Camping in the Sofala Area

Hill End village camping area is not bad for camping. Some $7, with good facilities.

Along the Turon between Sofala and Capertee should fit your requirements nicely..

Finally decided on Sofala. Just got back last Friday from a fantastic week long camping trip.
Called into First Crossing as soon as we got to Sofala. The camp ground next to the toilets was empty but the setup was not really what we were looking for. More like the caravan park camping setup. You take as much room as you want but you can be guaranteed neighbors at some stage. There is no shade so in summer I expect you would roast although the area is very flat and would make for easy camping. When we went back a couple of days later most of the available spots on the grassed areas were taken up.
Between this spot and the river are some nice spots for campers but it more suitable for vans as it is very rocky.
If you follow the track up river you will discover quite a few great spots. The last one before the river crossing would be fantastic for a large group. The others suit either single campers or small groups. Be aware though there are probably only 3-4 decent spots unless you want to camp on top of others. (I like isolated camping). I expect in peak time this area would get pretty packed. That was the general view of the locals as well. Didn't cross the river but will next time.
A common theme with camping in Sofala is killing tent pegs. As most spots are close to the river you can be almost guaranteed to hit rocks as you drive your pegs in.
All in all a nice camp ground with spots to suit all types of campers.

As most of the spots along the river were taken and we had plenty of time we decided to keep looking and ended up at Ration Point.
The first section is great for vans but not so much for tents and campers. Again too rocky. The watering hole is great and would keep the kids amused for hours. We kept following the track east of this area and found a great spot for a large group. Fairly flat with limited rocks to destroy your pegs. Sits right next to a small watering hole and very secluded.
Continuing east will take you through a woody area with no real cleared spots for camping until you come to the river crossing. Past this there are a couple of nice spots although you will need a 4WD to get there and if you are towing a camper or van it will need a fair bit of ground clearance.
It turns out certain areas around Sofala are under active mining leases but if you respect the owners you should not have a problem. We met one bloke who was very nice and advised us of where we could camp if our current spot was not up to scratch. As you would expect these people live in the area and do not appreciate idiots who spend all night partying, letting off firearms and generally being a pest. So if this is what you want to do you will probably run into some angry miners sooner rather than later.

Crossly crossing looks nice too although we didn't check it out in a lot of detail.
There are plenty of other spots along the Turon river of varying sizes, you just need to follow the many tracks leading off the main road.
Feel free to bring your own firewood but there is ample wood to be found on the side of the road between Sofala and Hill End. If you bring a chainsaw you will not run out of large all night logs. During winter they are needed.

The actual town of Sofala is nice with a lot of history. The pub is great but doesn't have a bistro. There is a cafe (which wasn't open when we were there) and a general store that has pretty much everything you need including takeaway food.
Phone service is sketchy but you can get full service in certain spots. Got 4 bars at Ration Hill between Ration Point and Fisprst Crossing
Apparently the fishing is great. Saw some nice size fish and heard heaps jumping around during the night but didn't catch anything. The locals are a great source of the local fishing spots.

Bathurst is only about 1/2 hr away is you need urgent supplies (like a spare pair of kids shoes at they soaked the first pair within the first hour or two)

Hill end is a recommended visit. Also full of history. Didn't go to History Hill as the kids are going there for a school camp. I would recommend the two camp grounds in Hill End. Out of the two available the one in town looks the best. The one out of town had camp sites that I considered too small, especially for the price they wanted to charge.

All in all, a great area of Australia to visit. Well worth the trip and we will be going back.

Hope this review helps others who intend to venture out to Sofala.