5 Cheap places in the UK to practice bushcraft

You can practice bushcraft in your local woodland, but if you want somewhere truly special and also where you can forage, build shelters, and make campfires, then you have to pick a good spot. Unfortunately, it can cost a lot of money to book an official bushcraft camp and for the sake of practice, it’s also not necessary. These five locations offer the best range of cheap campsites, foraging material, and variation in terrain, to give you the best bushcraft practice ground for the lowest price possible.

Forest of Dean – England

The district of the forest of Dean is 526.3 km², much of which is covered in forest. It lies on a major train line between Cardiff and the center of England, and you can even get the train to Lydney which is a small town in the south of the district. There are numerous campsites throughout the forest and you can also rent small cabins and venture out during the day for a more comfortable experience, though these are obviously more expensive.

Some of the campsites offer pitches for a few pounds per night, depending on how busy they are and the time of year. If you plan it well, you can stay at one site, venture through the woods during the day, and rest at another the next night for under £10. As for fires and shelter building, the laws around this basically say it’s up to whoever owns the land, and there are private owners for the many sections of the district, so it would best to check at a local campsite or tourist information office in the area. If you do decide to come here, there is a huge range of wild mushrooms and pretty much all the common wild foods there are in the UK. The forest is also home to numerous droves of wild boar who freely roam the central areas, Their populations have been steadily increasing and there are currently around 1200 – 1300 boar in the forest.

The Peak District – England

Centrally located and easy to get to, the Peak District is home to dozens of hills, rivers, and lakes, and due to its location is one of the most popular places for hiking in the UK. There are plenty of campsites spread out across the 1,437 km² park, though they tend to be a little more expensive than average due to the area’s popularity.

There’s a good range of wild foods but large areas of the hills are quite barren. Bird watching is popular in the area and the reservoirs and lakes give for some variation in the terrain. The biggest problem with this location is that all the land is privately owned, which means you’ll need permission from the relevant owner before you can wild-camp or make a fire.

Ettrick Forest – Scotland

Ettrick is a small village that sits just over 20 miles from the border in the center of Scotland. One of the best things about practicing bushcraft in Scotland is that they allow wild camping on public land, so you can just pitch camp wherever you like. The forested area is about 15 miles wide and over 20 deep, and consists of patches of forest broken up by small plains, much of which lay’s on the side of a mountain range.

Scotland has a range of wild foods and animals that England just can’t compete with. The further north you go the higher the chances of seeing wild deer and rare birds like the Ptarmigan, a mountain-dwelling and tougher version of the dove. Wild food is prominent and gives a different general selection to England due to the country’s wetter and colder climate.

North Wessex Downs – England

Located halfway between London and Bristol, the north Wessex Downs has been named an area of outstanding natural beauty in England. The area has several major roads passing through and multiple train stations that stop at some of the towns in the area, so access is fast and easy.

There isn’t one huge forest here but rather many small woodlands that are broken up by farmland and public ground, but this allows for a massive variation in wild food. The constant flow of woodland and farm fields has led to a huge amount of hedge-dwelling wild food to forage, but fires and shelter building depend on the landowner’s permission.

Thetford Forest – England

Another area with excellent access, but also one that’s not quite as natural as the others. There are huge amounts of pine trees that have been planted in squares broken up by pathways, which makes it look a little more set out but also means a massive amount of forest all in the same place, all laid out so it’s difficult to get lost.

The vast majority of the forest consists of pine trees, but there are a few fields breaking up parts of it, and the little Ouse River flows from west to east right through the middle of the forest. Accommodation at this one can cost whatever you like, from a small campsite for a few pounds per night, to one of the many guest houses in the towns that surround the forest.