An off grid cabin is a different holiday from a cottage, and dogs tend to understand that before their owners do. There is no mains power, no wifi and no neighbour's television, just a wood burner, a composting loo, solar or wind for the lights, and a walk in from the car across a field. All seventeen of the cabins here belong to Shacks, who put small timber cabins on working farms and hillsides in North Wales, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Sussex, and every one of them takes dogs.
What changes from cabin to cabin is the one thing a dog owner books on. Five are fully fenced. The rest sit in open or shared fields, several with sheep or cattle as neighbours, and at those the lead stays on outside. Each entry below says which, in Shacks' own terms. The pet fee is the same everywhere: one flat charge per booking, however many dogs you bring, with a welcome pack of bowl, towel, bags and treats waiting inside.
Jump to an area: Cheshire · Conwy · Denbighshire · Flintshire · Gwynedd · Staffordshire · Sussex
Adhara, Cheshire
A clearing in a ring of trees near Tarporley, with the cabin in the middle of it and an outdoor bath on the deck. The clearing is part of an enclosed field, which gives a calm dog a bit of room, though the cabin itself has no fence around it and cows graze the fields beyond the trees.
So the lead goes on for the walk in and whenever the herd is close. The Nags Head at Haughton is a twenty minute walk down the lanes, and Delamere Forest and the Sandstone Trail are both short drives, with Bickerton Hill and Raw Head the nearest ridge walk we list.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Enclosed field, cabin not fenced
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Bickerton Hill, Maiden Castle and Raw Head, 5.8 miles
- Best for: A couple who want trees on every side and a pub within walking distance
Polaris, Cheshire
The hardest Cheshire cabin to reach and the best placed. A farm track climbs about 300m from the car to a cabin backed against a hedge, with a deck and a sunken bath facing west over the Cheshire plain.
A wire fence runs around it, but Shacks say plainly that a dog can get out of it, so treat it as a marker rather than a pen. The land is cropped rather than grazed. From October to January the farm is shot for pheasant on Saturday mornings, briefly, which is worth planning a walk around if yours dislikes bangs. Delamere Forest is the big level walk nearby.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Wire fence a dog can get through
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Delamere Forest Circular Walk, 3.0 miles
- Best for: Sunsets, and a dog that is happy on a long line
Sirius, Cheshire
The largest Shacks cabin, with a bunk over the double so it sleeps four, which makes it the one for a family with a dog. It stands against trees at the end of a farm track on the same land as Polaris, with a stream going past and the Sandstone Trail a few steps away.
There is no fence and the field is open at the gate, so plan on a lead or a long line. The fields are arable, not grazed, which helps. The same October to January Saturday shoot applies here, and wellies are left in the log store for a track that gets muddy. The fire pit outside is where most evenings end, but on shoot Saturdays plan the morning elsewhere.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: No
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Delamere Forest Circular Walk, 3.0 miles
- Best for: A family and a dog sharing one room and a lot of ridge walking
Ascella, Conwy
High above Llanrwst on a working farm, facing straight across the Conwy valley at the mountains of Eryri. It is reached on foot, about 100m over a field, and nobody else is in view once you arrive.
Livestock are rotated through the farm and kept out of the ground right around the cabin, but you may walk through them on the way in. The cabin is fenced on one side only, with the bank side open, so a dog on the deck is better on a line. Llyn Geirionydd is a lovely lakeside circuit close by, and Gwydir Forest climbs out of Betws-y-Coed.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: One side only
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Llyn Geirionydd Circular, 2.5 miles
- Best for: Mountain views and complete privacy
Castor, Conwy
Fully fenced, in a private field with woodland round it above Abergele, and the coast is just below. The walk in is about 350m through two fields and two gates.
Sheep sometimes graze the field in front, so the lead goes on coming and going, but once you are through the gate the dog can be let off inside the fence. Deer use the wood edge at dawn and dusk. Pensarn Beach runs for miles below and takes dogs outside a short summer section, which makes this the only cabin here with a dog beach inside two miles.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Yes, fully enclosed
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Bodelwyddan Country Park, 2.9 miles
- Best for: A beach in the morning and a fenced cabin in the afternoon
Cyra, Denbighshire
A cabin with one very large window, pointed straight down the Dee Valley from its own field of old oaks above Llangollen. There is no outdoor bath, and the view does that job instead.
The field is enclosed but the cabin is not fenced within it, and sheep are often in there with you, so the dog stays on a lead outside. It is about 100m from the car. Our nearest listed walk, a towpath route out to Valle Crucis Abbey, starts under a mile away and stays flat, which suits a dog that has spent the morning watching sheep through glass.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Enclosed field, cabin not fenced
- Outdoor bath: No
- Nearest walk: Llangollen Canal and Valle Crucis Abbey Walk, 0.9 miles
- Best for: People who travel for the view and a dog steady around sheep
Hoku, Denbighshire
Small and fenced all the way round, on a hillside farm above the Dee Valley, with an outdoor bath facing the view. It is the sister cabin to Vega on the same farm.
