If you are setting up or refining your site, one of the most practical decisions you will make is how to categorise your campsite pitch types. Get this right and guests book the correct pitch for their setup, your site runs smoothly, and you can charge fairly for what you offer. Get it wrong and you end up with a 24-foot motorhome on a soft grass pitch, a guest arguing over whether they booked with or without hookup, and a pricing structure that makes no sense to anyone. This guide walks through the main pitch types used on UK campsites, what distinguishes each one, and how to set things up in a way that works for both you and your guests.

Grass pitches

Grass pitches are the most common pitch type on UK campsites, and for good reason. They are inexpensive to create, easy to maintain with a ride-on mower, and they give a site the natural, open feel that many guests are looking for. They work well for tents, small caravans, and motorhomes throughout the drier months.

The main limitation of grass pitches is that they are weather dependent. A wet summer can leave pitches churned up and unusable, particularly near gateways or low-lying areas that collect water. If you have a stretch of grass that drains poorly, it is worth either avoiding it as a pitch location or laying ground reinforcement mesh beneath the surface to prevent rutting.

Grass pitches can include electric hookup or not. The surface type and the hookup connection are separate things. A pitch is just a pitch, physically speaking. Adding an EHU pedestal is a feature layered on top.

If you run a CL site with five pitches, the chances are all five are grass. That is perfectly fine. Guests who book CL sites often prefer the informal, rural feel of a proper field over a formal surface. Just be upfront about ground conditions in wet weather so guests with heavy vehicles know what to expect before they arrive.

Hardstanding pitches

A hardstanding pitch has a firm, all-weather surface. This might be concrete, compacted gravel, tarmac, or artificial grass laid over a solid base. The defining feature is that it does not soften or churn up in wet conditions, which makes it usable year-round.

Hardstanding pitches are popular with motorhomers, who tend to travel more in autumn and winter and need a firm surface that will not swallow a levelling ramp. They are also preferred by guests arriving with large twin-axle caravans, since extracting one of those from soft ground is no fun for anyone.

Installing hardstanding pitches costs more than leaving ground as grass, but you can recoup that investment over time by charging a modest premium and by keeping the pitches in use through wetter months when grass pitches are off limits. Maintenance is lower too. Hardstanding does not need mowing, does not get muddy, and is easy to clean between guests.

Many sites offer a mix: a handful of hardstanding pitches for motorhomes and heavier tourers, with the majority of the site remaining grass for tents and smaller units. This is a sensible approach for most parks. You can manage the different pitch types separately in your parks and pitches settings, so guests always know which surface they are booking and you always know which pitches are available at a glance.

Electric hookup pitches

Electric hookup (EHU) is not a pitch type in itself, but it is one of the most important features guests filter by when searching. A grass pitch can have EHU. So can a hardstanding pitch. Guests typically care more about whether hookup is available than what the surface is.

UK sites usually offer hookup at 16A, 10A, or occasionally 6A. Most modern caravans and motorhomes expect 16A, which is the standard across Europe. Offering 10A is perfectly fine but worth mentioning clearly, since guests running high-draw appliances may notice the difference.

The question of whether to include EHU in the pitch price or charge it separately comes up a lot. Including it simplifies things for guests and removes any argument over usage. Charging separately by the unit (via an electricity meter) is fairer if some guests barely use the hookup while others run an electric heater all night. For most small sites, including EHU in the pitch price and setting that price accordingly is the easier and more guest-friendly option.

Serviced pitches

Serviced pitches go a step further than EHU and include a fresh water connection and a waste water outlet directly on the pitch itself. Some also offer a TV aerial point or a dedicated waste pipe connection for chemical toilets. They are most common on larger holiday parks and increasingly sought after by motorhomers who value the convenience of filling their water tank and draining their grey water without moving the vehicle.

Installing serviced pitches requires running water pipes and drainage to each individual pitch, which is a significant upfront cost. The infrastructure alone can run into tens of thousands of pounds depending on site layout and how much groundwork is needed. It is not a decision to take lightly on a small site.

If you do invest in serviced pitches, they can command a strong price premium. Guests who travel frequently in larger motorhomes value the convenience highly and are willing to pay for it. A serviced pitch at a well-run site can easily be priced five to ten pounds per night above a standard hardstanding pitch, and guests rarely begrudge it.

Super pitches and premium options

Super pitches, sometimes called premium pitches, are a marketing category rather than a distinct technical surface type. The term is used loosely across the UK camping industry. On one site, a super pitch might mean a larger footprint. On another, it might mean a secluded location with an open view. On a third, it might mean all of the above plus EHU, water and waste connections thrown in.

What connects all premium pitch options is the idea of offering guests something above the standard experience in return for a higher nightly rate. If you have a few pitches that are naturally larger, more private, or more scenic than the rest of your site, there is no reason not to designate them as premium and price them accordingly. Guests understand the concept and are generally happy to pay more for the better spot.

Be specific about what makes a pitch premium when you describe it online. Vague labels like "super pitch" are less convincing than "extra large hardstanding pitch with 16A hookup, water connection and an uninterrupted view across the valley." Specifics build trust and manage expectations in one go.

Tent-only pitches and vehicle-free areas

Some campsites separate their tent pitches from their touring pitches. This makes real sense on larger sites where a heavy motorhome arriving late at night could disturb a field of tents. It also lets you designate softer, more secluded areas for tent campers without worrying about vehicle access or ground damage.

If you have an area that is only accessible on foot, or that you want to keep vehicle-free, designating it as tent-only is worth doing clearly. Spell this out in your pitch descriptions and booking flow so guests with caravans or motorhomes do not select those pitches and arrive expecting to drive in.

Seasonal pitches

Seasonal pitches are a different category altogether. A seasonal pitch is one that a guest rents for the whole season rather than on a nightly basis. They arrive in spring, leave their caravan or motorhome in place, and return when they want to throughout the summer without rebooking each time.

Seasonal pitches are popular on sites that can accommodate them, as they provide a reliable income stream and reduce the administrative overhead of frequent changeovers. They do reduce your nightly touring pitch availability, so most sites run a proportion of seasonal pitches alongside their standard touring offer rather than converting the whole site.

If you manage seasonal pitches alongside touring pitches, keeping them clearly separated in your booking system makes the administration much simpler. Seasonal guests get their pitch locked to their name for the duration, while touring pitches remain available to book night by night.

How to set up pitch types so guests book the right one

Once you have decided on your pitch categories, the next step is making sure guests can see and select the right type when they book. This sounds obvious, but a surprisingly large number of sites still have a single booking option labelled something like "pitch" with no detail at all. Guests then ring up to ask whether it has hookup, whether it is hardstanding, and how big it is.

A good setup covers the following for each pitch type:

Put this information on your website, in your booking confirmation message, and on your listing pages. Guests who know exactly what they have booked before they arrive are easier to welcome and far less likely to be disappointed.

A simple way to think about it

Most UK campsite owners do not need a complicated pitch taxonomy. The basics cover the majority of situations:

Keep it simple enough that a guest can understand what they are booking in thirty seconds, and keep it specific enough that they arrive to find exactly what they expected. That combination is what turns a first-time visitor into a returning guest.

If you are managing your pitch types across a spreadsheet or paper diary, it quickly gets messy. Try CampSuite free and see how straightforward it is to set up each pitch category, take online bookings, and keep your site organised from one simple dashboard.