Forfar Lochside Club Campsite
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A well managed site in a great location, However..... I have never stayed at a site where so many people meet up to socialise. There were several groups on adjoining pitches who spent all evening in their awnings drinking and talking loudly. Most were quiet after 11pm but the one next to my pitch continued until well after midnight. I spoke to the management and, to their credit, they dealt with it straight away. These people were all ignoring social distancing and lockdown rules.
One night, after midnight, a group of noisy youths walked right through the site! I accept that this would be difficult to manage as the site is in a busy residential town although on the edge of a Country Park. We have a dog and this site is perfect for them as there are numerous walking possibilities. Unfortunately this site suffers from the same problem as most other club sites in that some irresponsible people will not take their dogs off-site but let them foul on the grass between pitches. In this respect I think the management could do more to encourage site users to be more responsible.
Wonderful site!
We often stop over here on our annual Scottish tour. It is a wonderful site, clean and tidy and well kept. Lovely dog walk round the loch. All shopping you could wish for nearby, supermarkets and local butchers bakers etc. There was no noise from park when we stayed. Lovely helpful wardens.
Overnight Stay
We stayed one night, it was a quick late booking as the Stonehaven warden reported the site was flooding and had been evacuated, our booking at Stonehaven was put back by one night. We hadn't been to the Forfar site before but it was on the way from Killin to Stonehaven, therefore convenient and a pitch available. I must admit I was a little concerned by a review that said someone had been throwing rocks on top of the vans and recommended an internal pitch, (which we chose, just in case). There were also a few reviews complaining of noise. The site is lovely, very clean and beautifully maintained, the wardens are very nice. Its true there is a play area adjacent and due to the nice weather there were a number of young people about in the evening, however, all were well behaved and there was no excessive noise, bearing in mind the site is in a town. The walk around Forfar Loch is about 2.5 miles, flat and we enjoyed it. We didn't actually go out but Pubs/Takeaways/Groceries etc. are within easy walking distance. We would stay again.
Dave520
Reviewed on 03/09/2020 20:48
Good Site, Shame About The Neighbours!
Prior to travelling down to Forfar for our last 3 night stay of our August tour of Scotland, as usual I checked the website for directions and other information for our stay. In doing so, I spotted a review that raised concerns about the proximity to some pitches to a public play ground apparently frequented at night by local youths. There were other reviews raising the same issues so I planned to select a pitch away from the area of concern which we partly managed to do as we arrived early afternoon, although we were still closer than we would have liked.
The site is well laid out with good sized pitches and decent facilities which were open with covid measures in place.Only two allowed in the gents facilities at a time and the wrist band access control system worked well. Given the size of the facilities and my experience of the Stonehaven site, I did wonder whether the limit could have been increased to three people at a time, but I appreciate the site will have carried out it's risk assessment. The facilities were clean and worked well.
The site is well placed with a short walk taking you into Forfar town and Both Lidl and Aldi are very near the site which was really convenient. The Loch is accessible through a locked gate and is a lovely walk or run being about 2.5 miles round. There are a number of paths to choose and there is seating areas and some exercise zones as well. For the younger members of the family the fore mentioned play ground is just through the gate and has a good selection of "rides". There is also a skate park nearby.
In the early evening teenagers started to congregate at the playground and each night we were there (Thursday to Saturday) the numbers were quite large and they stayed late. The usual shouting and swearing and music playing disturbed the peace and I would not have wanted to be on any of the pitches backing onto the fence with the play ground just beyond. Apart from the noise I was not aware of any incidents and the teenagers largely kept themselves to themselves. It is however a bit intimidating and I took our dog off site via the main entrance for her last walk of the day. Difficult one for the site to do anything about but discussing hedging and tree planting on the outside of the exposed section of fencing with the council would help. Alternatively knock down the disused leisure centre next to the playground and move the playground further back (one for the future perhaps)!
It does need resolving because this is a good site and location but I'm not sure I would go back because you don't want the risk of this type of hassle on holiday.