Sheep are sometimes about, so keep the lead on between the car and the gate, then let it off inside. A stone track leads up; you can walk 100m from the bottom or, in drier months, drive near the top. The climb to Castell Dinas Bran is the walk to do from here, though it is short and steep, with the whole valley below the castle.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Yes, fully enclosed
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Castell Dinas Bran Circular from Llangollen, 1.3 miles
- Best for: One dog, two people and nothing to guard
Hydra, Denbighshire
Up to twenty sheep share Hydra's field, which is the first thing to know and, for the right dog, not a problem at all. The cabin looks out over the Dee Valley with an outdoor bath angled at the hills and nothing much for neighbours but the flock.
The field is enclosed, but the cabin is not fenced off inside it, so this one only suits a dog that is calm around livestock and content on a lead whenever it is outdoors. You park by the farm buildings and walk down about 100m. Horseshoe Falls and the Llangollen Canal is the easy walk nearby.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Enclosed field shared with sheep, cabin not fenced
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Horseshoe Falls and the Llangollen Canal, 1.4 miles
- Best for: A dog with impeccable manners around a flock
Vega, Denbighshire
Fenced all round, high on the side of the Dee Valley, with one of the widest views Shacks have and a bed placed to watch the sun go down behind Castell Dinas Bran. There is no outdoor bath here.
Sheep graze nearby at times, so the lead stays on until the gate is shut. You can usually drive up the stone track and walk the last 50m, though parking at the bottom and walking up is kinder to the car when the track is soft. The canal towpath to Horseshoe Falls and on to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the long flat day out.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Yes, fully enclosed
- Outdoor bath: No
- Nearest walk: Horseshoe Falls and the Llangollen Canal, 1.4 miles
- Best for: A fenced cabin with the biggest view in the valley
Altair, Flintshire
A double plus bunks for two children, in its own field under the Clwydian Range outside Holywell. It is the family cabin of the Welsh set, and nothing grazes the field, which is rare on these farms.
The catch is that the field is open at the entrance, so it is not a secure enclosure; a long line pegged near the cabin keeps a dog out with the children without anyone watching the gap. Halkyn Mountain Common is under two miles off for open ground, and Gronant Beach is the nearest dog beach, nine miles away past Talacre.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: No, open at the entrance
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Halkyn Mountain Common, 1.7 miles
- Best for: A family trip with small children and a dog, and no livestock in the field
Alula, Gwynedd
On a hillside high above Bala, with a deck, a sunken bath looking down the valley and heather paths leaving from the door. Some mornings the valley fills with cloud below you and the cabin sits above it.
This is a working hill farm with livestock often in the surrounding fields, and Shacks do not describe any fencing, so treat the ground around the cabin as open hill: lead on near the animals, off only where there are none. The walk up from the car is about 150m and steep. Llyn Tegid has an easy shoreline walk for an older dog.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Not stated
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) Shoreline Walk, 1.6 miles
- Best for: Hill dogs and evenings on the deck
Maia, Gwynedd
Alula's neighbour on the same hill farm above Bala, and the one for walkers: the paths climb from the door straight up into heather and stone, and the Arenig and Aran ranges are close for a bigger day. The sunken bath sits at the very edge of the deck.
The arrangements match Alula's, which means sheep and cattle often in the fields and no fencing described, so the lead goes on whenever livestock are in sight, and only comes off on empty hillside. Bala is a short drive down, with cafes used to muddy dogs and the shoreline walk around Llyn Tegid, the largest natural lake in Wales.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Not stated
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) Shoreline Walk, 1.6 miles
- Best for: A hill before breakfast every morning
Mira, Gwynedd
A cabin beside a waterfall where a Bala farm runs down to the river, and the most dramatic setting of the seventeen. Inside, the bed is on a mezzanine up a ladder, so the dog's bed goes downstairs by the stove.
The way in crosses a working grazing field, about 200m, that may hold sheep or cows, and dogs stay on the lead there and whenever livestock are near. No fencing is described at the cabin, though, and with a river right outside, a steady, sure footed dog is the right companion. Llyn Tegid is a short drive for a calmer shoreline.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Not stated
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) Shoreline Walk, 1.6 miles
- Best for: The sound of a waterfall and a calm dog
Alcor, Staffordshire
Fenced all the way round, where a sloping field meets Swynnerton Old Park, with the Hanchurch Hills paths running straight past the gate into the woods. Two pubs that take dogs, the Fitzherbert Arms and the Mainwaring Arms, are within walking distance.
