Bushwalk Australia

A friend of mine is driving from Melbourne to Adelaide next weekend and asked me about places to stay. The departure time is unknown as this stage. One place that came to mind was at Mount Buangor. As I have not stayed there for ages I was stunned by the cost - $26.80. This is about the same as a caravan park with flush toilets, showers, etc. Campsites must be booked before arrival. The directions do not say where to turn off the highway in relation to the nearest town.
http://www.parkstay.vic.gov.au/mount-buangor-state-park
Interestingly, the cost does not vary if there's a lot of people. I selected the maximum, 45, and the price is still $26.80. Just your average bushwalking trip, like the Western Arthurs.

Green Lake at Ararat is nice
https://greenhilllake.com.au/
Donations, and a few dollars is fine with me.

Arapiles is another option, with 10 kilometres extra instead of going from Horsham to Dimboola direct.
http://www.parkstay.vic.gov.au/mount-ar ... state-park
This is a more reasonable $5.40 a person. However, the PV advice is that "There is no camper trailer or caravan access to the camping area at Mount Arapiles." Cannot vehicles park below the pines? My friend has a motor home, big thing, 6 X 3 metres.

Advice about any other good places to stay would be valued.

Silly question perhaps, but why the need for an overnight stop? Its an easy day drive. I made the journey in March, with a Canberra to Melbourne the day before.

Hmm, wrote a post but it seems to have disappeared.

One of the complications is that some parks charge by the site (with multiple people allowed on each site) whereas others charge by the person.
It appears that they assume you will have a minimum of four people on each site.
If you're solo then the cost is outrageous for one person.

Re your question, Little Desert National Park could be a good option.
Kiata campground is accessible for 2WDs and is free:
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks ... campground

Next to Mt Buangor are free options in the Mt Cole State Forest. Richards at the start of the Beeripmo track or others further in. Langi Ghiran is also ok and a walk to the summit is pretty good.
+1 for Kiata in the Little Desert - Huge easily accessible area

Sorry Lops should have read that your friend has a large motorhome. Richards isnt suitable. Smiths Bridge campsite would be ok for access at Mt Cole.

BTW - The Wikicamps app is awesome for finding campsites and getting reasonable up to date info on them.

Thanks. As the departure time is unknown, a through journey could involve driving too much driving at night, and this is not desired. Hence, a solution is being sought for a range of stops from Mount Buangor to Araps.

I looked at about eight websites and they are all nearly useless in terms of where the Mount Cole turnoff is located in relation to Beaufort and Buangor. Lots of words, lots of pictures, no distances, vague access notes. Useless. Does anyone know how far the Smiths Bridge turnoff is from Buangor, the name of the road to take, and how far Smiths Bridge is from the Western Highway? I think it's 10 km. If so then it's faster to keep going to Green Lake at Ararat, maybe 10 minutes further on the highway.

If my friend leaves earlier then Little Desert may be an option. I still like Araps - very spectacular. Leave early enough and a side trip to Araps and stop at Little Desert may be possible.

Too far Lops - 19km - the turn into Mount Cole is in Beaufort. Turn right at the Mobil Service station then you go through Raglan. I stayed at Green Hill lake a couple months ago and it would be quite good as a quick overnighter with a motorhome.

Buy the Camps book and you get all the free camps on Australia with pictures now and ratings. Not sure what number it is up to now Camps 8??? Best investment for anyone travelling. Most motorhome people use it. My edition is so old now (and tattered) that it may not be of any use. It doesn't always list National Park camping, my edition anyway. Oh and they have this new thing in them which is called a map that is printed on paper and the campsites are listed as numbers.

Lophophaps, the link you have provided for Buangor does show a Google map and some basic directions.

If you google "Mt Arapiles camping" there are plenty of photos of motorhomes etc in the camping area. I did a day walk there late last year and there were plenty of vehicles parked either in or adjacent to the campsites.

Dergholm State Park is pleasant (and free). It has drop toilets, water tank, tables and fireplaces. Also a pub 10 min drive away! The campground will probably be just about empty - I was there in Easter 2017 and there were only 5-6 groups which is very low numbers for a holiday period. It's about halfway between Casterton and Apsley.

Edit: "Campfinder" and "Free Camping" websites are also useful, and tend to be aimed more at the caravan/motorhome demographic.

ChrisJHC might have made the best recommendation so far. Kiata is roughly 10 kilometres south of the Western Highway in a straight line. Green Lake is right beside the highway, with noisy freight trucks operating through the night/early morning. Several other suggestions are nice but require diverging from the highway perhaps a bit too far.

Kiata is good, especially if there's a sightseening diversion to Araps. I want to have a range of options to fit in with the departure time. Green lake is a few hundred metres from the highway, and in a motor home the highway noise may not be an issue.

I'm a fan of this website for planning these kinds of trips.

http://findacamp.com.au/search-camp-sit ... 81&dis=100


the camps aus book is easier when your on the road.

drakkar wrote:I'm a fan of this website for planning these kinds of trips.

http://findacamp.com.au/search-camp-sit ... 81&dis=100


the camps aus book is easier when your on the road.

That is a pretty useful site. Most people today have devices and reception to access this sort of stuff when on the road but I still like turning the pages. The book has a bit more detail on the roads and I have used it to work out detours. Trust it more than a GPS in country areas.

Despite some campsites not being listed, Find a camp is quite useful. Thanks.

There are literally dozens of good places to park and camp right along the road, especially with a motorhome if you do not need toilets and showers, I actually think that this is the primary use for such a vehicle.

The idea is to stop near toilets, thus avoiding the need to empty the pan. They are probably home now, got much further than anticipated last night, to Keith.