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Great basic campsite, central to lovely villages. Great base for the surrounding areas
Lovely owner, and the chickens were added bonus the kids loved them. Shower block could do with an update but its a farm at the end of the day and cheap to stay.
Definitely will be staying again. We had plenty of room too and the field was not crammed.
Cars were parked down the bottom in sight but this freed up space for the kids to place.
Very natural campsite great for young kids who had a den in the trees next to us.
We spent 5 nights here, overlapping with the start of the school holidays, the site getting noticeably busier at this time! Despite this the washroom facilities are large and ample, so no queuing and no shortage of hot water etc.
The site has a couple of rows on statics (maybe a dozen or so in total), these lying between the motorhome/ caravan/ trailer tents area and the much larger tent field (though a few of the largest family tents were allocated pitches alongside the tourers).
Each touring pitch had plenty of space, with hook-ups, mainly hard standing (but with an adjoining grassy area for awnings).
The site is just a few minutes walk from the centre of the village of Hawkshead, which has a collection of tourist shops, small supermarket and several pubs and cafes.
There is a bus service that runs to Windermere and Ambleside (Top Tip! Buy a day mega-rider (£6. 50) which allows unlimited travel on this route, plus the open top bus (service 599)and a further service to Dungeon Ghyll, below the Langdale Pikes).
The cheapest option but also a great day out in its own right. Plenty of good walks from the site - for a short introductory route head to the top of the nearby Latterbarrow for good views over Windermere.
We booked this campsite for a special weekend with all the family. There were 12 of us altogether in 5 units. We arrived separately, but the owners, who were very friendly, told us to pitch where ever we liked and that we could save spaces for when the others arrived, which we thought was really helpful and considerate.
The site itself has really nice level pitches. One area is around the perimeter of the site and then there is a main grass area in the centre. I think if there was space available you could just turn up and pitch but booking would be advisable in busy times.
The facilities were kept really clean. I got up early one morning around 6:00 to find that they had already started to clean them in preparation for the morning onslaught. The water was always hot and the showers are free. There are plenty of toilets, wash basins and mirrors.
There is a small shop in reception selling basics and there is also a small games room and tv. The site is only 2 - 3 minutes walk into Hawkshead, so is ideal for a break away where you can just park the car and leave it there until you go home.
There is a park about 5 minutes walk away with swings, climbing frames etc. Hawkshead itself provides a good choice of pubs to eat and there are some lovely shops to browse around.
All in all this is an excellent site to stay at for Hawkshead and nearby Ambleside. We would definitely return there.
We stayed at The Croft campsite for 4 nights. The site is very well organised and the staff were friendly and helpful.
The facilities are clean and well thought out - with more than enough toilets, sinks, mirrors and hot water in abundance.
The showers are clean and had plenty of hot water. Laundry room was clean and easy to use.
The scenery wasn't fantastic on the pitch we had but that didn't spoil our stay. The site is 3 mins walk from the main street with lovely country pubs and shops/cafes.
We would definitely recommend this site and will be staying there again.
The toilets/showers/washup etc were great. Also great location - right next to Hawkshead village. Children were disappointed at first about lack of playground but after a paddle in the stream they were happier!
It was very busy when we arrived and we did struggle a bit to find space where we didn't feel we were too close to others already there.
Great location for visiting south lakes - grizedale very near,no too far from ambleside and grasemere etc.
Nestling in the beautiful Eskdale Valley close to Scafell, England's highest mountain and Wastwater, this site is a children's paradise in the heart of the Lake District. The first thing that meets you on arrival is the pond, fed by a stream and usually full of children paddling and playing on tyre rafts. The playground has zip wires, climbing frames, tyre rope-swings and adventure courses.
Grass pitches (some with EHU) for tents, motorhomes, VW-sized campervans (no caravans). Refurbished toilets, showers and laundry. Peace is the watchword on the campsite - catering mainly for families and couples with silence after 10.30pm. Don't forget your marshmallows - campfires are allowed in selected areas. Nearby shop and pub. And there's an added extra: the site sits along the route of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway line, with it's own station. Choo Choo! Find out more here
Hubby and I have just returned from our first camping trip in a couple of decades! The site is easy to find, travelling through some fabulous landscape whichever direction you travel from.
