See also Question 5 on this topic.

If a park needs to be booked to secure a place, it is likely to be a popular park, so the standard should be satisfactory.  We booked ahead of time at Melbourne prior to going on the Spirit of Tasmania and were happy with the park.  We ascertained first by email contact that we could have a drive through site so no need to unhitch and hitch up early in the morning before leaving.  

A good website to research caravan parks is Badger’s.  This consists of reviews submitted by travellers, and reviews are removed after four years as unlikely to be current.  Not all caravan parks are represented, but the most popular ones are there.  It is up to fellow travellers to take notes and contribute to make this resource even more useful. 

Good or bad can be according to the expectations and experiences of the person - a bit like the dirt roads where one person says it was great and the other says terrible and the worst road they've been on. One opinion only shouldn't be used as a name and shame.

Unless in a prime holiday spot (usually coastal), booking well ahead should not be necessary.  Even telephoning a day or two before arriving if you are concerned can usually secure a place without locking you into a rigid travel schedule.   Arriving early in the day when the overnighters are moving out can practically guarantee a place. 

When approaching a town where we need to stay, I keep watch for a possible roadside or bush camp as a fall back if the park is full.  If you can bush camp overnight, staying between twenty and fifty kilometres from the town can ensure you get there in the morning to have a good chance of securing a place. 

Most National Park camp grounds are first in first served with no provision for booking.  For National Parks in Queensland, there is a booking service on the internet at Booking Queensland Parks. 

Alternatively bookings can be made by telephone on 137468.  Payment needs to be made at time of booking by Credit Card.  Bookings and payments (cash included) for some parks can be made in person at offices of the

Department of Environment and Resource Management / Queensland Parks & Wildlife Counter Service Offices.

Some Queensland National Parks have areas for booked sites and areas for self registration (or Ranger Station registration) when you get there.  Some must be booked with no provision for registration on site eg Bunya Mountains National Park. 

We found it necessary to book for the popular Girraween National Park in the Queensland granite belt, as it was not only school holidays but a long weekend was approaching.  The website showed the park as fully booked for the weekend, and it appeared to be filling quickly for the preceding days.  With our long rig, which can often not fit into National Park camp grounds, we still spent the night before at a caravan park close by, to get into Girraween during the morning to secure a suitable place, as in this case actual sites are not allocated when booking.

This booking system in most cases gives no indication of size of sites or suitability for caravans. At Porcupine Gorge near Hughenden, there is a chart showing the different types of sites, and sites are booked by number. Being unsure if we would fit, we chose to stay overnight elsewhere and visit the park on a day trip.   

At Lawn Hill Gorge in north Queensland, descriptions of sites to be booked are given, however we chose the roomier privately run camping grounds at nearby Adel’s Grove. 

Western Australia has now implemented a booking system for the most popuar and crowded parks atBooking Western Australian Parks