Rowter Farm

We stayed here a week ago 2 adults and 2 dogs, lovely farm, fantastic scenery and walks on your doorstep, lovely family, hard working from what we seen, moving sheep daily etc. Really lovely stay, basic camping if you want peace and quiet then this is the spot. No lines to camp in, and not too many rules. They said they would be very busy bank holiday, how lucky we were we went the week prior. We will be back one day :-)

if your looking for a laid back camp site with the basic essentials Rowter farm is perfect in the middle of the Peak District with great excess to some of peaks best walks it ticks so many boxes the evening fills with groups having fun with laughter in the air family's couples and mixed groups it's simply perfect camp site very chilled stay 

Great site for camping, children , walking and chilling.

Rowter Farm was everything you would expect from a very moderately priced farm campsite. It has a large camping field,  good washing up facilities and wash/toilet area with hot water as well as a pay as you go shower. Although basic it is quite adequate. Fire pits, charcoal etc on sale and some basic essentials in the way of food.  Fantastic location for walkers and lovely view. Best of all a helpful friendly farming family  and a relaxed atmosphere.

Rowter Farm was everything you would expect from a very moderately priced farm campsite. It has a large camping field,  good washing up facilities and wash/toilet area with hot water as well as a pay as you go shower. Although basic it is quite adequate. Fire pits, charcoal etc on sale and some basic essentials in the way of food.  Fantastic location for walkers and lovely view. Best of all a helpful friendly farming family  and a relaxed atmosphere.

We first made the mistake of following the Sat Nav; please DO NOT follow the Sat Nav as it leads to another farm that is located down a very small and bumpy road and nowhere near the site itself and the lady is getting a bit ticked off with all us campers arriving down her driveway! 

I went to Rowter Farm June 19th to 21st with my partner, arriving late evening on a Friday night. It was very busy with DofE and stag dos etc, but we found a spot near the entrance and no trouble from the crowds of people. 

The Saturday night was less busy and we very much enjoyed the 'no thrills' of the site. The showers are 50p for 3 minutes only and 10 seconds of that are freezing cold water, but you can get the job done in the time given.

 Plenty of walks around you as Rowter Farm is set back in gated fields, with no close neighbours other than sheep and cows! We went down the road to Speedwell cavern, which was really enjoyable and interesting. Sunday was completely empty and we chose to go home that night because of the weather. Really lovely though and loved the area. 

turned up on a friday afternoon planning to stay 2 nights. there was a big group of teenagers doing d of e i think who were noisy and didnt quieten down until around 11pm which was not too bad i guess. but then there was 2 seperate groups of blokes getting drunk, first group went to sleep around 1am and second group had music on, singing, and even beeping a car horn until around 2-30am. heard a couple of guys from first group stagering past my tent to be sick by the wall around this time too. the teens were packed up and on there way in the moring but the other groups didnt look like they were going so i packed up and cut my stay short. also noted was the grass was very long 8 inches or so. i can imagine if the site was quiet with just familys or couples then it would be fine, basic and out of the way from it all, but they dont seem to mind groups camping there and everyone is left to do as they please, so it really depends on your luck as to who else is there. got 3 or 4 hours sleep in the end so had to cut my weekend short as it was late when i got packed up and too tired to go out walking all day

This is my favourite campsite in the Peaks.  It is a really relaxed place, with basic facilities.  Don't go expecting modern solar heated wash blocks and defined pitches though.  While there are official rules, in the times we've been there, they were rather relaxed about them.  

This is a very popular campsite, so on nights like midsummer's eve it can get very busy. However, at other times, we've been there, we've practically had the place to ourselves.  

It is a working farm, and understandably, the owners spend most of their time tending to the animals.  The place is kept clean and tidy and is well maintained.  Remember to take some 50ps for the showers, as they aren't included in the price.  

Great for dogs and children, as there is a large area for them to play in.  Fires are permitted, as long as they are off the ground and safe.  

I had been looking for a nice quiet place to take my kids during the summer holidays. After looking at many sites in the area, all seemed to have too many rules. I wanted a place that was away from any built up areas, and that would give us the nearest to proper 'camping' experience as possible. My children are 11 and 7 and love the outdoors. I have always loved camping since the age of 5 and wanted to pass that on.

This site gave us exactly that.  Obviously nowadays open fires aren't really allowed anywhere, but here we could use the fire pit, which is as close as it gets.  The kids went to find their own wood for kindling, we built fires, explored the fields around and loved every minute.

The views and space is amazing and so relaxing.

The walks up mam tor, and around castleton filled the days easily, with the added bonus of a lovely pub lunch in the castle on the last day (we were 'beaned' out by then).

I am also a keen mountain biker, so will definitely use this as a base for me and my mates when we do the hope valley loops again.

If you want a no frills camping site that allows you to camp properly, then this is it.

5stars.

