Our First Camping Trip with Leo
Back in July we took our first camping trip with Leo. This was my Birthday request and also a bit of a test trip before we plan to wild camp.
We opted for one night and I had a little search for the closest thing I could find to a wild campsite nearby. This was Little Ropers Woodland Camping in Bures.
Arriving in the afternoon, we were pleasantly welcomed at the site and shown to our pitch. It’s quite a walk to the campsite and this adds to its wild feel. In the heart of the countryside, it’s a really magical spot. There are woodland and meadow pitches to choose from. We opted for one of the woodland pitches and were lucky enough to be the only ones booking for that night so we had all the woodland pitches to ourselves (it’s usually very booked up so this is a rare occurrence!)
Being a long way from the car means you’ll need to carry everything some way so best you get your strength up. Just kidding - they’ve really thought of everything here. You’ll find there are wheelbarrows to cart your tent and bags to your pitch. Each pitch comes with a fire pit but due to the heatwave there was - understandably - a ban on using it so it was BBQ only. Mr J insisted on putting up the tent himself (it’s a mighty big tent) so I wandered around the site with Leo to keep him entertained. We had a go on the tree swing, spotted some cows in one of the nearby fields, played in the mud (little did I know he’d smeared it all over my face!), and a wheelbarrow ride went down a treat too.
Our tent is the fantastic Eurohike Rydal 500 5 man tent my mum gifted us a couple of years ago. It’s a terrific tent with plenty of space and storage but it’s also a monster of a tent and definitely not one we could wild camp with! Still it was perfect for this, and had lots of space to eat in the evening, play some games and watch the sun go down. Now I’m not going to sit here and say our child was a dream and it was effortless and relaxing. It absolutely wasn't. I did find I was having to chase Leo around non-stop and keep an eye on him while he explored the site. But if you’re up for this, it’s all part of the experience and I really enjoyed seeing Leo in his element. Just make sure there’s nothing poisonous around that they can pick up and eat of course.
The campsite has great toilets and a lovely little shop back at the farm where you can buy BBQ food, snacks, drinks, and also some sweet homemade bits and bobs. It’s self-serve so it’s open all the time. We grabbed some snack and burgers for the BBQ from here in the evening.
As this was our first time camping with a baby I wondered how Leo would sleep, but I needn’t have. Leo had no trouble dropping off and slept like a log through the night.
One thing to mention you might want to avoid pitching on a slope. We were on the very slightest incline which we didn’t think would make a difference but we found ourselves sliding down our mattress in the night and feeling pretty uncomfortable and we’re sure this was why! So just bear that in mind if you’re scouting out a good spot to pitch your tent.
Waking to the sunrise was heaven. The soft breeze, the warmth hitting your skin, the gentle rustling of the tent. It’s definitely up there with my favourite ways to stir awake in the morning.
All in all our first experience camping with a toddler was a serious success and we can’t wait to do more. If you’re looking for a great “nearly wild” campsite featuring all the essentials but with a wild camping feel, we can thoroughly recommend Little Ropers Woodland Camping!
Next up, wild camping in Dartmoor.
Have you been camping with your little one? How did you find it?
