Bowland Escapes

View prices & book 9.7 72 reviews
Aerial View of the park
Aerial view of the park
Aerial view of the park
Visitor image of the camping pod
Iron age roundhouse
Safari tent
Visitor image of the lovely site
Aerial view of the park
Aerial view of the park
1/105
Aerial view of the park
Visitor image of the camping pod
Iron age roundhouse

  • Site in a wildlife centre in the Forest of Bowland’s Ribble Valley
  • Just under 10 minutes’ drive from Chipping and 40 from Preston
  • Petting zoo, play area, café and pond; marked walking trails on site
For a family escape with an educational twist consider a stay at Bowland Escapes, in the middle of a wildlife centre that aims to get kids up to speed on conservation and animal welfare. This place – part of the Bowland Wild Boar Park – is topnotch for groups with younger members keen on cuddling creatures like lambs and baby chicks, or seeing more exotic breeds such as white wallabies, emus and water buffaloes… and wild boar, of course. Other activities with a farmyard focus available at this spot in the Forest of Bowland Area of Natural Beauty include tractor and trailer rides (in the school holidays and on weekends) as well as wildlife walks inside the lush green Ribble Valley with fells and woodland all around. Named paths aimed at kids and adults alike range from the Cartoon and Totem Pole trails to the Bluebell Walk. A play area is also on site. (Please note the Bowland Wild Boar Park is only open to visitors during the school holidays and bank holidays from February to October; check opening times before booking your stay to see if you'll be able to visit the animals or not.) If you’d rather sit and watch the wildlife, a café is opposite the pond at the park where birds fly in to take titbits from the feeder; for other ways to spy winged critters in their natural habitat, you could also wander beside the nearby Hodder river. After lunch at the café, spark up the barbecue for dinner – local produce is plentiful at the nearby farm shop. Another café plus a couple of pubs are in Chipping just over five minutes’ drive away if you’d prefer to spend less time cooking and more time spreading out next to the firepit back on base after a meal made by someone else. Bowland Escapes has shower and toilet blocks and washing-up stations with hot water.

Site type

Lodges, cabins, pods or huts 8
Rent a tent 2
Tent pitches 5
Open all year
Opens
Please note
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
  • Your dog must be tattooed or microchipped.
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • No cars/motorbikes by the pitch/unit. All cars must be parked in the designated area.
  • The site caters for families (immediate members) and couples only - bookings from all other forms of groups are not accepted.
  • At least one of the party members must be aged 21 or over.
  • Please note that the animal park is only open during school holidays from February half term through to October half term. Stays can be booked outside of these times but please be aware that the animal park will not be open. Please also note that tickets for the animal park must be booked separately.

Languages spoken

English

Pitch types & availability

Accommodation

Tent pitchesTouring caravan pitchesMotorhome pitchesLodges, cabins, pods or hutsCaravans for hireRent a tent
Choose your dates
2 adults
0 children

Reviews

9.7

Overall rating based on 72 reviews View breakdown

Peaceful

Voted 67% of visitors View breakdown

100%

would recommend this site to a friend

97%

would stay here again

  • 87%
    10
  • 0%
    9
  • 11%
    8
  • 0%
    7
  • 1%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 0%
    4
  • 0%
    3
  • 0%
    2
  • 0%
    1

Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Excellent facilities highly recommend

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 8
Amanda R. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Had an amazing time here would highly recommend the venue. Spotlessly clean staff very friendly. Kids loved the farm with the rides and holding the chicks. The mud kitchen and the baby meerkats

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

Brilliant

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 8
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 4
Catherine P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Great toilet/ shower
Amazing location
Super staff

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Amazing... thank you for your super review and great photos :)

Great site for my daughter’s first camping trip.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Aaron F. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Great little site, clean & good toilet/ washroom facilities. The boar park was good. Friendly staff.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Great review, thankyou for visiting :)

Lovely and Friendly staff at check in and throughout. Lovely camping pitch safe…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Toni Louise D. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Lovely and Friendly staff at check in and throughout.
Lovely camping pitch safe and secure for our young child to play.
Quiet
Had a great day out at the wild boar park too.
Shower and toilet facilities very clean and modern

We really enjoyed our first family camping trip and will be back! 🏕️

Disliked: Nothing!

