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Bracelands Campsite
Forest Of Dean
Coleford
Gloucestershire (Browse area)
GL16 7NN
Tel: 01594 837258
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Pitches: 400
Open: 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024
01/01/2025 to 31/12/2025
Rating: 
   
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Photos (27)
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 Tent Pitches |
 Caravan Pitches |
 Motorhome Pitches |
 Small Campervans |
 Glamping Units |
 No Statics for Hire |
 No Statics for Sale |
 Seasonal Pitches |
 Electric Hookups |
 Hardstanding Pitches |
 No Fully Serviced Pitches |
 Show Full Facilities |
| Who's it for |
 Families Welcome |
 Not Members Only |
 Rallies Welcome |
 Not Naturist Site |
 Dogs Welcome |
 No Dogs Allowed |
 Groups Welcome |
 Motorbikers Welcome |
| Facilities |
 Toilet Facilities |
 Hot Showers |
 Washing Up |
 No Bathroom |
 Baby Changing Facilities |
 Laundry On Site |
 Drinking Water |
 Disabled Friendly |
 Chemical Disposal |
 No Battery Charging |
 No Gas Exchange |
 Recycling Facilities |
 No Kitchen Facilities |
 No Freezer / Fridge |
 Motorhome Point |
 Wifi Access |
 Shop On Site |
 Bar <1 mile |
 Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway <1 mile |
| Activities |
 No Playground |
 No TV Room |
 No Games Room |
 No Evening Ents |
 Fishing <5 miles |
 Wild Swimming <5 miles |
 No Indoor Pool |
 No Outdoor Pool |
 Horse Riding <5 miles |
 Cycle Hire <1 mile |
 Golf <5 miles |
 No Tennis |
 No Beach |
 Watersports <5 miles |
 Boat Launch / Mooring <5 miles |
| Other Features |
 No Sea Views |
 Not Working Farm |
 No Campfires Allowed |
 Open All Year |
 No Waterside Pitches |
 Public Transport <1 mile |
 Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access |
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Reviews:
136 in total, now showing 81 to 90
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| Date of Visit: May 2010 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Scargs |
2 reviews from this member |
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 In summary, not the worst, but not the best either.
The site is easy to book and pay online, and you get immediate indication of availability. This helped as we arrived late on the Friday night and it saved having to pay up on arrival. Its a massive sight so good for last minute bookings as ours was.
The site is well located for Monmouth, Symonds Yat and the Forest of Dean. We certainly found plenty to do in the area - walks in the forest and a half day Kayak trip via the Monmouth Canoe centre opposite the leisure centre (they were excellent).
On the downside the site is too large for the facilities, and the facilities do not match the price you pay. I think there were 4 shower / toilet blocks on Bracelands - they all looked to be the same size as the one nearest to our pitch (5 showers, c10 toilets and 10-15 sinks).
Shower wise they need at least twice as many, I visited the shower block Sunday morning 3 times between 7 am and 10:30 and there were at least 7/8 people in the que each time. The facility was cleaned once per day - but this needs to be more when the site is full - as it was. In the queue for the shower the cleaner came in and said 'there are 3000 people here this weekend we can't keep up'. I didn't feel that the cleanliness of the ladies facility was too bad overall (don't forget the flip flops for the shower), but my other half said the gents was fairly grim, the same pieces of litter etc around on the floor / in the toilet for more then a day.
Pot washing facilities always had hot water - never suffered much of a que for this - which was surprising given the number of people on site!
Price for a basic tent pitch was £20 per night (includes 1 tent for 2 people and car space)- I'd expect a bit more for the money given the shower / loo status. I'd go back if it were a bit cheaper - I've stayed at much better for £13 - £15 a night.
A good shop exists for the last minute bits and pieces at the entrance to the site. 
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| Date of Visit: May 2010 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Stupot123 |
1 review from this member |
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On the positive side the internet booking facility is great, the reception staff were friendly and efficient and the site is located in a great location for all the attractions the Forest of Dean has to offer. We also bought fresh croissants from the shop which were not cheap, but delicious!
However the campsite itself was a huge disappointment and one we wouldn't choose to visit again. There are comments on the gently sloping nature of the park and this may be the case for many, however upon arriving on a busy Bank Holiday weekend there were very few spaces left that wouldn't have involved sleeping at a pretty steep angle!
There were no marked pitches which usually makes for relaxed camping, however in this particular location where there are virtually no trees, bushes or hedges it leads to an experience I can only describe as like camping at a music festival. The 6m spacing rule seemed to have been reduced to 3m and the only way we could avoid the really steep slopes was to pitch in what was another groups Gazebo area - much to their obvious annoyance!
There were enough toilet/shower facilities to cope with the numbers, but they are badly in need of an upgrade. The gents in particular was very smelly (as others have commented)and the cubicles had broken door locks and were out of toilet paper. There was also only 1 soap dispenser for around 15 sinks.
