The best campsites in Australia are pretty subjective, but the main things to consider are the access to the site, quietness, convenience and space to spread out your gear for comfort. But finding a campsite that has all of this is pretty hard, but a few handy things to bring or consider can make the difference between a good and an awesome campsite.
Go remote 4WDing
Assuming everyone reading this has some kind of 4WD right? Use this to your advantage and go remote! You bought that 4WD to tackle the tough stuff so use it as its intended.
Going remote will help you find some of the best campsites. Some of the best campsites we’ve been to have been heading into a national park or state forest and exploring. Please check websites for any restrictions first but other than that go ahead! Sometimes going where other people aren’t or haven’t been can be quite amazing. Check old maps or a topographic map and see if you can find something near a river or lake (careful of the mozzies). Always bring recovery gear, you don’t know what you’ll encounter, its all part of the fun anyways.
Use Hipcamp
We typically suggest steering clear of apps like Wikicamps as a lot of tourists and casual campers will use these apps and clog up campsites. Hipcamp has a variety of campsites hosted by locals for a small fee and you can pick and choose the sites you want. Ranging for paddock, lake, mountain or river campsites, there’s a wide variety of campsites for serious 4WDers to casual campers and it’ll avoid the crowds.
Check out old maps or books
Some of the best campsites are hidden away in lost archives and fallen out of the nether. There’s nothing like an old school map or 4WD book that your old man has. These are littered with campsites along rivers, on the top of mountains, in snowy passes and valleys. Go and explore! We do recommend having a backup plan as some of these old maps and books can be pretty out of date and there’s been a lot of track closures lately!
General rule of them on where to find the best campsites in Australia
When you're exploring the bush and you're looking for your next 4WD camp, there are a few things to remember.
Going near a river or lake sounds great (imagine waking up to the sound of the river - not too shabby), but the mozzies can be pretty bad if the surrounding area has a lot of boggy muddy water around it. I would recommend going at least 10-15 metres from the body of water to avoid them, and finding the driest ground. Get the fire started early as the smoke is a natural deterrent for mozzies. Comfort equals key.