Roadside camping??

Hi Nic

Don't stop in a designated truck stop - they are needed for the truckies to rest, and apart from taking room they may need, you may not get much sleep.

So long as there is no signage forbidding it, we prefer to stay well out of towns, and if possible, well away from the noise of the road. Some rest areas in more remote regions are designated as 24 hour rest areas, but most are too near the highways for our liking.

If you purchase Camps Australia Wide version 5 you can choose legitimate rest areas and free or low cost camp grounds. For NT (also available for WA), i use Jan Holland's Priceless Rest Areas books, which have more stops as well as useful tourism information. These are all available from the ExplorOz bookshop as well as many other outlets.

Enjoy the trip.

Motherhen

Hi Nic,

I spend most of my trips free camping on the sides of roads. I call into cvan parks once every 3 - 4 days to charge up the batteries and fill the water tanks.

Its the best way to travel, safe and cheap.

I also recommend camps 5

Cheers Wilko

Hi Nic
As Motherhen says, get a copy oF Camps Aust Wide.
It is available from the ExplorOz shop.
Have a look here.
Cheers
Neil

As an ex-truckie, believe me, if there are no toilets in area, you do not want to camp there, get my drift.

Does a fridge trucks refridgerator motor going all night bother you, don't be surprised if you wake the driver and ask him to turn it off because you can't sleep with all the racket and he decides to test his air horns through the night,
I could not believe it when this ***** banged on my door. He soon left.

Join a caravan Park Association, they will book ahead for free at next park.
With hundreds of free spaces why impinge on our only rest stops, next you'll be complaining about all the trucks engines going while they cooling down.

Hi Nic,

One of the delights of travelling around our country is finding great places to bush camp. It is quite possible to to do so legally and safely. As others have said, there are many publications to guide you - trouble is everyone else on the road also has these publications so some of the rest areas, free camps etc can become quite busy.

Rules and conditions vary from state to state, but in NSW it is OK to camp in state forests. Queensland has a lot of good roadside rest areas, whereas NSW is rather lacking in these. In remote areas its often OK just to bush camp where you find a nice spot, but local conditons vary - eg doing that on the Gibb River Road is not acceptable. National Parks have camping areas for a fee of smaller or greater dimensions depending on which state you are in.

Of course there are some rules that must be obeyed - never leave ANY evidence of your having been there. Carry all rubbish away, bury toilet waste, and do not light fires unless it is very safe to do so - and put your fire out before you leave. Many people dont appreciate generators in bush camps. And don't camp too close to others already in residence, but be friendly and have a chat with any neighbours - its one of the best ways to find out about road conditions, places to see and much more.

As you gain experience you will get a feel for good spots, and OziExplorer coupled with Google Earth can help you identify good looking places as you plan your trip.

Happy camping,

Val.

As many other have said the camps 5 book is all you need.
There is a "camps 5 snaps" book which has pictures of most of the campsites. The pictures are generally accurate and increase the "positive hit rate" of a great camp site. It is well worth the extra money.

This is even more so, when you get into the outback.

When you camp in a spot make some additional notes in your campsbook. We rate any toilet facilities. NF= non flushing toilet, F= flushing. Give it a score out of 10. Below 4 means not suitable for women etc. B= lots of bugs, R=lots of rubbish about, N= noisey place to camp etc.

Then when you meet another camper heading the opposite direction, You swap books while having a coffee and a chat. Update your book with their notes and find out the best camping sites in the direction you are heading. It is all part of the fun of camping and getting to know other travelers.

Having completed a 3 month trip to the Kimberleys last year ( and 2 months to NT, and one to SA the year before) maybe I can make some observations.

IMHO most of the free spots in the Kimberleys and northern WA are completely overwhelmed in the tourist season by the people who have bought Camps 4 or 5 . Even most of the caravan parks.

It is not uncommon to see 20+ vans at riverside rest stops with no facilities.

I generally use a mix of caravan parks/national parks and bush camping and in Qld national parks cost almost nothing and usually have good facilities. Again the free rest stops between Mt Isa and Three Ways looked OK.

In NSW there are very few bush camping opportunities in any of the settled areas.

Many outback pubs/stations in WA/NT/Qld have camping grounds and I find these among the better ones for me. Usually not regimented but often no power. Toompine a beauty. Sandfire absolutely terrible. Banka Banka a beauty and the slide show not to be missed. Along the GRR we found Mt Elizabeth, Drysdale, Home Valley, King edward river, Kalumburu Mission all good.
Mt Barnett , El Questro,Manning Gorge not so good.