There is a telephone box on site, which you may need if you have Virgin Network as we couldn't get any reception until we climbed 200 feet! Lady on reception was friendly and told us to drive round the camping field until we found something suitable. We arrived about 3.30 and luckily found a superb pitch, if you want more choice it would be better to arrive at 12pm. On the camping field there were some hard stands with grassy area adjacent, so campers parked the car on the hard stand and camped on the grass.
The site is right next to the main road around the village and this may be a bit noisy at rush hour. There is a stream running to the back of the site, there didn't appear to be any problem with midgees however. The toilet block was practical and clean. The ladies (digilock broken but they said it wasn't worth fixing again, as was broken frequently by the ladies!) There were about 7 cubicles in the ladies, 5 sinks, 4 showers, 2 hand dryers, a couple of electric points for hairdryers/straighteners etc, 3 big mirrors with benches for doing beauty routines etc! There was also a baby changing drop down bench. Apparently the mens were also clean with 1 long urinal and 6 cubicles, 4 showers. There digilock was working. The Washup area just adjacent had 4 sinks each with a drainer and bench - there was even a microwave, altough I didn't use it - someone else was.
There was also a laundry room with dryers and washers - a couple of which are so new they weren't yet in use. There was also an ironing board and if you wanted to use the iron you handed your key or camping ticket into reception.
I think it was 20p for 15 mins in the dryer, not sure about the washers. Water was hot every time we used it
Next door to this was a small games room, with pool table - I think 50p a time - tv and a couple of games machines and soft chairs.
The rest of the site was for statics (which appeared to be well appointed and in good condition) tourers and EHU's with space for larger tents if required.
There is direct access to the footpath which will eventually take you up to Latterbarrow, which has views over Windermere.
2 minute walk to the village, with co-op, post office, chemist etc. If you have forgotten any essential camping gear, clothing there are 3 useful shops - Stewardsons opposite the TI Centre, very friendly and youl will find a bargain, Hawkshead clothing, which has all the camping gear - and a more upmarket shop near to the post office. Try Poppi-Red cafe, the food is lovely!
There is loads to do in the area, walking, grizedale forest is great especially for kids, with adventure playground amongst loads of other activities. All in all a great experience and would recommend this site - we will definitely return.
Yet another fantastic stay at this lovely campsite. Showers/loos were spotless and warm Cleaned early every morning.
Perfect location being right across the road from Hawkshead village. Good well stocked co op and pubs selling brilliant food, all in the village.
Also lovely interesting shops.Campsite consists of 2 fields one large one without EHU and a smaller one with hard standing for motorhomes / caravans with some EHU pitches for tents.
There are also statics for hire which I can also recommend as my parents stayed in one whilst we were there.
We had a great time on this campsite, but I wanted to write this review as someone with two young children.
Although this campsite was very clean and friendly I had concerns about the safety of my and other's children's safety. The only area on this site for children to play on their bikes or scooters was next to the entrance/exit which went straight onto the main through road (there was no room for error as there was no pavement between the entrance/exit and busy road).
My 3 and 5 year old wanted to ride on their scooters and so I had to go with them to supervise and on many occasions I had to scoop up my three year old before she was possibly hit by a car coming in from the road. It was hair raising!
I would not return to this campsite for that reason, but I would definitely go back once my children were older (or had left home)!
Be warned also that the Co-Op had absolutely nothing in it, apart from sweets. Speaking to the locals, it was a standing joke, that come half term, seasonal holidays the co-op does not pre-empt the increased level of tourism, but the week after that they have so much stuff they sell it all off cheap! But go prepared!
We started our 5 day camping trip at the Croft on a Tuesday. We didn’t have the EHU so were put in the field next to the toilet/shower block and washing facilities which is very handy.
You select your own pitch, so we chose the outer edge of the inner field, so to get full use of the sun day and night and to keep an eye on the kids playing. This position was fine Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as the field was quite empty.
However when the weekend campers turned up there were tents all over the field so the kids had very little play area. So personally I think the Croft should invest in a small play area or tree house in the middle of the field where the two giant trees are, so the kids have somewhere to play safely without tripping over guy ropes or hitting tents/cars with footballs, etc.
