Dubbo caravan park

We always stay at the CP at Wellington Caves when travelling that way. Very quiet, off the road near the golf course, and very spacious with excellent amenities. The kids would enjoy the caves too. Lynne

The big 4 would be your best bet as it is not far from the Zoo. there is a bike track all the way if you are into bicycles
Always be aware of security.

Honky

Hi Richard

Wellington Caves is a lovely location, but a bit far to commute tot the zoo as you need to get there early before many of the animals go to sleep. A ticket covers two days, and best to get to the gate near opening time (there will be a queue doing the same thing) for an early start.

In any Dubbo CP, lock and leave and be very security conscious especially after dark. After two quiet nights at Wellington Caves following bush and National Park camping for some time, we looked at all Dubbo CPs and their proximity to highways and chose to commute daily from Terramungamine free camp to the north where it was nice and quiet. The Big 4 is certainly closest to the zoo, and some people ride their bikes to the zoo from there. You can take your car in and drive around the large area.

Motherhen

Consider Narromine 40km to west. In addition to Dubbo problems mentioned above, other factor if tenting is the noise from Newell Highway trucks.
Narromine or Wellington are not immune to the truck problem but they on much quieter roads than the Newell.

Hi Richard,
We travelled around Oz for nearly 2 years in a caravan with our kids. We only stayed in Dubbo to go to the zoo - there is a place called Red Earth Estate which is a beautiful winery that backs onto the rear of the zoo. (18L Camp Rd Dubbo NSW 2830
(02) 6885 6676). I found it from trolling through the forums on this site and rang them to see if it was still available. They are a lovely couple who run the winery (I'm sorry but their names escape me at the moment) and it didn't cost anything to pull up for the night, although if you want to run a power lead it will cost you $5 (well it did in 2011). We arrived quite late in the afternoon and left early the next morning to spend the whole day at the zoo although the passes you get are valid for 2 days. The zoo has a great caravan parking area, easy parking for car and van, a dump point with hose and water fill if you need - at no extra cost! We had our own bikes which was the best way to see the park as it is enormous. The van and car were locked and we didn't have any problems. We left the zoo at closing and stayed at a free camp (Camps 5 # 934 Terramungamine Reserve) just north of Dubbo. We got there about 5pm and it was quite full as it is situated along a river bank, with toilets.

Link for blog at Dubbo Zoo

Hope this helps, Enjoy your travels, we certainly did:)
Cheers Michelle and Joel

Another vote for the Big 4 - Parklands.

Very clean and tidy, good facilities.
Jumping pillow etc for the kids.

We've stayed there several times and its been lovely every time.

Have fun.
Brian

Try the Mid State Caravan Park.
It has sites that are grassy and well away from the trucks plus it is a short walk to the Sporties Club . It is in Nth Dubbo in the quiet area of the City so no trouble however as always be security minded wherever you are.

We travelled to Dubbo to visit the Zoo during the April 2013 school holidays. We booked cabin at the Dubbo City Holiday Park and found it to be very good. It is not a 5 Star place but it is very secure, has lots of stuff for the kids and is walking distance to town. The staff were friendly and efficient as well despite the odd review you might see on line.

Thank you to all. Save travels
Richard