   I stayed at Rowter Farm 7th & 8th August.  The campsite is a perfect location for numerous walks, and is close to the nearby village of Castelton.  It is a beautiful location and I assumed a quiet remote one.

The first night I was unable to get to sleep until gone midnight as peolpe ignored the "no noise after 10" rule, and were quite happy to allow the farm gate to slam shut on their way to the toilet facilities, along with talking at the top of their voices.

The next day I asked the lady owner if I may prop open the gate, especially since the site had become a lot more busy.  She was very understanding and obliging so I looked forward to having a more restful night, despite the continual arrival of more groups.

At 21:00hrs I was awoken by a group of females arriving (ignoring the "arrive before 8pm" rule), who were talking very loudly, pitching dangerously close to us and were also disturbing my 3 and 5 year old who were desparately trying to sleep.  After they had finished pitching their tents they realised that they had pitched their tents blocking their cars in! (If guidelines of pitching before 8pm had been adhered to, daylight may have helped avoid this ludicrous situation.  Knowing that they were so close to us I stuck my head out of the tent and guided them through - they just fitted between mine and their guy ropes. I'm sure I don't need to mention to the readers that this seriously risked the safety of myself and children, but I have.

At 00:10 I was awoken by an explosion.  The multiple family group that were "next door but one" had not only decided to carry on talking passed 10pm, light a clearly prohibited open fire, had also managed to leave a gas cylinder close enough to the prohibited fire and for long enough, for it to explode.  Understandably horrific screams and commotion were to follow, and half an hour later two ambulances, with continued aftermath.  How nobody was killed, and how no other tents were affected is beyond me, but I shall be eternally grateful that my children and I were spared from harm.  Had a fire ensued it would have ripped through the campsite in minutes, probably seconds, as it was far too crowded.  I left the next morning ASAP, not even entertaining the idea of a refund, I just wanted to get us out alive! 

This horrible experience could have been avoided if the overflow field had been opened sooner, and the owners took some responsibility to ensure that the rules are adhered to - clearly they are there for a reason. I shall not be returning to this site. I shall be interested to see if my review is listed to have some idea of the profesionalism of "Cool Camping."
I also intend, to ensure the health and safety (and enjoyment) of future campers, to write to the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme to notify them of the incident, since they had young people there that night, and also to the local authorities - assuming they are not already aware of the situation.

I continued my holiday at another site, and I'm glad I had that option as it may have put me off camping for good. 

This was my first trip camping for many years and two days prior I spotted this site on cool camping. No prebook required. The site is located in the gorgeous fields away from any noise and roads. There are two large old stone walled fields to camp in. Facilities were clean and easy to find. The best thing about this site is the location, just walk out in any direction and you are in the open spaces with only sheep for company. Will certainly be back. A relaxed easy going spacious campsite.

Have just come back from a 3 night break at Rowter Farm and we couldn't have picked a better site for views, walking and dog friendly camping. No charge for the dogs which was nice and plenty of animals surrounding the field to look at (horses, sheep, cows etc) Stunning views to wake up to and some lovely walks especially Mam Tor. Campsite is literally at the top of winnats pass so it's high up. The field was empty when we arrived on the Friday afternoon so had the pick of the field to pitch however it soon filled up with a variety of families, DofE groups and walking groups but by the end of the weekend only a couple of tents left and deadly quiet. One night it was like Leeds festival and the next all we could hear were the cows in the next field. It's a bit of a gamble which end of the spectrum you get but it's worth it. Showers are clean and so are the toilets and wash up room. The farm house sells basic provisions, portable BBQ's, chocolate biccies. The owners appear very relaxed and leave you too it and the field is on the level. No naff family lounge bars or cheesy amusements - proper camping at it's best!

I searched high and low for a campsite that offered that "getting away from it all" break for my boyfriend and I. I found the one on CoolCamping - Rowter Farm, Castleton. At the top of the Peaks, it offers the best countryside views with nothing but Mam Tor in one direction (merely 20m to the footpath accent) and sheep-filled fields marked out by dry stone walls the other direction.

The campsite, a large field set in the grounds of a lovely working farm and picturesque stone barns and farmhouse, is private and feels undiscovered. Pitch free, you are able to choose exactly where you wish to set up camp and although there was a group of Scouts (very well behaved and no doubt exhausted from a day's trekking) and two other small groups, we heard no noise and felt entirely alone with great views, just what we wanted.

Amenities are basic but great; toilets, shower and washing up facilities were all clean and
modern with the added bonus of hot water, soap and perfume in the ladies!! And best of all they are close to the campsite! The farmhouse even comes with a mini shop of essentials (chocolate)!

Castleton is a beautiful village near by with great pubs and food-with-a-view (The Castle), with the breath-taking navigation through Winnats Pass, sincerely my favourite road on this planet. The area boasts beautiful, intricate landscapes like nowhere else. With that said I
am definitely returning to the Peak District and will most certainly be 'CoolCamping' at Rowter Farm.