Rabbit Flat very atmospheric with the cleanest drop toilet anywhere. I would rather pay them a bit and be in camp spot where the locals cannot easily do doughnuts around your site all night.

I fail to see the attraction of camping next to a major highway in filthy surroundings to save 10_30 bucks. Often when I ask someone with an enormous rig worth $200K , they answer "That is why we have to economise" LOL.

You are also open to the "Wicked" scourge who love singalongs to 10PM or whenever you go out and threaten to rip their arms off.

BTW I have an offroad camper.
Regards Philip A

Gidday

I wouldn’t recommend camping at a truck stop even if it’s attached to a service station. As said above, you won’t get much sleep.

The other thing you’ll find is that many people are absolute pigs when they stop at rest areas. Rubbish everywhere, not to mention the droppings and toilet paper.

We usually get off the main road (if there are no fences around) and camp in the Scrub overnight, well away from the highway noise.

Regards

Kim

I bet you have Magnetic attraction.
As soon as you camp, if anyone can see you , you have another dozen all around you and on top of you.

BTW when I was camped at El Questro and at Kalumburu Mission, I had people camp within 1 metre of my CT, and at Kalumburu I could not open the offside door.
And this was when they were not crowded.LOL.

Regards Philip A

NicnPete, I have downloaded these camp sites before and built on them from GPS Data Team and found them a good base to work from. Just last week we found some nice camps, not far from the indicated ones, though not actually at the ones listed. Of course, you need a GPS to load them into.

Two examples;
1. Near Cooma, there is a spot at the top near the communications towers. Not good enough so we went nearer the road but better hidden away from where most would ever see us. Very clean and you wouldn't have traced us after either.
2. Heading over Tawonga Gap, there were some camps marker, but not good enough. Headed up a track from a lookout. Nice and grassy, away from dangerous tree branches and great internet access through Next G.

NicnPete

Recently at Tamworth some light has been shed on the legality or otherwise of roadside camping in NSW. The council business paper for the ordinary meeting of 23.3.10 is informative. In relation to item 7.5 re Bendemeer Camping I quote two extracts.

It was an interesting case, the camping at Bendemeer, and it turned out, after investigation, the law was quite favourable for travellers resting overnight.

I am quoting it because paraphrasing or condensing inevitably changes the meaning.

"SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to review the trial of the development of the Bendemeer Recreation Ground as a designated camping area. The trial was undertaken pursuant to a conditional development consent. The observations made during the trial suggest that significant resources would be required to develop the Bendemeer Recreation Ground as a designated camping area particularly in relation to achieving compliance with development consent conditions. It is not recommended that Council proceed with the development of a designated camping area. Road users currently have a right of access to the area under the Roads Act 1993, which would include the freedom to stop overnight, and it is not recommended that Council attempt to restrict this public access as this would require a similar level of resourcing as the proposed development of a designated camping ground."

and a bit later

"As the area is a “road related area” for the purposes of the Roads Act 1993, members of the public have the right to enter the area and park their vehicles pursuant to the same rights and restrictions which apply to stopping in a road side area along any public road.

While ever the area is a road related area, the Local Government Act 1993 provides that Council “must not prohibit or regulate the taking of a vehicle into, or the driving, parking or use of any vehicle” in the area.

If Council resolves not to develop the area as a designated camping ground, it should also consider whether to restrict the freedom of road users to stop in the area overnight. There are two options to restrict this use which are:
a) restrict vehicle access to the area, which means it would no longer be a road related area under the Roads Act 1993;
b) introduce parking restrictions which prohibit overnight stopping in the area.

Restricting vehicle access to the area is considered impractical and would unreasonably interfere with the other recreational uses of the area.

Introducing parking restrictions would also require enforcement resources similar to those required to achieve compliance with development consent conditions.

It is therefore recommended that Council does not take action to restrict the existing vehicle access to the Bendemeer Recreation Ground or introduce parking restrictions within the public area.

Should a member of the public decide to utilise the area for an extended period and it is obvious that they are not using the area for road related purposes (eg. if they pitched a tent and camped on site for several days) then Council would be obliged to ask them to move on, similarly as Council would do if a member of the public decided to camp for an extended period on the banks of the Peel River in Tamworth (outside the Country Music Festival period)."

End of quotes of the business paper

So it appears to me if is a "road related area" and it has not been blocked off (if blocked off - no longer road related) or had no camping signs put up travellers can rest at "road related areas" overnight. As noted in the business paper that does not entitle people to camp for "several days".

Flynnie