Camping sites around Victoria

I totally get it, camping divides people! You either love it or hate it. We love it, as do the kids. But I won’t lie, it can be hard work. The packing beforehand, set up, pack down, the unpacking and the cleaning once home. For us, it’s well worth the effort.

We feel like we have camped so many times over the years. Both before and after kids. I decided to pull together an overall list of where we have been. It’s been interesting to go back through our camping adventures over the years. There are plenty more camping destinations to explore but I think this is a pretty good starting point on lots of camping sites around Victoria. I’ll definitely update this list as we explore more.

I’ve listed them here with links where you can find the websites and also booking pages.

I won’t try and write blogs on all of these from memory but if you’d like any further information on any of these then please let me know and I’ll be happy to fill you in.

We’ve always enjoyed camping close to Melbourne so we are not spending too long driving (especially if we only have a 3 day weekend) and always try to book somewhere we can have a fire. A fire is what makes the camping experience for us, we wish that you could have a camp fire at Wilson’s Promontory as it’s one of our favourite places, but it’s early to bed instead!

Since the kids we have definitely broadened the site selection criteria (we never liked to be camping near anybody else – camping snobs!).

We are generally also camping with 3, 4 or 5 other families so we prefer places where you can book. This is a bit of a limitation, but we don’t think it’s a good idea to risk turning up to a camping area with 5 families, then miss out on a spot or risk not being able to all camp together. We don’t have 4 wheel drives either so everywhere on this list is accessible with a standard car.

Here are the places we have been camping. Only a couple of these are before the kids –

Boar Gully, Brisbane Ranges National Park

Location – Bacchus Marsh – 1 hour from Melbourne

Details – When we first went site scouting to the Brisbane Ranges we visited Fridays Campground first. The sites here were not what we were looking for so we nearly didn’t bother checking out Boar Gully. Luckily we did, as we have camped here numerous times!

Bush camping, drop toilets, take out all rubbish, fire places and picnic tables

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

You Camp, Tallarook

Read our review here.

Location– Tallarook – 1.15 hours from Melbourne

Details – Bush setting, fire places, take out all rubbish, BYO camping toilet or hire, goat feeding

Information and bookings direct through You Camp

Doon Reserve Caravan Park

Read our review here.

Location– Yarra Junction – 1.15 hours from Melbourne

Details – Caravan Park, fire drums available for hire, swimming in the river, small playground

Information and bookings direct through the website

Glen Cromie Caravan Park

Read our review here.

Location– Drouin – 1.15 hours from Melbourne

Details – Caravan park with various accommodation options, small playground, fire drums for hire, river swimming, small walks

Information and bookings direct through the website

Anglesea Big 4

Location– Anglesea – 1.15 hours from Melbourne

Details – Caravan park with various accommodation options, indoor swimming pool with water slide, games room, bbq, playground, not walking distance to the beach

Bookings and information directly through their Big 4 website

Balnarring Foreshore Reserve

Location– Balnarring – 1 hour from Melbourne

Details – Bush setting but no camp fires, next to the beach but you can’t see the beach from the camping area

Information and bookings directly

Buchan Caves Reserve

Location– Buchan – 4 hours from Melbourne

Details – Bush setting, toilets, caves to explore (cost), shared fireplaces

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Cathedral Ranges State Park

Location– Cathedral Ranges – 2 hours from Melbourne

Details – Bush camping, drop toilets, shared fireplaces, walk in and drive in sites. Bookings are for numbers only i.e. sites are not allocated so it’s first in best dressed

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Marysville Caravan and Camping Park

Location– 2 hours from Melbourne

Details – Caravan park setting with various accommodation options, jumping pillow, river frontage

Availability and information direct on their website

Coopers Creek

Location– Coopers Creek – 2.15 hours from Melbourne

Details – River frontage, picnic tables, fire places, NO bookings/free camp site therefore arrive early

Pretty tricky to find information on this camping site. It’s free camping, so get there early as no bookings.

Croajingolong National Park and Cape Conran Coastal Park

Location–Approx 6.5 hours from Melbourne (expansive area)

Details – Car based, boat based, caravan, wilderness camping sites, beach camping, hiking, fire places, drop toilets (check details for each individual site)

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Mt Franklin Reserve

Location–Daylesford- 1.30 hours from Melbourne

Details – Car based camping suitable for tents and vans, fire places and picnic tables, free/no booking therefore arrive early

Parks Victoria has information on the reserve but no bookings are taken

Lower Glenelg National Park

Location –Approx 5 hours from Melbourne depending on camp site

Details – Various camping areas suitable for all camping types, drop toilets and fire places, river setting

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Kinglake National Park

Location –Kinglake – 1.5 hours from Melbourne

Details – Sites available which are suitable for vans and tents (tent sites have a raised ‘border’ so check tent size before booking), picnic tables, fire places, bbq’s and drop toilets and small creek

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Mt Buangor State Park

Location–Beaufort – 2 hours from Melbourne

Details – Car based camping across three camping areas (all various sizes), picnic tables, fire places and drop toilets

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Lake Catani, Mt Buffalo – read all about it here

Location –Mt Buffalo – 4 hours from Melbourne

Details – Car based camping (a handful of walk in only sites) suitable for tents and vans (check map for suitable van sites), toilets, showers, shared fireplaces, lake, day visitors, picnic tables

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Taggerty Big 4

Location –Taggerty – 2 hours from Melbourne

Details – Various accommodation options, river frontage, camp fires, jumping pillow, pool, playground

Bookings and information from the Big 4 website

Tara Bulga National Park

Location –Tara Valley, 2.5 hours from Melbourne

Details – Various accommodation options including simple cabins, rainforest, fire drums available

Parks Victoria has information on the National Park and things to do while you’ll find information on the park we stayed in here.

Upper Yarra Reservoir

Location –Reefton (Past Warburton) approx. 1 hour 45  from Melbourne

Details – Tent and car camping, fire places, flushing toilets and showers, washing up kitchen, ice available

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Warbuton Holiday Park

Location –Warburton – 1.5 hours from Melbourne

Details – Various accommodation options, river frontage, play ground, fire drums available.

Please see their website for information and booking details.

Wilson’s Promontory National Park

Location –Wilsons Prom – 3 hours from Melbourne

Details – Various accommodation options, NO fires, toilets and showers, beach, overnight hikes, kiosk, ballot over peak periods, school holiday activities etc

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Bear Gully Campsite

Location –Bear Gully/Waratah Bay – 2 hours from Melbourne

Details – Bush camping, drop toilets, no water, beach access but no swimming, fire places

General information can be found on the Parks Victoria website and bookings are made via Park Stay.

Porepunkah Bridge Holiday Park

Location – Porepunkah/Bright

Details – Various camping and cabins options available, river access, pool, kiosk. Read all about our experience here.

See their website for information and bookings. Note – apparently the bush camping sites have changed since we stayed. There are now glamping options. Please check directly!

So there you have it, a list of all the different places we have camped over the years. I’ll add to the list as we explore more places. Please do let me know if you would like any further information on any of these places. Even if you would like to see some more photos as this can help you work out if the location might be suitable or not.

Worried about what to pack for a camping trip? Be sure to check out our camping packing list guide!

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