There seemed to be a lot of very content people around but this site was not for us and I would recommend considering all the options available before plumping for this site.
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| Date of Visit: June 2010 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Linny2008 |
14 reviews from this member |
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My family, friends and I have just returned from a 5 day stay at Bracelands Campsite and I thought you would value some feedback.
Things we loved:
• Location was stunning and local walks were lovely
• Ice block exchange
• Well stocked shop
• Beautifully maintained grass.
The main issue centres on the washing/toilet facilities.
In our experience we found that:
• The showering facilities were not adequate to cope with the demands of a capacity bank holiday weekend – on Sunday morning members of our party had to queue for up to 40 mins for a cubicle to become available. One lady I spoke to said she had been showering at 6am to avoid the need to queue. Even when the campsite emptied during the week the amount of time spent queuing I would class as borderline unacceptable and clearly indicative that the facilities were insufficient for the number of pitches occupied.
• The facilities were not cleaned often enough or to a high enough standard. They really are all in a pretty poor state of decline. A deep clean is required (minimum) and then they need cleaning properly at least twice a day. I don’t mind basic facilities (however a hairdryer would be nice) but I expect them to be clean, hygienic and properly maintained especially at a Forestry site. The ones at Bedgelert surpass these in every single way and when we visited there it rained every day and the terrain was muddy.
• The soap and toilet roll was constantly running out and when the soap was replenished it was not fully topped up and soon ran out again.
• Many of the toilets were frequently blocked and full of toilet paper and excrement. One of our male party members reported that one in the men’s toilets remained blocked for over 36 hours. They also both complained of a strong stench of urine and preferred not to take our three small boys in there at all.
• Dependent on which shower cubicle was available, what time you showered, depended on how good a shower you got. Some were great, others pitiful and on one occasion completely ran out of hot water altogether. Just not a nice experience especially coupled with the long dead spiders, other people’s hair clogging the drains, cracked tiles, furry air vents and general widespread grime and dirt (not to mention toilet smells).
Booking in
• On arrival, the queue was approximately 20 people deep queuing outside the portacabin. Fortunately when my family arrived it was dry but my friend had to queue in tipping rain.
• The queue moved exceptionally slowly especially considering all pitches on this weekend were pre-booked and I would speculate that most had been paid for.
• Whilst I understand the need for a welcoming reception given the number of people booking in I think the people responsible should have been far more efficient.
O Most people know how to operate a sticky label and do not need lengthy instruction on how to peel it off. What’s wrong with saying, “Display this bit on your tent and this bit on your car.”?
O Most people can read a map key and can identify facilities like toilets. I do not require every single item to be circled on my map and taken through it in minute detail, especially not when there are still people queuing round the car park behind me.
O Most people camping know general camping rules – a simple “Can I draw your attention to the part of the brochure which includes our rules and regulations as they are vigorously enforced?” Would be enough to push most people in the right direction.
And the last point I would like to raise is that of pitch size. We have 2 tents, one is in a peace sign kind of formation and covers quite a large area and our other one is a more standard and smaller rectangular shape. When booking I noted your pitch size dimensions and so therefore we brought our smaller, but not as good, tent which would easily fit into your pitch size. However I was shocked to note how many other “sputnik” style tents had been pitched, with similar dimensions to our big tent and wondered if every single one of those people had paid extra to be allowed to use their big tents when we had left ours at home. Some of them even had extensions on them making them approx 10m (if not more) from front to back. We would obviously have preferred to bring our larger tent but didn’t. I think that unless you are enforcing you pitch size policy consistently then it is unfair to the people who do adhere to the rules.
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| Date of Visit: September 2009 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Mrs E |
44 reviews from this member |
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Having never visited the Forest of Dean we were torn between Christchurch and Bracelands. We're glad we chose Bracelands on this occasion.
Bracelands is about 1/2 mile down the road from it's sister site, 'Christchurch'. You pay £10 for a barrier key and get this back at the end of your stay.
We had a good choice of pitches with EHU and the views were great, overlooking woodland and the forest. There were 3 washblocks (although I think there may have been a 4th near the rally field). They were clean but the water wasn't very hot and in one block the shower cubicles were smaller than the main block which meant we got stuck to the shower curtain. They were adequate but I have to say we're used to 4 and 5 star shower blocks!
Although it was mid Sept there is a Chip Van that comes round on a Friday evening although it was advertised as Fri, Sat and Sunday during the Summer months so we didn't expect it. We had therefore gone into Coleford on the Friday eve and got the biggest portion of haddock and chips I have ever seen!
There is plenty to do in both the immediate and surrounding area from walks direct into the forest itself and Symonds Yat which is about 3 miles away.
