There is no single best time to camp in Derbyshire. There is a best time for the trip you have in mind, and they are not the same thing. Here is how the season actually runs.
Late March and April
The park opens in late March. Spring is the quietest, cheapest part of the year and, for walkers, arguably the best: the ground has dried out, the hedgerows are coming back to life, the lambs are out and the paths are empty. Easter is the exception and books up early.
Nights are still properly cold. Bring a warmer sleeping bag than the calendar suggests.
May
A favourite month. Two bank holidays give you two natural long weekends, the days are long, and the heated outdoor pool usually opens around the start of the month. Everything is green and the Dales are not yet busy. Outside the bank holidays, May is one of the best value months of the season.
June
Arguably the pick of the year. The longest days, the pool open and warm, and the schools not yet broken up, so both the park and the trails stay quiet. Light in the evening until late means you can do a long walk after tea rather than instead of it.
July and August
The busiest, most sociable weeks, and the ones families plan around. Everything is open: the pool and paddling pool, the play area, the games room, the shop and the Callow Inn. There is a buzz about the place that you do not get in May.
The trade-off is obvious. These are peak rates, Dovedale is busy in the middle of the day, and the popular weeks go early. If you can only travel in the school holidays, book well ahead and walk early in the morning.
September
The month people forget, and one of the best. Once the schools go back the park changes character completely. The pool is usually open until late in the month, the walking is superb, and you can have Dovedale to yourself in a way that is impossible in August. Good value, too.
October and early November
Autumn colour through Dovedale and the Manifold Valley is the reason to come at this end of the season. Half term makes it an easy family week, and the season finishes with our bonfire and fireworks weekends over the first weekends of November.
Nights are cold and dark early, which is a feature rather than a bug if you like a fire pit and a clear sky. Pack accordingly.
A few practical notes
- Rates run in low, mid, high and peak bands. Where a stay spans more than one band, each night is charged at its own rate
- There is a two night minimum at weekends, and longer over bank holidays
- Pitches are available from 12 noon and the latest arrival time is 9pm
- The park, including our cottages and apartments, closes for the winter in early November
So, when?
For quiet walking, go in April or September. For long evenings and the pool, June. For the full family week with everything open, late July or August. For colour and fireworks, late October.
The prices page shows every rate side by side, and check availability to see live availability for the dates you have in mind.