The toilet block is a bit dated but very clean day and night. The shower curtains were replaced every day whilst we were there, the mixer button to control the water is at a perfect temperature and good pressure however you do only get 5 seconds bursts which can be very annoying.
There is a room where you can do your laundry and there is also a freezer in there so freeze your ice packs, there is even some packs provided by the Croft for you to borrow if you need some urgently. We learnt though that when you’ve opened the door of the freezer you may need to push the button on the top right to set the temp down again, even though it did say -17 it wasn’t freezing very fast until I pressed the button then it went to something like -23.
The village shops within a few minutes’ walk have some nice quirky things in them. There is a co-op in the village so you don’t need to travel too far if you run out of things. Plus there is a milkman that comes round the site about 10am. There are plenty of pubs to choose from which all have a friendly atmosphere. With it being a small village you do pay a premium for the food and drink in the pubs.
Nestling in the beautiful Eskdale Valley close to Scafell, England's highest mountain and Wastwater, this site is a children's paradise in the heart of the Lake District. The first thing that meets you on arrival is the pond, fed by a stream and usually full of children paddling and playing on tyre rafts. The playground has zip wires, climbing frames, tyre rope-swings and adventure courses.
Grass pitches (some with EHU) for tents, motorhomes, VW-sized campervans (no caravans). Refurbished toilets, showers and laundry. Peace is the watchword on the campsite - catering mainly for families and couples with silence after 10.30pm. Don't forget your marshmallows - campfires are allowed in selected areas. Nearby shop and pub. And there's an added extra: the site sits along the route of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway line, with it's own station. Choo Choo! Find out more here
We drove up to the Lakes on Sunday morning of the bank Holiday expecting to be turned away from most places but were surprised to find room at the first place we tried!
The site is split into two areas the camping field with no hookups on grass with some hard standings and the other side of the reception block with the statics and electric touring pitches.
We set up camp in the camping field next to the river with views of Hawkshead church and Grizedale in the distance.
The toilet / washing up facilities are better than most camp sites we usually stay at. We put this down to the static and touring caravaners who like things more home from home! They were always clean and more than enough to go round. There was also a laundry room for longer stays or for drying typical Lake District weather clothes!
Hawkshead village is a pretty much on the other side of the road where there are plenty of pubs, cafes and the co op (cash machine).
Just returned from my very first camping trip and can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Croft is such a lovely campsite with everything you could ever need: free showers, clean toilets with power points, laundry, washing up area and drinking water, not to mention the close proximity of the picturesque Hawkshead Village.
We pitched up in the far corner of the site with the stream running behind us- the best spot I think. Whilst it was the furthest away from the facilities it was by no means far to walk- 30 seconds at the most. The staff were extremely pleasant and helpful, and the price per night is such good value for money, especially when you can pay more than £60 a night in a B&B.
During the three days we were there we travelled to Grasmere (for the gingerbread), Ambleside (for the fudge and the waterfalls) and Bowness (for the fish and chips) and all were no more than a twenty minute drive away. We ate in the Queens Head in Hawkshead which was lovely and fairly reasonable. Everyone in the village was lovely and there were lots of nice little shops to walk around including Relish which makes jams and chutneys and is sold all over the Lake District. Poppi-Red is a gorgeous little gift shop/cafe with outdoor seating with blankets provided for the chillier days. We had a scone and caramel shortbread with tea, highly recommended. The views from the church are also worth a walk.
Would definitely come back here, I'm definitely a camping convert now.
Stayed here for 2 nights and had a lovely time. Toilet block clean and plenty of hot water. Could have a trek to get to toilets, depending on where you are pitched. Great for walks and the dogs loved it. We were lucky with the weather, which obviously makes a difference. 2 mins from the centre of Hawkshead. Childrens playground close by. Such a beautiful part of the country. Had a bad experience at the Sun Inn. A rowdy crowd (obviously drunk), came in after we had ordered and paid for our meal, they were eventually asked to leave and the police were called, but not until they had been served more beer and chips. Would not go to this pub again but all the other local pubs were lovely and very friendly.
I would recommend Grisedale forest, with its Go Ape activity course. Looks like great fun, although I wasn't brave enough to try myself. Plenty to do and lots of facilities. Will definitely go back to this campsite.
