Evergreen Farm Woodland Campsite

Evergreen Farm is a woodland camp site on the outskirts of East Grinstead, in West Sussex.

Being from the far North, I had never ventured as far South on a camping trip, but chose Evergreen Farm as I looked for a countryside hideaway, as I had to combine this trip with some time in London (not a fan of the City!). I had expectations of the area being more busy, on the urban fringe and under the flightpath to Heathrow Airport. I can only say how pleased I was to be totally wrong.

The countryside of West Sussex is not too dissimilar to the rolling hills of the North, and Evergreen Farm is a hidden gem in its midst.

It really is a quiet hideaway which is ideal if you need to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and it is certainly camping at its most basic which is what appeals to me.

You arrive at Evergreen Farm and are shown where to park next to a paddock. At this point you have to abandon your car and put all your belongings in a quad bike trailer which is driven down the hill for you into the woodland. Its quite an adventurous start, especially if you have children. Mine thought it was great.

Your belongings are then delivered to your pitch which is within a 15 acre woodland at the bottom of the valley. This is not a commercial, C&C club type site, each pitch has on average 100m between you and your neighbours, so you get that real feeling of being alone camping in the woods if you want it, and if not, its only a short walk for a chat with whoever is on the next pitch.

What is there to do there? Well, with children quite simply play in the woods all day - it is a woodland after all!, have a camp fire at night, and the rest of the time just relax under the canopy. A basic rustic camping experience. Fantastic.

As for facilities, there are two compost loo's on site at the top of the hill (clean and no smells at all), water and firewood is delivered daily or as requested. Other than the woodlands which are surrounded by fields that you are welcome to play in as well, there is no other distractions.

At the farm itself, you are welcome to visit the animals, and the owners regularly take visitors out for a tour of the site on the quad/trailer, but the rest of the time is your own to enjoy.

Would I visit again?, well, if I lived closer, I would certainly use the site again, but its over 300 miles one way for me! I would certainly recommend it to anyone who needs a back to basics retreat in the South East. Evergreen Farm is an ideal place to slow it all down and get back to nature.