Wonton Park Camping is a small campsite offering big views between Dartmoor and the Devon coast. Situated on a working farm in the countryside near Totnes, the outlook is all green: farmers’ fields and hedgerows for as far as you can see. It’s a lovely backdrop to this family-run campsite which welcomes all sorts of campers. Tents, campervans and caravans are all equally welcome here – as are campers with dogs.
This is a campsite run by a farming family who like to camp themselves which is, perhaps, why it feels like such a practical place to pitch up. It has everything you need and nothing you don’t. There’s electric hook up if you want it and off-grid pitches for everyone else. There’s space for kids to run around and it’s kept away from moving cars. The ablutions block is pleasingly-designed and houses two good-sized bathrooms, which incorporate shower, loo and sink. The washing-up sink is outdoors, but it’s also undercover. A chemical disposal point and the chance to hire fire pits completes what’s on offer here.
It all makes Wonton Park Camping a pleasant place for evenings under dark Devon skies and mornings watching the farm’s sheep and cattle grazing in the fields. But post-bacon butty, you’ll probably be off to explore. And there’s plenty of opportunity for that with the edge of Dartmoor National Park just a few miles away and rather a lot within a half-hour drive. To the south there’s Bantham Beach and Blackpool Sands; to the east it’s the English Riviera: Paignton, Brixham and Torquay.
Wonton Park Camping is just a couple of miles from the edge of Dartmoor National Park so there’s plenty of walking, wild swimming and general adventuring to be done. Perhaps start with a scramble up Ugborough Beacon, the southernmost of Dartmoor’s granite outcrops, or head for the bigger and more famous Hay Tor (14 miles away). Buckfast Abbey is seven miles from the campsite, the pretty village of South Brent is only four miles away. Outside the park, riverside Totnes is a five-mile drive, Woodlands Family Theme Park is nine miles away and a whole host of beaches on the South Devon Coast are all about a 30-minute drive. Take your pick from Bigbury-on-Sea, from where you can take the sea tractor over to Burgh Island, Bantham Beach for body boarding and Blackpool Sands which is a pretty crescent, backed by sands. The seaside resorts on Tor Bay – and all the amusements and attractions that go with them – are also about a half-hour drive away, as are Exeter and Plymouth.
The closest place for a meal out is The Avon Inn, just a mile down the road. It has roaring fires for when it’s cold and a beer garden for when it’s sunny. A little further in the same direction is Turtley Cornmill (two miles) which has a nice garden and does good food too. Another option recommended by your hosts is The Church House Inn in Rattery (three miles). For a good breakfast out, try The Ring Feeder Cafe – a rustic cafe on a farm in Ivybridge (five miles). There’s also good coffee at The Heron Valley Cafe which has a lovely rural setting (seven miles) and for the best roast in the area, head for the restaurant at Buckfast Abbey (seven miles).