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Lovely review, thankyou so much and really pleased you enjoyed your first family camping trip :)

Staff, cleanliness, shower block,…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 6
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Paul W. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Camping pod (pet friendly)

Liked: Staff, cleanliness, shower block,

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thanks Paul :)

Clean,beautiful and peaceful

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Dawn B. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Shepherd's hut (no pets)

Liked: The shepherds hut was lovely ,we had a log burner blazing away so lovely for a cold night,we had a barbecue on outside fire pit which was large and very easy, right outside hut with bench and chairs
There were emus ,shetlands and many other animals around site, we saw young deer dashing across the fields
Peacock came to investigate out hut in the morning
I loved this site and will be returning soon

Disliked: Can’t think of anything

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Fantastic review thank you so much Dawn, yes the shepherds hut are a great little getaway with log burner 🔥

Friendly staff, clean facilities…

Overall 8/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Andrew P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Friendly staff, clean facilities

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: thank you Andrew, maybe see you again in 2025

A fantastic place to stay

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 4
Catherine P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: The location
Site
Reception

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: thanks Catherine for the 10 review we are pleased you enjoyed your stay :)

Perfect

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Stuart W. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Everything. Peaceful, rural and restful. Great facilities . Friendly staff

Disliked: Leaving

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thankyou Stuart, great review thanks for taking the time to leave your pics and thoughts :)

Nice quiet campsite, clean toilet / shower room. Lovely walks and…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 2
Gill N. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent pitch

Liked: Nice quiet campsite, clean toilet / shower room. Lovely walks and animal park. Really helpful staff.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: :) thanks very much for your great 10 review

Features

Dogs allowed

Leisure on site

Bar or club house Cycle hire Evening entertainment Fishing Fitness centre Games room Indoor swimming pool Kids' club On-site cafe On-site restaurant/cafe Outdoor swimming pool Play area TV room Take away Tennis Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available Car parking by pitch/unit Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Launderette Parent & baby washroom Pick-up from public transport Portable toilet Pub toilets Public telephone Shower available Toilet block Washing-up area Wifi

Groups welcome

D. of E. welcome Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided Barbecues allowed Campfires allowed Commercial vehicles allowed Dogs allowed Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Forest Peaceful Remote location Walkers' paradise Wild camping Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities Chemical disposal Electric car charging point(s) Gas cylinders available Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby Shop nearby

Type

Farm Small (11-25 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Cycling nearby

Location

Bowland Escapes

Chipping

Preston

Lancashire

England

PR3 2HB

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London BST (GMT+01:00)

GPS

53.90099°N
-2.53372°W

Nearest transport

Coach
10.7 mi Coach Stop C3
11.7 mi Bus Station
12.2 mi Crossroads
Rail
6 mi Clitheroe Rail Station
7.3 mi Whalley Rail Station
7.5 mi Langho Rail Station
Ferry
18 mi Heysham Ferry Terminal
19 mi Knott End-On-Sea Ferry Landing
19.4 mi Fleetwood for Knott End Ferry Landing

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

There may be much to keep you at this wildlife park but family-friendly activities are all around the region too, with the rare breeds of cattle at Cobble Hey Farm & Gardens 25 minutes’ drive away and the rainy-day workshops and events at Barton Grange Garden Centre within half an hour. If it’s sunny, Brock Bottoms Picnic Site (25 minutes) is an excellent spot for an outdoor meal – followed up with an ice cream made courtesy of the milk from the dairy cows at Mrs Dowsons Farm half an hour away. Famous places for the kids are also within an hour’s drive, like the rides at the Blackpool seaside; for grownups, the fell walks of the Lake District are the same distance away.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020201920182017
Morecambe North 18 mi Estuary GoodN/AGoodGood
Morecambe South 18.3 mi Sea N/AN/AGoodGood
Fleetwood 19.9 mi Sea N/AGoodGoodGood
Cleveleys 21 mi Sea N/AGoodGoodGood
Bispham 21.5 mi Sea N/AGoodGoodGood

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Beacon Fell Country Park 5.3 mi

Gawthorpe Hall 11.9 mi

Oswaldtwistle Mills 12.1 mi

Forest of Bowland 12.5 mi

Lancaster Castle 15.1 mi

National Trust

Gawthorpe Hall 11.8 mi

Malham Tarn Estate 20.1 mi

Rufford Old Hall 21.5 mi

Hardcastle Crags 22.8 mi

East Riddlesden Hall 26.6 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Journey through the Centre of the Kingdom, Section 6: Whitewell - Chipping 1.2 mi

Chipping - the Southern Pastures 2.1 mi

Chipping and Burnslack 2.1 mi

Journey through the Centre of the Kingdom, Section 7: Chipping - Bashall 2.1 mi

Chipping and Dinkling Green 2.1 mi

Local events

  • Lytham Festival (Wednesday 2 July 2025 – Wednesday 2 July 2025)

    Lytham St Annes, Lancashire 20.9 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Offers

Conditions apply - see pitch type section for details

Nearest sites

Unfortunately, we have no nearby bookable sites.

Want to know more about camping in Lancashire?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Bowland Escapes have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Bowland Escapes dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Bowland Escapes? There may be much to keep you at this wildlife park but family-friendly activities are all around the region too, with the rare breeds of cattle at Cobble Hey Farm & Gardens … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Bowland Escapes?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  4 p.m. –  6 p.m.
    Depart by:  10 a.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  4 p.m. –  6 p.m.
    Depart by:  10 a.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Bowland Escapes? From £20 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.