Making your way between the two famous cities? Here are the best free camps between Melbourne and Sydney…
Walhalla North Gardens
If you’re not in a major rush to get between cities, a venture up to the old mining town of Walhalla is a must! Stroll around learning lots about the old ghost-town-esque village where only 22 people (who are all involved in the towns tourism business) still live.
The free campsite is a bonus where you can easily pitch up a tent around the fire pits (bring firewood). Or park on the gravel in your camper or caravan.
When we visited in March there were autumnal vibes, with beautiful changing leaf colours on the trees.
Make use of the free sheltered BBQ’s, picnic benches and enjoy flushable toilets. Bring food with you as there aren’t many opportunities to shop.
It is easily possible to walk down to the village but there is free parking if you’d rather stop off on your way out.
For a busier town, head there on a weekend (or Wednesday) where the few shops and tourist attractions are in full swing. To keep is cheap and quiet, head there on a Tuesday, as generally, the people of Walhalla leave town to do their shopping (50km to the nearest proper supermarket). Give yourself a walking tour to capture the true essence of a ghost town.
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Marlay Point Foreshore
This campsite has the capability of being great should the weather behave. There are flushable toilets and a sheltered area with a table for food prep, a small electric BBQ and a place for a fire. Unfortunately, it was very windy when we were there, making it difficult to be outside. We would only recommend heading to this campsite if the weather is relatively nice.
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Cann River Rainforest
This free campsite is huge so there’s plenty of space for everyone. It’s also ideal as an overnight stop as it’s located just off of the Princess Highway. The main road that follows a more coastal path as an alternative to the fastest route between the two cities.
The free camp appears to be an old paid-for site which is now unmanned. There are free showers in the nice toilet blocks. Admittedly they are cold but make for a nice morning refresher before hitting the road again.
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There’s an old laundry room with sinks in as well as another sink area closer to the centre of the park where you can wash your dishes. There is also an electric BBQ.
Back up next to trees to put up a washing line or hammock, or even attach a tarpaulin to your boot and the trees to offer more shelter.
Cobargo Hotel
This campsite is just a field you can pull up and rest on for the night behind a hotel. There is a laundry room with a toilet and hot shower which you can pay for at the bar for $5 each. You could probably get away with using the toilet for free. However, it’s kind of the hotel to open their grounds for travellers so it’s respectable to pay a small fee to use their facilities.
Catch up on your laundry here for just $3 a washing machine and $4 a dryer. The shower is also worth it – the hottest and most powerful we’d had since leaving Melbourne. You could also sit in the laundry room and charge some devices. The lady behind the bar was also friendly, filling up our 10L water container up for us and offering us travel tips.
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North Head Camping Area
Beautifully sheltered campsite next to a lovely little secluded beach. The track to the campsite is challenging to say the least (15-20 min dirt track) but there’s lots of space when you get there. Technically there are eight spots, but each patch is big enough to fit at least two groups of people if not three. Ask people if they’d be kind enough to make some extra space for you if necessary.
There is a fire area in each patch. As it’s a forested area, it’s easy to find firewood knocking about. The toilets are not the best – long drops, but there is still toilet paper provided. Watch out for Goannas here. We saw a huge one for the first time ever!
Bendeela Camping Reserve
Huge field adjacent to the Lake Yarrunga river. This is one of our favourite free camps as. Although there are no BBQ zones or fire pits, you can park up overlooking the river which you can swim in. Wombats come out from dusk till dawn. If you are campervanning and feel your van shake at night, it’s a wombat having a good old back scratch!
The two toilet blocks are relatively clean and one block even has mirrors. Bring an inflatable to float along the river, or even find the rope swings to jump in and cool off. The grounds are run by WaterNSW so all the water is of drinking quality (some of the freshest you’ll find).
Witness ducks pecking at the grass and have a giggle at the large sheep/cat sounding crows that fly around.
*Disclaimer* We haven’t visited every campsite between Melbourne and Sydney so are not dismissing the ones not mentioned here. We are just simply writing from our own experience.
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