Our favourite hidden-gem free campsites
Some of the best campsites in Australia don’t have a pool or a powered ensuite site.
Sometimes all you need is a river, a patch of grass, a camp chair and the smug satisfaction of knowing the view in front of you cost absolutely nothing.
We’ve gone looking beyond the obvious spots to find some of our favourite free camps around Australia. These are the places worth dropping a pin on the map for later. Just don’t tell too many people.
New South Wales: Mount Boss State Forest
If your idea of a good free camp involves a swimming hole, plenty of bush and very little phone-checking, Mount Boss State Forest deserves a pin on the map.
A short drive from Wauchope on the NSW Mid North Coast, the forest’s Cobrabald recreation area is home to Wild Bull Camping Area, where you’ll find barbecue facilities, a picnic shelter and a deep waterhole that’s perfect for cooling off on a warm day.
There are RV, camper trailer and campervan sites, plus toilets, but otherwise this is back-to-basics bush camping, exactly how we like our hidden gems.
And the best bit? Like camping throughout NSW State Forests, it’s completely free and there’s no booking required. Just check current forest closures and fire restrictions before you head in, then find yourself a spot and settle in.
Swimming hole, bush camping and another night that hasn’t touched the road-trip budget? That’s a pretty good deal.
Queensland: Babinda Boulders Campground
Free camping in tropical rainforest sounds suspiciously like someone forgot to put a price on it.
Around six kilometres outside the little North Queensland town of Babinda, this campground puts you among lush rainforest at the foothills of the Bellenden Ker Range.
The big attraction is just beyond camp: Babinda Creek tumbling between enormous granite boulders and forming beautiful clear swimming holes along the way.
There are toilets, barbecues, picnic facilities and walking tracks, and campers can currently stay for up to 72 hours. There’s no booking system here either: campsites are free and first-come, first-served, with the campground managed by Cairns Regional Council.
That’s three mornings of waking up in the rainforest for precisely $0. We’ll take it.
Victoria: Warburtons Bridge Camping Area
Riverfront camping, Goldfields history and spring wildflowers: Warburtons Bridge is making a pretty strong case for keeping Victoria’s big-name destinations to the tourists.
Tucked into Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park, the campground sits on a scenic bend of the Loddon River and offers relaxed, unpowered bush camping.
Facilities are simple (picnic tables, fireplaces and a toilet), but that’s really the point.
Explore the old mining landscape around Devils Gully, look out for wildlife, launch a canoe when river conditions allow or undertake the very important camping activity of sitting beside the RV doing absolutely nothing.
There are currently no camping fee and no booking required.
South Australia: Cockatoo Lake Recreation Reserve
If you’re touring South Australia’s Limestone Coast and don’t mind swapping the coast for a quiet little lake, here’s one to save. About 30 kilometres north of Naracoorte, Cockatoo Lake Recreation Reserve has large, flat grassy areas suitable for RVs, campers and tents, and it’s free.
When there’s enough water in the seasonal lake, you can go boating, fishing, water skiing or even try your luck yabbying.
When there isn’t?
Pull out the chairs, pour yourself something nice and enjoy the peace and quiet anyway. There are toilets, picnic facilities and plenty of space, making this exactly the kind of accidental road-trip discovery we love.
Western Australia: Rowles Lagoon Campground
A freshwater lagoon probably isn’t the first thing you expect to stumble across in the WA Goldfields, which is exactly why we like this one.
Rowles Lagoon Campground sits beside a natural freshwater lagoon surrounded by woodland, about 70 kilometres north of Coolgardie. Depending on water levels, you can spend your day swimming, kayaking or birdwatching, or simply pull out the camp chair and enjoy finding a patch of water in a part of WA better known for red dirt and enormous skies.
Facilities are basic, with toilets available, but camping and park entry are both completely free. There’s no booking either. Just turn up, find yourself a spot and wonder why nobody told you about it sooner.
Tasmania: Lake Gairdner Free Camping Area
Tasmania is exceptionally good at producing places that make you pull over and say, “Hang on, can we camp here?”
Lake Gairdner, near Moina in the state’s north-west, is one of them. It’s a simple, no-frills bush camping spot beside the lake, surrounded by the kind of scenery that makes Tasmania such a brilliant RV destination in the first place.
Don’t arrive expecting resort facilities or entertainment schedules. This is more about finding your spot, putting the kettle on and enjoying a quiet night surrounded by bush. And really, isn’t that what a hidden-gem free camp should be?
Northern Territory: Central Mount Stuart Rest Area
Okay, technically we’re stretching the definition of “campground” here, but this one earns its place for sheer road-trip credentials.
Central Mount Stuart Historical Reserve sits just off the Stuart Highway, roughly between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, near the geographical centre of Australia.
It’s one of the Northern Territory’s designated roadside stops where 24-hour overnight camping is permitted, making it a handy free overnighter when you’re tackling the long drive through the Red Centre. There’s water, an information bay and, more importantly, a chance to wake up surrounded by a whole lot of outback.
It isn’t somewhere you pull up for a week-long holiday. But for one night on one of Australia’s great road trips? Pretty hard to beat.
Before you park up…
There’s one golden rule of free camping: don’t be the person who ruins it for everyone else.
Stay limits and conditions can change, some camps have few or no facilities and many operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Check the latest official information before setting off, arrive prepared and take everything out that you brought in.
And if your free camp is near a little country town, grab a coffee, fill the tank, buy dinner or stock up at the local shop.
A free night’s accommodation leaves a few extra dollars in the road-trip budget, after all.
