Hollands Wood Campsite
Hollands Wood Campsite
Summary
Grass pitches in a lovely New Forest setting. Limited number of showers considering number of pitches. No electric hookup. Rangers are friendly and site has nice vibe about it. Worth considering if you don’t need electricity.
In late June I decided to head to the New Forest, my accommodation of choice being Hollands Wood campsite. It is one of a number of campsites operated by Camping in the Forest which is a partnership between The Camping and Caravanning Club and the Forestry Commission.
Like most Camping in the Forest campsites, Hollands Wood campsite New Forest provides showers and toilets but not electric hookups. As a result of this I decided to break my journey at Carron Caravan and Camping Site, a small site within the New Forest with no showers but electric hookups for £12.00 a night. While there I charged up the leisure batteries, Ring Professional PowerPack and my thumbsUp! Dual Power Bank.
Hollands Wood campsite – An overview
I arrived at Hollands Wood campsite at about 1:00pm Tuesday and paid my £15.00 fee. I was shown to my grass pitch with plenty of space around me. There were some motorhomes and caravans in sight but this site seems to attract mostly tents. Hollands Wood campsite is a huge site with a total of 600 pitches but was not busy midweek. Facilities included showers, toilets, laundry and a dish washing area. Since I had laundry to do I was pleased to discover that a wash was £3.00. This is 50p cheaper than club sites and the machines were huge. As a result I was able to clean everything in just one load. Driers were 20p for 8 minutes. On the downside there don’t seem to be enough showers for such a large site with queues at peak times, so I used my own shower.
The staff at Hollands Wood campsite are known as Rangers rather than wardens. There are a number of Ranger led activities including Young Explorers, Dusk Watch and Tour de Forest. Open fires are not allowed but Barbecues are, provided they are off the ground and in a suitable container.
Hollands Wood campsite – What to see locally
What attracts most to Hollands Wood campsite is the sense of getting away from it all. You are surrounded by nature, whether that’s the mature trees or the wildlife which includes the famous ponies. New Forest ponies are owned by commoners who have rights to allow their ponies to roam freely and graze. It’s a common sight to see ponies next to your tent or motorhome or even wandering the local high street! Signs tell you not to feed the ponies and you are also advised not to stroke them in case they bite or kick but my fellow campers were ‘cuddling’ new born ponies who seemed to love human contact.
The campsite is a 10-15 minute walk from Brockenhurst village centre. Indeed I’ve heard some people refer to the site as Hollands Wood campsite Brockenhurst before. The village has a selection of shops including a Tesco Express. For the tourist there are a number of attractions close by. The New Forest itself makes a great place to walk or cycle. Beaulieu Motor Museum is a short drive away, popular with school parties and families. If beaches are your thing then the long sandy beach at Bournemouth is not too far away. If you are looking for a New Forest camping option and would like to know more about Hollands Wood Campsite you can visit their website.
Sounds like a great site and a wonderful area. I like the inventive stopover at another site to ensure that everything was charged up before getting there – due to lack of hookups on the site. We recently had a few nights in our early Bailey Pegasus without water due to a pump failure. This did something to remind us of the early camping days boiling a kettle for hot water and trekking to the kitchen to do the wash-up.
Hi John,
I find I can get away without needing hookup for a couple of days. IF I had a solar panel I could probably extend this but finding good wild camping places in South East is not easy and I like having the facilities of a campsite most of the time.
For most of my motorhoming life I’ve had an old fashioned camping kettle that whistles and only last year bought an electric one too!
Hollands Wood is a good site in the summer with the New Forest ponies and woodland setting but the lack of electric would prevent me spending more than a day or two there.
All the best
Gary
The Motorhome Vagabond