It is fenced but not remote in the way most of these are: a public footpath passes about 5m from the gate, so walkers and their dogs go by. Cows sometimes use the field in front, and Shacks send a route in that avoids them. For a bigger outing, the Trentham Estate woodland and lake circuit is a short drive.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Yes, fully enclosed
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Trentham Estate Woodland and Lake Circuit, 3.3 miles
- Best for: A walk from the gate and a pub dinner on foot
Mizar, Staffordshire
Alcor's sister on the same estate, set at the edge of ancient woodland and fully fenced, with a sunken bath on a private deck under the trees. It is the more secluded of the two, about 300m in through the wood from the car.
Cows sometimes graze the field in front, but the path in is laid to avoid it, so the arrival does not involve livestock. Once inside the fence the door can stay open. The same parkland walks and the same two pubs are close, and the Trentham circuit is the lake walk for a change of scene.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: Yes, fully enclosed
- Outdoor bath: Yes
- Nearest walk: Trentham Estate Woodland and Lake Circuit, 3.3 miles
- Best for: The most relaxed dog stay in this guide
Blackthorn, Sussex
A green cabin in long grass under a spreading oak at Laughton, a few miles out of Lewes, and the most sociable of the set: the Roebuck Inn is five minutes' walk and welcomes dogs. Inside it is a king size bed, a stove and a small kitchen.
There is no fence, and free range chickens and ducks wander nearby, so Shacks ask for leads on the way in and out. It sits at the edge of the village, near enough to hear the school on a weekday, so it is off grid rather than remote. Firle Beacon is the nearest big Downs walk, and Cuckmere Haven the nearest beach.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: No
- Outdoor bath: No
- Nearest walk: Firle Beacon, 5.0 miles
- Best for: A Sussex weekend with a village pub on foot
Hawthorn, Sussex
Blackthorn's neighbour on the same site at Laughton, among hedgerows and old trees, where hares come through the long grass at dusk and a tawny owl calls at night. A dog who sees the hares will remember them all week.
The terms match Blackthorn's: no fence, poultry about, leads on to and from the cabin. It only suits a dog that walks nicely on a lead and treats wildlife as something to watch. The South Downs Way is a short drive for open chalk walking, and the Seven Sisters stand at the coast beyond, where dogs are best kept well back from the edge.
- Sleeps: 2
- Dogs welcome: Yes, no stated limit
- Fenced: No
- Outdoor bath: No
- Nearest walk: Firle Beacon, 5.0 miles
- Best for: Wildlife at the door and the Downs a short drive away
Map of Dog Friendly Off Grid Cabins in the UK
Ten of the seventeen are in North Wales, clustered around Llangollen, Bala and the Conwy valley, with the rest in Cheshire, Staffordshire and East Sussex. The Wildpack Map shows them alongside every walk and beach we list nearby, and its Setting filter picks out off grid and remote stays on their own.
13 stays on this pageMap these stays, and thousands more
The Wildpack Map plots every dog friendly walk, beach, stay and attraction we have listed across the UK. Open it to see what else is within reach in the UK, filter by what your dog needs, and get directions to the car park.
What's Nearby?
For the walking around the cabins, or a different kind of dog friendly stay:
- Dog friendly farm stays in the UK: Feather Down's canvas hideaways, also without electricity, on thirteen working farms.
- Dog friendly walks in North Wales: The coast, woodland and mountain walking around ten of these cabins.
- Dog friendly walks in Cheshire: The Sandstone Trail, Delamere and the ridges near Tarporley.
- Dog friendly walks in Staffordshire: More woodland and parkland within reach of Alcor and Mizar.
- Dog friendly walks in Sussex: The Downs and the chalk coast near Laughton.
- Dog friendly hot tub cottages in Denbighshire: For a Dee Valley stay with a front door and an enclosed garden.
Every cabin also sits in our wider stays listings, for example Denbighshire and Gwynedd, if you want to compare them with cottages nearby.
Final Thoughts
These cabins suit a dog that is happy to be close by all day and asleep by the stove all evening. Quiet is the whole point, which also makes them a good bet for a dog that finds busy places or loud nights hard: there is nobody next door and nothing on the road.
The fencing is what to decide on. If your dog needs to be let off at the door, book one of the five fully fenced cabins (Castor, Hoku, Vega, Alcor or Mizar) and the rest of the week takes care of itself. If yours is steady on a lead and around livestock, all seventeen are open to you, and some of the best views in the collection come with an open field. Book through Shacks and add the pet option at checkout.
Links to Shacks in this guide are affiliate links: if you book through one, Wildpack may be paid a commission, and the price you pay stays the same. It has no bearing on which cabins are listed or how we describe them.