Royal National Park - North Era Camp group

[tootyfruity]

Myself and my husband were hoping to walk the 2 day coastal walk in the Royal National Park this weekend. I phoned to book North Era Camp ground but they are all booked up till December time.
Are there no other campsites at all on this route? Weekend weather is meant to be good and would love to get away. Any suggestions would be helpful. Did the six foot track two weekends ago.
Based in Sydney. t/y

[Bluegum Mic]

Hi tootyfruity,

That's such a shame they are all booked up till December.

There are loads of great two day walks around (so much so there's too many that Ill start to list). Some of my favourites are up in the mountains though more often you'll find me close to home somewhere on the great north walk and surrounds (next weekend Im doing hornsby to calna creek, then the next day up over Mt K down to appletree bay and back along the water to berowra).
I must say I find a lot of great walks from this site- www.wildwalks.com There's loads of walks on there divided up into national parks/areas.

Enjoy and hopefully you find a great alternative for your weekend.

Cheers

Mic

[Mark F]

Plenty of opportunity in RNP for a bit of stealth camping. Pitch late and leave early.

[juju]

Yeah the stealth idea is a good 'un, done it before in other parks. Besides that I'm sure I saw some sort of thing whereby National Parks says you can camp anywhere when backpacking as long as you're more than a km from a car park or camping ground? But this may be a park specific thing and not in the Royal...

[VRC]

You can also walk it in 1 day with a reasonably early start.

[johnw]

You can also walk it in 1 day with a reasonably early start.

Yes I would agree with that. If the main desire is to both camp (legally) and have a look at the Coast Track there may be a way to customise a trip and see part of it. You could camp at Uloola Falls (still needs to be booked through the RNP office).

My suggestion (assumption that you're driving and park at Waterfall, otherwise public transport still works fine):

Day 1 - Waterfall to Uloola Falls. Short walk in of about 5 or 6 km. Overnight camp.

Day 2- Uloola - Audley - Winifred Falls - Mount Bass Trail - Short road walk - Little Marley Trail to coast - Possible side trip to Little Marley/ Marley Lagoon - Coast Track to Bundeena via Jibbon etc - Ferry to Cronulla - Train back to Waterfall. I haven't checked the distances for Day 2 but have walked all of these tracks. I think it's do-able but would be a long day. Have a look at the map and see what you think http://www.cartoscope.com.au/maps/suthlnd/Royal_NatPk.pdf.

One thing to note - this Sunday the MS Sydney to the 'Gong bike ride goes through the southern end of the park and may cause some traffic problems in the area. Although probably wouldn't affect you.

[melinda]

Isn't there a campsite at Little Marley Beach???

[johnw]

Isn't there a campsite at Little Marley Beach???

Yes there is Melinda, back behind the beach, but I believe it's now only available as a day use area. Which is a pity, as it would be a really nice spot to camp. Usually spot a few wallabies around there.

[colinm]

There are no other campsites on the coast walk. There is, however, a YMCA cabin thing just north of Garie in which you could stay. It's not camping, but it is shelter.

[johnw]

There are no other campsites on the coast walk. There is, however, a YMCA cabin thing just north of Garie in which you could stay. It's not camping, but it is shelter.

Unfortunately the YHA hostel at Garie was destroyed by fire last December. Unknown whether it will be rebuilt.

[colinm]

There are no other campsites on the coast walk. There is, however, a YMCA cabin thing just north of Garie in which you could stay. It's not camping, but it is shelter.

Unfortunately the YHA hostel at Garie was destroyed by fire last December. Unknown whether it will be rebuilt.

That is unfortunate. I wonder whether the YHA has some claim on the land upon which the hostel stood, such that they would be prepared to allow people to camp on it?

NPWS' policy on camping on the coast walk is questionable. I understand that the RNP is their greatest money spinner, and pays for most of the other parks, and I understand that they want to control the volume of people using it, to limit the environmental impact, but they really have made it very difficult to do that hike.

[Lindsay]

You can also walk it in 1 day with a reasonably early start.

This is a good option if you want to avoid the hassles of camping in the NP (and incidentally lighten your pack). The whole thing should take about 8 hours walking time at a reasonable pace. This time of year there is plenty fo daylight so you should have no worries about being caught on the track after dark.

[odnuas]

colinm - couldn't agree with you more. The coast walk is one of NSW's premier bushwalks and a great introductory walk for new hikers. I have taken many friends and family on this walk. It is now very poorly served with official campsites. I would argue NPWS is encouraging more unofficial camping. I would also argue the day tripping hordes at Wattamolla do more damage than bushwalkers at North Era and other 'hikers only' locations on the coast.

[Chief]

I would also argue the day tripping hordes at Wattamolla do more damage than bushwalkers at North Era and other 'hikers only' locations on the coast.

Don't forget Garie, that place gets smashed as well..

[wildwalks]

....It is now very poorly served with official campsites.......I would also argue the day tripping hordes at Wattamolla do more damage than bushwalkers at North Era and other 'hikers only' locations on the coast.

Now is our chance to try to fix this.
NPWS is drafting a new Plan of Management (POM) for the park at the moment. This document is a legally binding thing that sets out such stuff as campsites, where and how they are to be used.
Once these documents are approved they are very difficult to change until the next review.

You can learn more about the current review here
https://sites.google.com/site/royalreservesdraftpom/home

One of there specific questions are "There are a variety of walking and camping opportunities in the parks; do the current facilities meet your needs?" Well?????
Now with the YHA out of action there are very few legal options when walking the coast track overnight.

There is a community open day on tomorrow Tuesday 15 November 2011 2.30pm-6.30pm Engadine Community Hall

Positive feedback will help bring focus onto this issue. You can e-mail msw.planning@environment.nsw.gov.au
It only takes a few minutes to e-mail, please do it can make a difference.

Matt