Lawn Hill National Park

There are two camping areas.

One is in the National park and you need to book through them.
There are tree but fairly open.

The other is Adele's Grove just outside of the park. They have camping under very dense trees in the grove or alternatively they have sites that are more open in under sparse tree foliage.

Peak hour is after Easter through to the September school holidays. Super peak is end of June start of July.

It is just a short drive from Adele's to the park where you hire a canoe and go up through the gorge. Camping at either is convenient for visiting Lawn Hill Gorge.

Alan

Hi DB, glad to see you read my comment in Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park in Places. We were there in Sept '11 and as you'd expect towards the end of the Dry it was a dustbowl. My comments still stand. Now the river is flowing and there's plenty of water but will the QNPWS put on the sprinklers to water the grass. No, in fact they have stopped any watering. You can see where I'm going with this. Does a NP have to be 100% natural or would a bit of green to camp on add to the amenity of the place?
Now Adels is privately run but it was still a dustbowl underfoot. Plenty more shade there thanks to the Frenchman's trees. Click on the pix in Places and read the comments.
While in the area the Mt Isa to Cloncurry drive is fantastic after all the flatness. Lots of old mine sites to visit. See Info centre at the Isa.......W

Ditto - much smarter in my view to stay at Adele's Grove - the attractions of the natural environment in the NP are amazing, but the high demand for the camp spots made their campground a fizzer for us (we don't book, anywhere). Adele's is great - check their site - we got mobile phone access from a small hill a short stroll away (Century Zinc Mine cell, I presume). The Riversleigh Fossil site is only a modest drive away too - a very significant paleo site.

Hi Folks

We spend a little while at Lawn Hill a couple of months ago, and echo the thoughts above. The Riversleigh Rd (alternate route from Mt Isa to Lawn Hill) starts quite nicely, then deteriorates into a rough, rock littered goat track (albeit quite a wide one). Some nice shady river crossings - quite low when we got there - made it bearable. I'd avoid the Riversleigh Rd as a method of getting there though and take the main drag.

Adel's Grove is quite nice - and if you like proper amenities is a better place to stay in my opinion than the National Park. You can't use generators at The Grove (camping spot near the creek) but you can elsewhere at Adels, it's only a short drive from Adels to the gorge. Solar panels are also next to useless at The Grove due to the number of shady trees around.

All up the actual gorge itself is absolutely spectacular, and worth the trip.

In terms of camping spots around Normanton - there is a nice spot along the river (free camp) near Gregory Downs on the way to Normanton. There is also a camp along the way from Normanton to Croydon - called "Glenore" from memory. Didn't stop there - but it's not far out of town. If you are going that far - Karumba is a great spot if you like fishing - and the Karumba Sunset Caravan park is a great spot to do that. There are two caravan parks at Karumba Point - the Sunset one is the better. It's walking distance to the tavern that has quite good value meals, and a great spot to watch the sun go down over the water.

While up that way you could also check out Cobbold Gorge - the road in was also pretty ordinary in parts - but well worth a look, and the facilities are just great. We were also going to visit the Undara Lava Tubes - but ran out of time.

Chris

We were there the last week in August and stayed at both places. Adels Grove has good facilities and costs about $30 per night for two.The grove has full shade and is no good for solar! The cafe is great and there is access to the creek, but not the gorge - to access the gorge you must drive 10 kms to the national park.

The national park camping costs about $14 per night for two. It has cold showers and flush toilets and full mobile reception. There are 14 sites suitable for camper trailers with very limited shade and direct access to Lawn Hill creek gorges. Booking was a PITA but we managed (easiest done by phone) and QLD parks assure me that their on-line system would be upgraded by the end of this year!

Both places were dry and dusty but that did not bother us after a couple of months in the Kimberley.

We drove in from Camooweal via Riversleigh towing an off road camper (quantum) with no problem at all. The road crosses the O shanassy and Gregory rivers but towards the end of the season there was not a lot of flow. If you go that way and are interested, stop at the Riversleigh D site and have a quick look at the fossils. It doesn't take too long and saves retracing your steps. We drove out from Lawn Hill via Cheers
LJME