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M3, St Catherine’s Hill, Hampshire: OEX Phoxx 1v2 Tent Motorway Setup
Early March 2026
Here is the YouTube link to the kit video of everything I took with me, including a quick look at my OEX Phoxx 1v2 setup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdJt-Juu2M&list=PLmF7ZF6pHq7uWrTyxTELyE-QFYW1gxTIS
From time to time, I’ve driven past this location and thought that one day I’d love to camp up there and look down at the motorway. Well, tonight was that night.
From looking at Google Maps, there seemed to be plenty of areas to camp along the motorway and around St Catherine’s Hill, but you won’t know until you get there.
I parked not far from the hill in a residential area and walked in. There are car parks at the base of the hill, but I wasn’t going to leave my car unattended overnight in one of those. I climbed to the top of the hill, where there were a few visitors, then headed down the other side into the valley. Turning left, I made my way to a bridge over the motorway to check out the other side.
On the far side was a piece of public land bordered by farmland, with bridleway access. There was also a car parked right at the end of the bridge. Access towards the motorway itself was limited by a fence. I headed back across to the valley between St Catherine’s Hill and the motorway.
There are many paths on and around the valley and hillsides. There are some flatter areas on the hillside, but the ground isn’t level with lots of lumps and bumps. It was getting very dark when I settled on a gully just off the main path that runs perpendicular to the motorway, right next to the fence. The motorway was visible through it, and it was as close as I could get without crossing any safety barriers.
I brought my Phoxx 1 v2 which just fitted in the gully. It has a low profile, and only a bit of the top was just visible from the path, but in the dark, it should be fine.
The night was noisy, as expected, but I didn’t see or hear anyone. I packed up around 5 a.m and headed on to the path to brew a coffee. Then I spotted a head torch from a runner coming along the path and was glad I’d already packed up.
Google maps:51°02’42.6″N 1°18’15.9″W
GPS: SU 48857 27544
What3words: angry.irritated.crunch
Getting there:
I parked on Lansdowne Avenue and walked to the hill, which is around 0.5 miles (0.8 km). I entered the hill via the Cadence Clubhouse car park.
I found the area I chose in Winchester a little tricky for parking. There’s a mix of permit only areas and some free on-street parking. The on-street parking comes with restrictions of 2–4 hour, but no restrictions after 18:00.
I arrived around 16:00, so I was able to use the two free hours then onto the free overnight parking.
Heads up:
Lots of paths in, on and around St Catherine’s Hill, as well as the neighbouring valleys and green areas. Most are exposed, but when I visited, the weather was grey and drizzling, so there weren’t too many people. I did a bit of research on the paths and byways beforehand, but didn’t have the time to explore the whole area- plus my goal was to pitch up close to the motorway.
For the full wild camping write-up, including photos and route details from St Catherine’s Hill, you can read the main blog post here: M3, St Catherine’s Hill, Hampshire – OEX Phoxx 1V2 Motorway Camp.
#motorway #phoxx1v2 #tentcamping #wildcamp #stcatherineshill #hillfort #leavenotrace m3 #hampshire
