Loch Lomond wild camping: permits, zones and campsites

Scotland's access rights let you wild camp responsibly across most of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, all year round. The exception is a set of busy loch shores where byelaws manage camping to reduce environmental damage. There, from 1 March to 30 September, you may only camp at a campsite or in a permit area you have booked. These Camping Management Zones cover less than 4 percent of the park (byelaw Q&As).

Right now the season is over. Between 1 October 2026 and 28 February 2027 no permit is needed, but the National Park's own campsites are closed (get a permit).

Zones and permit areas#

There are four Camping Management Zones: West Loch Lomond, East Loch Lomond, Trossachs West and Trossachs North. Inside them, permit areas are natural stretches of shore or woodland with no set pitches and no facilities, which is to say wild camping with a booking (camping leaflet).

The zones are much larger than the permit areas. A permit lets you camp in your chosen area only, not anywhere in the surrounding zone. Permit areas are named on the official map, for example Loch Venachar North Shore B and Loch Venachar South Shore, Loch Earn's north and south shores, Loch Achray South, Balquhidder Glen and the lettered areas along the Three Lochs Forest Drive. Each is marked as tents only, motorhomes only or mixed. Motorhome-only areas include Inveruglas, Firkin Point and parts of the Three Lochs Forest Drive.

Booking a permit#

Source: get a permit. Two tents for two nights therefore cost 2 × 2 × £4.50 = £18.

The permit conditions add the detail that matters on the ground (permit terms):

• One permit, one tent, holding up to four adults aged 16 or over plus children.
• Your tent and extras, such as a toilet tent, gazebo or fire bowl, must fit within 5 by 5 metres. No generators.
• The permit is not a parking space, and other permit holders may share the area. Pitch at least 5 m from them and keep noise down between 22:00 and 07:00.
• You cannot book the same zone again within three nights of your permit ending, and permits are not transferable.
• Carry the permit and photo ID; rangers or police may ask for them.
• You can amend a booking once, free, up to a week before. Refunds are given only if you cancel more than a week ahead and the booking is worth more than £9.

The fee covers the booking system, not services. There are no toilets, washing facilities or bins.

Fires, firewood and litter#

The byelaws also cover fires. If you have one, keep it small, use a stove or a fire bowl on a surface that will not burn, and bring your own wood. Collecting any wood in a zone, even dead wood on the ground, is a specific breach, because it is habitat for insects, lichens and fungi. Do not light fires in long dry spells, in or near woodland, on peaty ground or when a fire-risk warning is in force, and never use pallets or old furniture (permit terms). Breaking the byelaws can lead to a fine of up to £500.

Take everything home. Leaving litter can bring a fine of up to £2,500, and leaving a bag of rubbish, even beside a bin, counts as fly-tipping, with fines up to £40,000 if it goes to court.

For the toilet, go more than 30 m from open water and away from buildings and livestock, and bury waste in a hole 15 to 20 cm deep. Use biodegradable soap and empty washing water well away from streams.

Outside the zones, or out of season#

Elsewhere in the park, and everywhere from October to February, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code applies: lightweight tents, small numbers, no more than two or three nights in one place, well away from buildings and roads, and not in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals. Access rights do not include motor vehicles, so a wild camp never comes with a right to park or sleep in a vehicle where parking is restricted.

Lochs are cold all year and often shelve steeply close to the shore, so take care around the water, especially with children.

Campsites with facilities#

If you want water and a toilet, book a campsite. The National Park runs Loch Chon and Loch Achray, both with fresh water, toilets and parking, and a small site on the island of Inchcailloch. Forestry and Land Scotland runs Sallochy on east Loch Lomond, with woodland pitches beside the West Highland Way, and The Cabin at Loch Lubnaig is another small, low-cost option (byelaw Q&As; camping leaflet). Loch Chon, Loch Achray, Inchcailloch and Sallochy are closed until 28 February 2027; privately run campsites keep their own seasons. Information was checked on 8 October 2026.