This site is well placed for exploring the Forest of Dean and has fab views - the only thing that lets it down is the washblocks but this won't prevent us from returning.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Motorhome |
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| Reviewer: Brendanr2004 |
662 reviews from this member |
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The Forest of Dean is a stunning place. The wildlife is cracking, with lots of Birds of Prey to be found. There are several visitor points throughout the forest - we visited most of them and they were excelent. The little hamlet of Symonds Yat has to be visited - a secluded village with a passenger foot ferry.
The site was excellent, although very large. Facilities were spotless and there was an excellent atmosphere.
A great place - would certainly go back.
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| Date of Visit: September 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Shots |
4 reviews from this member |
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A wonderful location in the heart of the forest. Great walks and great views.
We have stayed here before and returned with fond memories of our visit. The furthest field, which has the best views, was closed off (not sure why), but what the heck, it was a one night stay and just me and my son trying out our new three man tent.
We pitched the new tent and went for a walk to Symonds Yat (a fantastic walk) only to return to the scurge of the UK campsite. We had pitched close to an all male group who had clearly taken to the lager mid afternoon. By 7.00pm they were swearing and shouting, kicking a football against tents and cars, and being generally abusive. This went on until we nodded off to the sound of swearing and shouting. Why do campsites admit such groups??
The toilet and shower facilities are tired and a little dirty. Perhaps they are not cleaned as often as they would be in the height of the season.
The area is great but I cannot recommend this site based on this experience. Without the drunken group it may well have been a different experience.
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| Date of Visit: September 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: MandiNKel |
7 reviews from this member |
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We stayed here for 2 nights and it rained oh boy did it rain!
The toilet and shower block was clean, even in the down pour.
The surrounding area (forest) is astounding, its a beautiful area.
The only problem we had was the stony ground we must of taken twice as long pitching just due to trying to peg down. The ground was really stony and we bent quite a few pegs due to this.
All in all this is a lovely site.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Kmac9909 |
5 reviews from this member |
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Visited this site over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The site is large and is well located to visit the Forest of Dean, Symonds Yat and to go canoeing on the Wye.
The place was packed though with in many instances less than the fire regulated 6 meter gap between tents. The ground was mostly sloping.
The toilets especially the gents were awful. They stank and were very basic. For a site supporting over 500 units, they should have had more toilets and cleaned them more than once a day.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Fletcher5050 |
13 reviews from this member |
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Pre booked 4 nights on a premium pitch (includes EHU) a week before trip. Arrived and booked in with no problems had a number of pitches to chose from, views are quite good from the premium pitches as they are all on higher ground. Non EHU are on a lower level which may get water logged in wet weather. There are numerous water points around the site, there are 3 shower blocks lower 2 are a bit dated but plenty of hot water and clean, on the last morning there was no water to any of the blocks, wardens were working on the problem when we struck camp but they ended up flooding middle block cannot say what the final outcome was? Plenty of rubbish bins around the site but not much in the way of recycling.
Found the reception very helpful after a small accident. I asked about the nearest A & E (20 miles away) and they printed me off directions to nearest Small Injury Clinic 6 miles away which I found to be most useful.
On the River Wye there is Canoeing and boat trips, also near-by are plenty of tourist attractions. The area is great for walking and cycling along the forest tracks.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Oxtonvillage |
2 reviews from this member |
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We stayed here in early August having booked an EHU for a tent with two adults and two children. We arrived on Sunday and left on Saturday.
The scenery is fantastic and the walks in the woods are lovely (esp. Biblins Bridge)
There are very few places on the Bracelands site that are level and the EHU pitches are quite close together. The standard pitches had a bit more space and it seemed that you could pitch more or less were you liked - as long as you were 6m from the next unit.
The toilet blocks are quite old and the men's urinal constantly stank of urine; locks on some of the doors were missing and on the odd occasion toilet-roll was missing from the cubicles. There was, however, plenty of hot water in the showers and dish-wash rooms. There was some queueing in women's shower and dish-washing area on a couple of occasions during busy periods.
It was fairly quiet though the week apart from a couple of yobs riding bikes between the pitches - very close to our BBQ and Swing-Ball, and over the EHU line - despite being asked not to. When we asked the staff for help, the ranger just didn't want to know and was quite off hand - it took three phone calls before anyone would come over to the pitch. The site staff just shrugged their shoulders and said they couldn't do anything
On the plus side, we did see deer in the woods on a couple of occasions - which the kids loved. Monmouth and Ross are lovely and we walked from Bracelands to Monmouth, had a pub lunch and caught the bus back to the site entrance.
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Common Questions
Is Bracelands Campsite child friendly? YES, it accepts children View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Bracelands Campsite? There is a shop on site View all facilities
Is Bracelands Campsite dog friendly? YES View all facilities
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