One of the many questions I have when booking a campsite is “what are the access roads like ?”
Many of the sites we want to visit are usually in rural locations which means unless we know the area well we actually have no idea what the access roads are like. Google Maps and Street view offer some help, but in many of the cases the camera cannot quite give full picture of the access roads, width or turning circles into the site, which in some cases is down a private road.
Such an occasion was Three cliffs bay, where the Google Street View car, simply bypassed the narrow lane that was the only road in and out of the site. It did give me some sleepless nights until the day of arrival.
The “not knowing” is something that is shared by others too and thankfully someone has stepped up to the plate and started to create a vast and really very usable resource for all of us that tow a caravan into the great unknown.
Rich & Trev from (Get your) Leg down blog have started requesting and uploading Dash Cam footage from those of us that visit camp sites throughout the UK. A simple yet devilishly effective answer to the issue of not knowing. From the Dash cam footage they add a voice over that runs in line with the sites official directions and they upload it to YouTube for the rest of us to view and use as a valuable resource.
It also offers a great insight into the ambience of the local area. I have watched some of the footage provided by others and already booked up a couple of Certified Locations based upon the footage and reviews.
You can help this growing resource too. If you have Dash cam, or Go Pro footage of the arrival of a site, simply contact Rich & Trev and submit your footage to them.
And in case you wanted to know, here is the Site arrival footage of Three Cliffs Bay. Yes, it really is that tight !
Here is the (Get your) Legs down YouTube Channel, and why not give Rich & Trev a follow on Twitter too. They are two of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.
Many thanks for that. Think we’ll pass on this one. I’m sure there are many more with better access. Will revue your many vlogs/videos and mark any down for future visits. Will be spending more time in the caravan as my husband retires on August 4th. Roll on lol
Hi Dan, yes, this subject is a deciding factor for where we go. Many Certified/rural-location sites have been rejected because the approach road has been decidedly scary. We had a 2 berth ‘van, used for one night. Sold due to the ‘fear’ experienced!! Bought a Go-pod and built up the confidence to tow. Now with our 2 berth Sterling Europa we brave narrower lanes, with our caravan-specific satnav, the Phillips caravan atlas, Google Streetview, hand-drawn maps, notes and sketches (aaarrggh!) all in-hand. So, Dashcam footage will be another weapon in our war against fearful narrow approach roads. Note: the Legs down link ‘seems’ to be dead. This works: https://getyourlegsdown.blogspot.com