Australia So Much to See

Free camping and low cost camping places we have enjoyed in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory Roadside Rest Areas.   Not many of these rest areas in the Northern Territory provide toilets, but from our observations, there are a few more than shown with toilets on the Stuart Highway between Alice Springs and Darwin. 

N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park.  Access from the Ross Highway to the east of Trephina. Cross Ross River, to the south of the A rich Aboriginal rock engraving site.  Can camp at day parking area which is quite small.  Pit toilet only.  Access track mot suitable for caravans.  $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  Visited 2008

Chambers Pillar Historical Reserve.  Chambers Pillar is accessed from the Old South Road which continues to Finke, and is 163 kilometres south of Alice Springs.  The Old South Road is a dirt road and the track in to Chambers Pillar is suitable for four wheel drive only.   $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  Eight camping bays defined with bollards.  Pit toilet and limited barbecues.   Visited 2008.  November 2011 - a new expanded campground has been developed. 

Rainbow Valley.  Access via 24 kilometres of dirt track from the Stuart Highway.  Turn off is 76 kilometres south of Alice Springs and 14 kilometres north of Stuart’s Well Roadhouse.  Camping permitted by day area car park with very limited space and no room for big rigs.  Pit toilets.  $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  Short walk to a colourful and soft textured sandstone formation.  Camping is available nearby at Stuart's Well Roadhouse, who in addition to serviced sites, offer limited free camp sites to those not needing power or amenities.  Visited 2008  Update: There is a new camping area at Rainbow Valley with pit toilet and barbecues, suitable for caravans. 

Trephina Gorge in the East MacDonnell Ranges, about 70 kilometres east of Alice Springs.  Honesty box fees $3.30 per person per night.  A large campground in an attractive bush land setting amongst orange hills.  The new Panorama campground is now open for caravans.  Pit toilet, fireplaces and free gas barbecues and picnic tables.  Water taps throughout camp ground. Two other small camp grounds in the park are not suitable for caravans.  Walks.  A good place to use as a base for exploring the East MacDonnells.  Visited 2008

Lizard Bore.  Ten kilometres west of Mount Liebig community on the Gary Junction Road, at a Len Beadell plaque on the south side of the road.  Accessed by a track which runs well away from the road, near an old tank and bore which has been decommissioned.   No amenities.  Free. Visited 2009

Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve.  Access Via Ernest Giles Road which leaves the Stuart Highway 130 kilometres south ofAlice Springs.  Eleven kilometres of dirt road, then five kilometre access track.  Very small parking area. Pit toilet and fireplace.  $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  Walk to craters.  Visited 2008

In the West MacDonnell Ranges, turn off being 156 kilometres west of Alice Springs.  Dirt road access.  Two campgrounds; large loop woodlands campground with bollards preventing camping by big rigs.  Pit toilet, picnic tables, fireplaces and gas barbecues.   Further up on the ridge top there are eight bollarded bays suitable for larger sized rigs (up to around fourteen metres).  Pit toilet, picnic table and fireplaces.  Drive continues on down towards Gorge and day parking area.  Walk along riverbed to a very cold pool at the Gorge.  $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  Visited 2008

In the West MacDonnell Ranges, turn off being 88 kilometres west of Alice Springs.  Two kilometre access road.  Very limited camping space.  Flush toilets using a water recycling system.  Picnic tables, fireplaces and free gas barbecues. Tank with tap. $3.30 per person per night honesty box.   Wheelchair suitable path to the waterhole.  Visited 2008

Set well back from the Stuart Highway behind the “Marbles”.  Pit toilets, picnic shelters.   Honesty box parks fees. $3.30 per person per night honesty box.  The interesting feature of piles of rocks known as the Devil’s Marbles is very different to the surrounding countryside.  Watch for friendly spinifex pigeons when walking around the Marbles.  Visited 2009

Davenport Range National Park – Old Police Station Waterhole.  Davenport Range turnoff turns east from the Stuart Highway near Bonney Well rest area (which is a popular overnight rest area alongside the Highway), to the north of the Devil’s Marbles.  Dirt road continues east 118 kilometres to Epenarra Station.  Note that the track from Epenarra Station to Barkly Roadhouse is closed to the public.  Take the Binns track to the south (some sandy patches – four wheel drive required) to signed turnoff to Old Police Station Waterhole.  Total distance from Epenarra to the waterhole approximately 40 kilometres.  Standard Northern Territory Parks honesty box fees of $3.30 per person per night.  Pit toilets.  Fire places.  Plenty of places to camp spread out along the waterhole.  Water can be drawn from the waterhole for cooking and washing (some sediment).  No pets. Large pool on the Frew River, walk across to Old Police Station ruins at other side of pool.  Fishing and canoeing on pool. Bird watching.  Walk along the river to further waterholes.  Frew River four wheel drive track.  Visited 2009

There are numerous World War II heritage sites and airfields between Barrow Creek and Darwin accessed from the Stuart Highway and some of these which are well away from the highway, particularly the air fields, make for quiet self sufficient free camping, as well as the historical interest.  Most have signage about the history of the site.  We stayed one night at Fenton Airfield, to the west of Hayes Creek, and took walks including around the old bunkers and the “graveyard” of plane wreckage.   Air strips have a hard flat surface and are two kilometres long, so plenty of places to park.  Visited 2009

West of Hayes Creek.  No pets.  $4.50 per person per night.  Flush toilets, water tap with very good quality bore water. Showers have been removed.  Fire places and bins.  Large and flat camping area.  Very pleasant location alongside the confluence of a large hot water source and the Douglas River.   Select water of various temperatures, shallow streams or deep pools for swimming and soaking.  Someone who regularly camped here for the full season was catching a Barramundi on alternate days.  Four wheel drive track to Butterfly Gorge, with walks, swimming and rock climbing to access the Gorge.  Visited 2009.  This campground is currently closed due to water issues.

Keep River National Park.  Access road is North side of the Victoria Highway three kilometres east of the Western Australian border.   Honesty box fees of $3.30 per person per night.   Pit toilets, picnic tables and fireplaces.  Choose from two campgrounds, both with walks nearby.   Water tank at Jarnem.  Water tank at park entrance.  Visited 2008

Bullwaddy Rest Area.   Ninety kilometres east of Daly Waters on the Carpentaria Highway, on a loop of old road taking it away from the Highway.  Picnic shelter, tank and bins.  Plenty of tracks to get further away.  There are concrete slabs and evidence of former buildings but I could find nothing about the history of the ruins.  Free. Bird watching late in the day.  Bullwaddy conservation reserve nearby.  Visited 2009