Noisy in the evenings and weekends
Whilst the site is lovely it is a real shame that some of the pitches are near the adventure playground which is alongside part of the site. In the evenings, particularly Fridays and Saturdays, this area was taken over by noisy yobs who shouted and screamed well past midnight. Our caravan was on one of the service pitches one row away from the fencing but within easy reach if one of them took it into their heads to chuck stuff over. I had looked at this site a couple of years ago but decided not to visit owing to previous comments about the proximity of this public area and balls being thrown at the vans from the football pitch which adjoins another part of the site. However, we wanted to visit the area so thought we would give it a go but after this experience I don't thing we would return. It is such a shame that the police don't patrol the area more frequently as the visitors to this site must bring revenue to the local area. I realise The Caravan Club can't do anything about it and it is sad that all the hard work on the part of the staff is undermined by mindless morons.
Wayward3
Reviewed on 28/08/2020 17:58
Not good .Please read...
The site itself is well run BUT the Loch and the play area are public areas. We didn't realise that they have ongoing problems with local teenagers using these areas and throwing things periodically at the caravans adjacent to the perimeter fence and using colourful language. On our first night a cricket ball was thrown at our van at 11pm at night which caused a dent to our van. We spoke to regular users and they said they knew this was an ongoing problem and they only used the site if they could be in the middle of the site or could move to such a pitch the next day. The site have ongoing talks with the police about these problems; the reception staff said that they haven't had any problems "this year";but as the site was closed because of Covid we think this speaks volumes. We have never written a review before but feel people should be aware this is a problem that is not likely to go away. We spend a lot of money on our outfits and it is a shame that our we and our outfit should be subject to such an experience - I was on my own when the cricket ball was thrown and was very upset. We asked about CCTV and we were told it wasn't possible. We weren't told about these issues when we selected a pitch and we feel we were not fully informed of the situation. It gives us absolutely no pleasure to write such a review.
Nice site in the wrong place
We have been to this site twice before but only for weekends. We decided to stay for 9 nights as my husband could commute. We just wanted to get away since lock down and as this was only 20 miles away we thought great. It is a lovely small site with good sized and well maintained pitches. The facilities in the past have been excellent but due to recent restrictions we decided to use our own so haven't put a rating this time. The two things that will stop us going for any longer than a weekend in the future is the water is awful, I know some probably dont notice but we have such good water at home it was undrinkable due to the level of fluoride in it. My husband filled bottles up at work every day for tea, as coffee was acceptable. The second being the noise from the surrounding area. These two points were not the sites fault as it is out of their jurisdiction. You are by a beautiful loch but also a sports field. If you dont mind football matches and people screaming in the evening on the park, plus cars revved up and driven at high speed then none of it will be an issue for you. It is a shame because if you moved the site it would be lovely.
Amazing
Just back from another visit to this top site as it opened for season, Kris and Phil are top people and nothing to much trouble, site spotless and shower block amazing clean, music in toilets / shower blocks are great ! Keep up the great service we love it, will be back soon.
Wills,Pauline & Blue
Top site
Just returned from another visit to this amazing clean and well run site. Phil and Kris are lovely hosts where nothing is to much trouble to them, they work hard and keep the site very clean, the site has all you could ask for, we have booked with them opening next March, well worth a visit.
First Visit to Forfar
We visited this site as part of a short circular tour of parts of Scotland. The choice of this site was almost by a pin in the map as it suited our tour plans. What a find! We thought this a lovely campsite. In the main it has a circular layout with the really excellent facility block which houses both Reception and toilets. Do people really find music in a toilet block that annoying? Can't say I particularly noticed it, not in there long enough! Given the layout of the site there is a degree of people taking short cuts but not really sure how you stop that. The motorhome service point is at the site entrance and has several open grills for easy disposal of waste water. The site is next to a Country Park which has a good playground for children and plenty of "kick about" space. There is a handy Aldi supermarket a few minutes walk from the site. The Town of Forfar is an easy walk and has most services you will need. Further afield you can visit Dundee by bus should you not have your own transport.