Rough Hey Wood Campsite

Rough Hey Wood Campsite is a back to basics tent campsite set in extensive woodland above Sowerby Bridge, in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, with a small river running along one side. The camping is a level, flat field of about 2.5 acres with room for around fifty tents plus space for about five motorhomes or small campervans, reached by a narrow winding lane that is not suitable for touring caravans. Facilities are simple but sound: three toilets, two hot showers, a washing up sink and a chemical disposal point. Campfires are the real draw, contained in old washing machine drums raised on breeze blocks, with kindling to gather in the woods and logs sold from a truck each evening. Vehicles stay off the camping field, the wardens live in teepees by the entrance, and the whole place runs on a cheerfully informal rhythm. The setting is genuinely off the beaten track, yet Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Ripponden and Hebden Bridge are all within reach, and the Calderdale Way footpath runs close by through the woods towards Ripponden. Anyone needing electric hook up or hardstanding should look elsewhere. Rough Hey Wood opens from around Easter to October and does not take bookings, so turn up early at weekends.