Cania Gorge National Park

Hi all,

We just got back from a week camping at Cania Gorge and just posting an update so people know what they can expect from either of the 2 camping/caravan parks in the area.

We stayed at eh Big4 Cania Gorge Holiday Park - WOW what a park. As far a facilities go, this is one of the best parks we have seen for quite a while. If you have young (ish) kids, they will definitely love this place. We were there during Qld School holidays so lots for them to do.

The park has a great water park, with circular slide, sprayers, pools etc - too cold for the adults but that didn't stop any of the kids from having a ball. there is also a tennis court, 2 x jumping ballons (the kids spent ALOT of time on these - even some of the "bigger" kids had a bounce as well :) ), daily bird feeding (the birds also fly right up to you at you own camp sites so a huge hit with the kids - and adults) and outdoor movies every night. This park also allows campfires, in designated pits, which were great for keeping everyone warm on the cold nights/mornings. Sites are also very spacious so you are definitely not "crammed in" like some of the coast tourist parks.

The park also has a number of huge shared camping kitchens spread throughout the park, with all the modern cons in them.

The only real negative we found at this park were the prices they were charging for any extras (or essentials) etc. The owners provide "home cooked" meals throughout the week - "fish and chips" on Friday, wood oven pizza's on Saturday, Camp Fire Roast on Monday night etc, but at $20+ per person for a roast dinner (and with 6 of us), we found these prices just too much to participate. Similar the wood fired pizzas, while they sounded great, at $15 for a medium "Ham & Pineapple" and $20-$30 for a large pizza, once again, just too expensive for us to try. (Much cheaper to drive the 25-30 km's into Monto to the IGA and buy some frozen pizzas and cook/heat them in the camp kitchen micowaves - kids didn't know any different, and MUCH cheaper on our hip pocket).

While we didn't stay at the other camping ground (Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat) in the area, we did check it out. The owners were great and we had a good chat with them. The park itself, is a nice spot. It is a lot more "bush camping" than the Big4, but still has all the facilities you need. Sites are spacious and well grassed and has plenty of shade.

As far as the pick of the parks, it really depends on who you are going with and what they like doing. If you are just going with adults to get away from it all, do some of the "bush walks" etc then the 1st park you come to (Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat) is probably the one for you. If however, you have kids and want plenty for them to do (as we have), then the Big4 park would be my choice. The Big4 is slightly more expensive to stay, but more and makes up for it with the "extras" to keep the kids occupied.

If you have any questions let me know.
Cheers,
Brian