One of the best things about a camper trailer is all the off-the-beaten tracks you can get it into that others towing larger rigs can’t! We’ve compiled a list of some of Australia’s best, most undiscovered national parks and difficult-to-access beach and bush camps that approach nirvana which only camper trailer towers (no caravans here, please!) can enjoy.
BOUGH SHED HOLE
Bladensburg National Park, Central Queensland
Location: From Winton follow the Winton-Jundah Road 18km to Bladensburg and its historical homestead.
Camping: $6.15/person, $24.60/family and free for under fives.
Visit: April to September.
Against a backdrop of rosy sandstone mesas, great mobs of kangaroos graze on golden grasslands and offroad travellers converge on a breezy waterhole camp, nestled beneath towering river gums. Showcasing the kind of dreamy outback scenes that lure travellers, Bladensburg NP is stark and stunning at sunset, alive with bewitching wildlife and accessed via roads just rugged enough to make the adventure real.
While the park is accessible to offroad day-trippers, caravanners will have to overnight elsewhere because the compact bush campsites at Bough Shed Hole are suitable only for camper trailers, small motorhomes and travellers tough enough for tents.
KOOLJAMAN RESORT
Cape Leveque, North West WA
Location: From Broome follow the Great Northern Highway for 10km east, turn north onto Cape Leveque Road and continue 220km to Kooljaman (about a 3hr drive).
Camping: $50/couple, $10/child 3yrs and over, plus $5 for power (no dogs).
Visit: May to September.
Remote, breathtaking and boasting some of the best beaches in the Kimberley, Cape Leveque is a dream destination for offroad travellers and Kooljaman’s idyllic location at the tip of it all is extremely hard to beat. Surrounded by shallow, translucent seas and vibrant Pindan cliffs, the angling and swimming off the sweeping white sand beaches is mind-blowing, and as you unwind, you can feel especially smug about your choice of rig because the resort’s deep, sandy access tracks prohibit access to caravans.
Don’t think for a moment that you are going to have to rough it, though. Hot showers and power are de rigueur and you can splurge on your very own private beachfront camping shelter and watch the sun set west from the deck of Raugi’s Restaurant with a BYO bottle or two and a la carte menu.
SALVATORE ROSA
Carnarvon National Park, Queensland
Location: 135km from Tambo via the corrugated, steep and winding Wilderness Way or 168km south-west of Springsure.
Camping: $6.15/person, $24.60/family and free for under fives.
Visit: late winter for wildflowers.
In a rugged corner of the ĂĽber popular Carnarvon National Park, an offroad camp on the Nogoa River makes a fine base camp for hikes and drives through stunning Salvator Rosa, climbing craggy outcrops, bathing in flower-fringed springs and ogling towering white cliffs that turn rosy at sunset.
Having staked out a spot in this shady free-range camp on our most recent visit, we put the 4WD into low range and slowly edged down the steep bank of the Nogoa River, across its sandy, clear stream and climbed the rugged track up the opposite bank.
Salvator Rosa’s shady bush camp is a quiet, grassy haven with picnic tables and toilets and wildlife in abundance, including lots of nonchalant swamp wallabies. Visit from July to August to catch vibrant wattles in bloom. No pets, fires, generators or mobile coverage.
This article first appeared on Camper Trailer Australia magazine.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Catherine Lawson
It’s been over 20 years since Catherine tackled her first Aussie Big Lap and she’s been recounting her travel tales ever since, working mostly with her partner, photographer David Bristow. The couple’s first book – Highway One, the Ultimate Australian Road Trip – was published in 2012.
With a background in journalism, magazine editing and as a newspaper manager, it’s long been the outback office that Catherine enjoys best. And when not exploring some dusty outback track, Catherine and her family live aboard a sailing catamaran in Cairns.
