Forestry and Land Scotland’s third ‘Stay the Night’ season is to close this year on Monday 31 October.

The widely acclaimed and well-received initiative allowed campervans and motorhomes to use 37 FLS carparks across Scotland for single overnight stays.

Established in 2020 as the country emergence from COVID-19 lockdown, Stay the Night aimed to help alleviate pressure on honey-pot tourism sites and on local communities and businesses.

Stuart Chalmers, FLS’ National Visitor Services Manager, said;

“Once again we’ve had great feedback from campervan and motorhome users and communities and partners remain positive.

“Having run this for three seasons now means we now have a much deeper understanding of how the trial has impacted on our car parks, on visitor numbers, on local communities and businesses, and on our resources. We will assess all of the information and feedback and make a decision over the next few months about how we go forward from here.

“We would like to thank everyone who has taken part in the initiative and who has taken the time to give us their views – or air their concerns.

“Everyone’s views will be taken into account as we consider our options and we hope to have made a decision early next year.”

The initiative  - part of FLS’ contribution to the Scottish Government Visitor Management Strategy - allowed self-contained motorhomes and campervans (with all facilities including toilet inside the vehicle) to overnight between the hours of 6pm and 10am, with no return visit for 48hrs.

The Stay the Night sites have been checked regularly by a team of skilled seasonal rangers who also  helped everyone have a good visit to our forests.

All FLS participating car parks will revert to no overnight parking permitted as from 1 Nov.

Notes to editors

1. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.

2. forestryandland.gov.scot | twitter.com/ForestryLS

3. Media enquiries to Paul Munro, Media Manager, Forestry and Land Scotland Media Office 07785 527590 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.