Independent Campsite Reviews

We picked this campsite because of its accessibility. It's a little over an hour away from my home in Sunderland in a beautiful part of North Yorkshire midway between Harogate and Ripon.

It is a very clean, well kept site with lots of space for tents and caravans, and excellent facilities. If you don't want to leave the site then it offers a swimming pool, excellent kids play areas and a dog walk. It has very nice little shop that is well stocked, a TV room and the swimming pool. It also has a swimming pool - or did I mention that? I've been to a few sites that offer a swimming pool and often it has come from Argos, been inflated and filled that morning using a hose. Not at Ripley! The pool is a lovely big(ish) indoor pool that is kept in very good nick. We were there in wet weather when there was the potential for the pool housing to get very muddy. The staff appeared to go to a lot of effort to keep it clean. This is a site where the staff seem to enjoy their work and appreciate your visit.

The nearby village is very attractive, and has a superb ice cream shop! We will go back to this site again.

I visited Ripley in August 2005, having spent weekends there previously on several occasions spanning back 5 years.

What a sham!!! Where has the lovely peaceful atmosphere gone? The site was packed to the gunnels, dirty, and like downtown Beirut. The tenting area noise felt like a concert at Glastonbury.

We will not be returning. It now feels as though the owners are cashing in tremendously and that old friendly caring service of a few years ago has gone. With all due respect to any one with a Burberry tracksuit, but this was chav-city.

We recently returned from camping at this site and found it to be excellent. We have two young children under five and it was ideal - flat so no problems with buggys or children riding bikes. It has a wide variety of facilities, indoor swimming pool, sauna, under sixes playroom, games room for older children, shop open at least twice a day and a childrens play park situated in the middle of the park as well. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The showers are free and kept very clean (no mean feat at the height of the season!). The pitches are a good size the only problem we encountered was the ground being hard. Water points are situated all over the site never far to walk and the bins are regularly cleaned. Situated in between Ripon, Knaresborough and Harrogate ideal base for visiting the area. Also worth visiting is Ripley which is five minutes away which has a fantastic ice cream shop. We are definitely returning !!

We have just returned from a most awful trip to Ripley campsite. Anyone planning on using this campsite seriously needs to think again. My family (2 children and the family dog) have camped all over the UK and Europe and never have we visited such a regimented site, there are so many rules I felt I couldn’t let the kids out of my sight. There is a designated dog walking area yet you aren't allowed to let them off the lead even in there!!! Surely the point of a dog walking area is for this purpose...and if your caught breaking even the tiniest rule god help you, they are on your back in a second.

The site staff put me on edge and I did not relax once the whole week. The toilet blocks were far from the cleanest I have ever seen and the tent area was disgusting. We certainly will not be returning to this campsite, which is a shame because Harrogate is a place we would have visited again.

This site is beautiful, clean, friendly and a gem for families. The staff and owners are first class. This is one of the best sites we have ever visited.