A wilder kind of campervanning: park and hike on Dartmoor

A new style of holiday offers off-grid seclusion in a rented campervan, with Devon just one of many places pairing UK landowners with nature-loving travellers

Early morning on Dartmoor, and as I lie in bed all I can hear is the trill of birdsong, punctuated by a distant cuckoo’s call. I open the campervan door to take in the scene. There’s no one around, no buildings in sight, just fields glittering with dew in the sunlight and sheep grazing nonchalantly on the hillside.

While coffee is brewing I study the map and plan the day’s walk up on to the moors. The last time I came to Dartmoor was for a three-day wild camping adventure, hiking and carrying all our kit and food on our backs. This time, I’m enjoying the comforts of a campervan for a few days with my friend Isabel, but, thanks to Wild With Consent, a new company that connects campervanners looking for off-grid seclusion with landowners (mostly farmers) who give permission to “wild camp”, we’re still hoping to tap into a sense of full nature immersion.