MOD firing ranges: where to check before you walk
Some of the finest walking country in Britain doubles as a live-firing range: northern Dartmoor, the hills behind Otterburn, Mickle Fell, Mynydd Epynt, two stretches of celebrated coast path and the Salisbury Plain byways. When a range is firing, access closes — and the only question that matters is whether it is firing today. The MOD publishes the answer for every range. This page tells you where to find it.
OpenFell deliberately does not republish firing schedules — a stale copy of a firing notice is worse than none. Every link below goes straight to the MOD's own notice on GOV.UK, updated by the ranges themselves. Check it on the day you travel, and whatever it says, obey the signals on the ground.
How the warning system works
The convention is the same across the Defence Training Estate: red flags by day and red lamps by night mean live firing is taking place, and you must not enter. On Dartmoor and at Otterburn the range boundaries are marked on the ground by red and white poles. The Otterburn notice puts the rule plainly: when warning signals are displayed, regardless of the published timings, do not cross the range boundary. The flags always win — a notice that shows no firing does not override a flying flag.
Two more rules apply everywhere. Never touch military debris — the MOD's blunt wording is that it may be dangerous; note the location and report it to the range instead. And where a range publishes an information line, phone it on the morning: schedules change at shorter notice than the printed notice can.
The seven ranges walkers meet most
| Range | Walking country affected | Firing times | Information line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmoor Training AreaEngland | Northern Dartmoor — the Okehampton, Merrivale and Willsworthy ranges | GOV.UK notice · Rolling six-week schedule | 0800 458 4868 (free) or 01837 657210 |
| Otterburn Training AreaEngland | Northumberland National Park, between Redesdale and the Cheviot ridge | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice | Range Control 01830 520569 |
| Warcop Training AreaEngland | North Pennines above the Eden valley, including Mickle Fell | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice; access days on a timetable | Access Information Service 0800 783 518 |
| Sennybridge Training AreaWales | Mynydd Epynt, mid-Wales | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice | Range Control 01874 635599 or 07467 015206 |
| Castlemartin RangeWales | Pembrokeshire coast — sections of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice, including road closures | 01646 662367 (from 8.15am) |
| Salisbury Plain Training AreaEngland | Wiltshire downland and its byway network; Imber is a special case | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice | Automated information 01980 674763 |
| Lulworth RangesEngland | Dorset coast — the range walks around Lulworth and Tyneham | GOV.UK notice · Monthly notice, including road closures | 01929 404714 |
Phone numbers are as published on the MOD's regional public-access pages on GOV.UK (linked from each section below) — if a number fails, the GOV.UK page is the place to look for its replacement.
Dartmoor Training Area
Three live-firing ranges — Okehampton, Merrivale and Willsworthy — sit on northern Dartmoor, on common land that walkers otherwise have every right to cross. The MOD publishes a rolling six-week firing schedule for all three ranges, updated through the period. Red flags by day and red lamps by night mean live firing inside the boundary poles; when no firing is scheduled and no flags fly, the ranges are ordinary open access land.
Firing enquiries: 0800 458 4868 (free) or 01837 657210, as listed on GOV.UK's South West public-access page.
Otterburn Training Area
The Otterburn Training Area occupies the hill country of Northumberland National Park between Redesdale and the Cheviot ridge; the monthly firing notice covers the Otterburn and Redesdale ranges and the Bellshiel demolition range. The access picture splits at the River Coquet: GOV.UK's North of England access page states that the MOD land north of the Coquet — the Cheviot side — is open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act with no firing restrictions, while the training area south of the river operates under military byelaws, where rights of way are subject to live firing.
Otterburn Range Control: 01830 520569.
Warcop Training Area
Warcop, on the Cumbrian flank of the North Pennines, is the range where access runs on a timetable rather than a flag. Per GOV.UK's access guidance, rights of way in the training area are open every Sunday afternoon from 1pm, on 12 scheduled public access weekends a year, and on 15 short-notice access days announced through the access information line. Mickle Fell additionally requires a permit, limited to those access days — the GOV.UK page explains how to apply. The monthly firing notice shows when the range is active.
WTA Access Information Service: 0800 783 518.
Sennybridge Training Area (Mynydd Epynt)
Sennybridge Training Area covers Mynydd Epynt, the high moorland block between the Bannau Brycheiniog and the Cambrian Mountains. Its saving grace for walkers is the Epynt Way, a permissive route around the area: GOV.UK's Wales access page states the MOD grants permission for the Epynt Way and its specified access paths even while the danger area is active — but other rights of way leading into the danger area close during training. The monthly firing notice shows when that is.
Sennybridge Range Control: 01874 635599 or 07467 015206.
Castlemartin Range
Castlemartin takes in a stretch of the Pembrokeshire coast inside the national park, including sections of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path popular with walkers and climbers. When the range is live the coastal sections close; per GOV.UK's Wales access page, the Castlemartin Range Trail operates at all times as the alternative route, and car parks in Range East serve the public rights-of-way network. Range West is different: entry requires attending a safety briefing first. The monthly firing notice includes the road closures.
Daily updates from 8.15am: 01646 662367; the firing-notice page also lists 07971 708587 for changes to firing times and road closures.
Salisbury Plain Training Area
Salisbury Plain is not upland, but it is a vast open landscape crossed by a network of byways that walkers and riders use. The monthly firing notice and the flags govern them: do not use the byways when red flags fly and the "live firing" or "no public entry" signs are displayed. One part of the Plain follows a stricter rule entirely — per GOV.UK, the Imber Range is out of bounds whether the flags are flying or not; Imber village and its church open to visitors only around Easter, the August bank holiday and Christmas.
Automated firing information: 01980 674763 · SPTA headquarters: 01980 620819.
Lulworth Ranges
The Lulworth Ranges cover a celebrated piece of the Dorset coast, and the monthly firing notice covers the coastal and inland paths around Lulworth and Tyneham together with the road closures — including Grange Hill, the road between Creech and Steeple, which closes when the ranges are active. In non-firing periods the range walks open, including the coast path through the ranges and the deserted village of Tyneham.
Lulworth enquiries: 01929 404714.
Every other range
These seven are the ranges that most affect hill and coastal walking, but they are not the full list: the MOD's firing-notice collection on GOV.UK carries notices for every range that publishes one — from a single Scotland-wide page to Catterick, Holcombe Moor and a dozen smaller ranges. If your route crosses ground marked "Danger Area" on an OS map, that collection is where to look.
Range details, access arrangements and phone numbers on this page are taken from the Ministry of Defence's firing notices and public-access guidance on GOV.UK, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and were last checked in August 2026. Arrangements and numbers can change after our review date — the GOV.UK pages are authoritative, and the flags on the ground override everything.