Its in a great location, in Hawkshead itself which has 4 pubs and they all do food. You can do several walks from the site to Latterbarrow and Claife Heights to get a view of Windermere.
You can bike straight from the site to Grizedale Forest for a pootle on wide forest fire tracks or on the technical trail.
Toilet and shower facilities are fine now you don't have to use 20p for a shower. There are sockets that take 20p for hairdryers / straighteners.
We've never had a problem with noise on this site. Theres a covered washing up area.
The electric hook up pitches are completely separate from the main tent field. We've stayed in both.
No quibbles about coming back to this site, in fact we book up early to make sure we can get in.
Absolutely fabulous campsite. Have been twice this year, once in July and again last weekend (mid October).
We had been stuck on the M6 in Friday traffic for a long period, and so we didn't arrive at the site until 10pm. However, the lady in reception waited for us to arrive (we phoned ahead) and was very friendly despite the late hour.
The site is split into two areas, one with electric hook up and the other with standard pitches. Both areas are flat with large pitches.
In July it was fairly busy, almost full so we were given a pitch with electric hook up even though we only paid for a standard pitch. This area is smaller and located a short walk from the facilities block.
The standard pitch area is bigger and more open. We camped in this area in October and there were only 5 other tents in the field all weekend. The pitch was flat and large, plenty of room for 6 man tent and car with space to sit outside too. We preferred this area and camped on the far side in the corner which gave us a great view across the site and of the surrounding hills.
The toilets and showers are very clean, not particularly modern but the cleaners do a really good job. They even wash the shower curtains daily. One downside is that the showers are the type you need to push every 5 seconds to keep the water flowing. Only a small point, but quite tricky as you only have one hand to try and wash your hair with!
The site is also very dog friendly, our little Jack Russel had a fab time meeting lots of new friends.
Hawkshead is a lovely village, and the campsite is right in the centre so no need to get in the car or pay for parking. The Sun Inn pub offers great food, although the drinks were quite expensive, £5.25 for a glass of white wine! Can recommend the steak and veg pie though. There is a co-op nearby, although as others have said, this is quite expensive. Ambleside is a short drive away and the food from the chinese takeaway there is delicious, and was still hot by the time we drove back to the campsite.
Would thoroughly recommend the site, we intend to return next year.
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Common Questions
Is The Croft: Caravans Lodges and Apartments child friendly? YES, it accepts children View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to The Croft: Caravans Lodges and Apartments? There is a shop within 1 mile View all facilities
Is The Croft: Caravans Lodges and Apartments dog friendly? YES View all facilities
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
All reviews and comments are the personal opinion of the review author only , and as such do not represent the view of the UK Camp Site.co.uk.
The facilities shown on this website are a guide only, and you should check with the campsite direct before making any booking. The UKCampsite.co.uk will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions
No Tents 
No Caravans 
No Motorhomes 
No Campervans 
No Glamping Units 
Holiday Homes for Hire 
No Statics for Sale 
No Seasonal Pitches 
No Electric Hookups 
No Hardstandings 
No Fully Serviced Pitches 
Families Welcome 
Not Members Only 
No Rallies 
Not Naturist Site 
Dogs Welcome 
No Dogs Allowed 
Groups Welcome 
Toilet Facilities 
Hot Showers 
Washing Up 
Bathroom 
No Baby Changing 
Laundry On Site 
Drinking Water 
Disabled Friendly 
Chemical Disposal 
No Battery Charging 
No Gas Exchange 
Recycling Facilities 
No Kitchen Facilities 
No Freezer / Fridge 
Motorhome Point 
Wifi Access 
Shop <1 mile 
Bar <1 mile 
Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway <1 mile 
No Playground 
TV Room 
Games Room 
No Evening Ents 
Fishing <1 mile 
No Wild Swimming 
No Indoor Pool 
No Outdoor Pool 
Horse Riding <5 miles 
No Cycle Hire 
No Golf 
Tennis <1 mile 
No Beach 
Watersports <5 miles 
No Boat Launch 
No Sea Views 
Not Working Farm 
No Campfires Allowed 
Open All Year 
No Waterside Pitches 
Public Transport <1 mile
No Dog Walk 
Great basic campsite, central to lovely villages. Great base for the surrounding areas 
