Untamed Trails book flagged

A social post pushed *Untamed Trails* as a hands-on guide to hiking and wild camping in England, but the subject it leans on sits inside a narrow and often misunderstood legal boundary. (amazon.co.uk) The book is listed as *Untamed Trails: The Essential Guide to Wild Camping and Hiking in England*, a paperback by Steve Barker published on October 14, 2025, with a Kindle edition also for sale. Its sales copy says it covers route planning, campsite choice, navigation, gear, permissions, access laws and “Leave No Trace” principles. (amazon.co.uk) That pitch lands in a country where wild camping is not a general right across England. Government guidance says visitors must follow local signs and rights of way, and the Countryside Code frames access around rules for where people can go and how they must behave outdoors. (gov.uk) The main legal exception is Dartmoor. On May 21, 2025, the United Kingdom Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a landowners’ appeal and held that section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 includes a right to camp on the Dartmoor Commons as part of “open-air recreation.” (supremecourt.uk) That ruling did not create a nationwide right to pitch a tent across England’s moors, forests or coast. The Supreme Court press summary says the case concerned Dartmoor specifically and turned on the wording of the 1985 Act that governs the Commons there. (supremecourt.uk) The book’s own listing tries to address that tension. Amazon’s description says readers will learn to “move legally and ethically,” understand permissions and access laws, and choose campsites that are “safe, discreet, and environmentally responsible.” (amazon.co.uk) Official countryside guidance sets the baseline for that conduct. The Countryside Code tells visitors to follow signs, keep to marked paths unless wider access is available, and take litter home under its “leave no trace” advice. (gov.uk, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) So the practical question for readers is not whether a guidebook exists, but where its advice can lawfully be used. In England, that answer still depends on landowner permission in most places, and on Dartmoor it depends on the statutory access right the Supreme Court confirmed in 2025. (supremecourt.uk, gov.uk)