Dawn of freedom

After the Supreme Court ruled to allow wild camping in Dartmoor National Park, now is the perfect time to exercise your right in Devon. Wild-camping novice Matt Havercroft enjoys a night under the stars

- Matt Havercroft

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Dartmoor National Park is the only place you can get in touch with your inner nomad on a truly wild camping experience.

On a dark and eerily silent night, with a thick fog swirling around my tent, I’m beginning to see why author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose to set his 1902 murder mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles in Dartmoor’s wild and windswept landscape.

However, any fears of visits by ferocious ghostly beasts evaporate just a few hours later as I wake to the reassuring chittering of skylarks and a gentle breeze ruffling the side of the tent. Stepping out to watch what is left of the sunrise, I’m rewarded with expansive views of Dartmoor National Park in all directions - its craggy granite tors, scrubby heaths and rocky valleys draped in a soft mist. Best of all, this grand spectacle is, for this moment, all mine to enjoy.

The previous afternoon, I had travelled to Devon with a friend to spend a night wild camping. As part of my planning for the trip, I'd consulted seasoned wild camper Phoebe Smith, host of the Wander Woman podcast and author of Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper (Summersdale) and Wayfarer (Harper North), for her advice. “Wait for good weather, take the things that make a more comfortable night for you [hot water bottle/warm layers/chocolate] and do it respectfully,” she replied. “Arrive late, leave early and leave no trace of your visit.” As for choosing the perfect pitch in a vast national park, Smith recommended finding somewhere “flat, hidden and near a water source, if possible”.