Clachaig. I heard the Nat Trust stopped it because of the few idiots who left the place in a mess, even though generations of walkers / climbers had camped there without trouble. Camping next to your car is hardly wild camping, I prefer to be at least a mile away from roads / houses. It's a while since I walked the bits of old road, but I seem to remember there were some decent camping spots along there, to the North of the A82, near the Meeting of The Waters.

[Caberfeidh]

Camping was banned around the Clachaig and between Loch Achtriochtan and houses downstream from Clachaig due to problems with sewage - faeces lying around in the open, leaking into the river which is the water supply for the people downstream... not very nice for them at all, and the place was a mess, and a hooligan's playground at busy times. I used to camp there myself, but I understand and comply with the present ban. There are plenty of places away from other people, where you will not be a nuisance to the natives. Unfortunately Glen Etive seems to be going the way of Loch Lomond.

[rabthecairnterrier]

The LandReform Act 2004 includes responsible wild camping along with the other statutory access rights. "Wild" camping means lightweight low impact camping for short periods in areas well away from and out of sight of houses and roads. The only exception is a small and tightly defined area on the East side of Loch Lomond which was exempted becasue of pressure of numbers and associated anti-social behaviour. The definition of wild camping does not include roadside car-based camping - therefore Coire Gabhaill fine, Clachaig not.

[bootsandpaddles]

The LandReform Act 2004 includes responsible wild camping along with the other statutory access rights. "Wild" camping means lightweight low impact camping for short periods in areas well away from and out of sight of houses and roads. The only exception is a small and tightly defined area on the East side of Loch Lomond which was exempted becasue of pressure of numbers and associated anti-social behaviour. The definition of wild camping does not include roadside car-based camping - therefore Coire Gabhaill fine, Clachaig not.

Quite so! I think that referring to pulling up in a car park or at the side of the road, unloading vast quantities of booze from the boot and leaving a disgusting mess after spending the night there as wild camping really confuses the issue. The fact that this sort of thing involves the use of a tent does not make it anything more or less than anti-social behaviour.

[NickyRannoch]

The LandReform Act 2004 includes responsible wild camping along with the other statutory access rights. "Wild" camping means lightweight low impact camping for short periods in areas well away from and out of sight of houses and roads. The only exception is a small and tightly defined area on the East side of Loch Lomond which was exempted becasue of pressure of numbers and associated anti-social behaviour. The definition of wild camping does not include roadside car-based camping - therefore Coire Gabhaill fine, Clachaig not.

Morally I agree with you 100% legally I don't think you have that quite right re:roadside camping. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code advises that access rights apply wherever people camp in the prescribed fashion (lightweight, low numbers, short periods of time) and that you can "help landowners" by not camping near roads, historic structures etc.

Whilst roadside camping does not fit in with many people's view of what wild camping should be I'm not sure there is actually any legal basis to say that someone can not park up on a public highway and enjoy responsible access to the land by camping by their car. Whether they roll up with a ton of booze is neither here nor there, it is their conduct upon which they will be judged.

Whilst the Scottish Outdoor Access Code should be read in relation to the Land Reform Act 2003 , it is not a codified statement of law in itself and may be only be used evidentially to test whether or someone has reasonably exercised their right to responsible land access.

Now, you or I may well decide to repsect the wishes of the landowner or manager by not camping in a specific place where there has been trouble in the past.

However, unless covered by the explicit exemptions such as houses, gardens or adjecent to buildings, to say camping is banned in a certain place, or a particular style of camping or type of person camping is banned is simply not true. It is the conduct of the participants that will be used to judge whether or not they have acccessed the land responsibly.

[rabthecairnterrier]

The LandReform Act 2004 includes responsible wild camping along with the other statutory access rights. "Wild" camping means lightweight low impact camping for short periods in areas well away from and out of sight of houses and roads. The only exception is a small and tightly defined area on the East side of Loch Lomond which was exempted becasue of pressure of numbers and associated anti-social behaviour. The definition of wild camping does not include roadside car-based camping - therefore Coire Gabhaill fine, Clachaig not.

Morally I agree with you 100% legally I don't think you have that quite right re:roadside camping. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code advises that access rights apply wherever people camp in the prescribed fashion (lightweight, low numbers, short periods of time) and that you can "help landowners" by not camping near roads, historic structures etc.

Whilst roadside camping does not fit in with many people's view of what wild camping should be I'm not sure there is actually any legal basis to say that someone can not park up on a public highway and enjoy responsible access to the land by camping by their car. Whether they roll up with a ton of booze is neither here nor there, it is their conduct upon which they will be judged.

Whilst the Scottish Outdoor Access Code should be read in relation to the Land Reform Act 2003 , it is not a codified statement of law in itself and may be only be used evidentially to test whether or someone has reasonably exercised their right to responsible land access.

Now, you or I may well decide to repsect the wishes of the landowner or manager by not camping in a specific place where there has been trouble in the past.

However, unless covered by the explicit exemptions such as houses, gardens or adjecent to buildings, to say camping is banned in a certain place, or a particular style of camping or type of person camping is banned is simply not true. It is the conduct of the participants that will be used to judge whether or not they have acccessed the land responsibly.

There is a grey area here certainly. I represent recreational interests on a Local Access Forum and, when dealing with any camping issues, adopt my previously stated definition of wild camping, whereas our Access Officer is of the opinion that roadside camping is probably legal if it is not on enclosed land and there are no houses nearby. The issue hasn't yet been tested in the courts, so both of us may well right in that there are no hard and fast rules and the issue might have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. Roadside car camping is still widely practiced in some places - Glen Etive being the best known example - but it raises the question of whether such an interpretation of the term "wild camping" is "responsible" in itself. It certainly seems to go against the spirit in which the legislation was conceived. It should be also borne in mind that if an access taker forfeits the right of access by not behaving responsibly, the forfeiture applies only to them and cannot be used as an excuse to restrict those who are behaving responibly.

[gneiss-camper]

The LandReform Act 2004 includes responsible wild camping along with the other statutory access rights. "Wild" camping means lightweight low impact camping for short periods in areas well away from and out of sight of houses and roads. The only exception is a small and tightly defined area on the East side of Loch Lomond which was exempted becasue of pressure of numbers and associated anti-social behaviour. The definition of wild camping does not include roadside car-based camping - therefore Coire Gabhaill fine, Clachaig not.

Like Nicky Rannoch I'd have reservations (disagree) with your interpretation here. Best not to conflate the legislation and the Code (which describes suggested best practice rather than the legal situation).

The Code itself states that you can camp "wherever access rights apply" and that starts as soon as you leave the road, not at some arbitrary distance.

The Code suggests that you may wish to avoid "causing problems" by camping at a distance from roads/houses.

There is, of course, a difference between lightweight low-impact camping and heavyweight high-impact camping. Antisocial behaviour is not responsible camping and has a raft of laws available to deal with it.

[NickyRannoch]

I really dont see a problem with roadside camping in an of itself.

For example i think pitching a tent in a layby on the Loch Arkaig road would a perfectly sensible and reasonable thing to do to climb the hills to the north. Wild camping isn't always some aesthetic romantic back to nature experience but is sometimes just a practicality of somewhere to sleep to get up the hill at a decent hour.

Obviously the likes of loch lomond, loch earn and glen etive present problems but there is plenty of legislation to deal with drunkeness, littering, disturbing locals and pollution etc without having to fall back on access legislation.

You are correct that if a test case was ever brought up a court has the discretion to apply the spirit of the law rather than the wording of the law but until that happens there is absolutely no legal basis to suggest that roadside camping is automatically outwith the scope of reasonable access.