While there are countless places to camp in the Flinders Ranges for a fee, what are your options if you simply want to free camp?
Free camping in the Flinders Ranges is.. well.. free, but it’s also one of the best (and sometimes only) ways to camp with pets.
Let’s dive straight in and have a look at some of the best sites based on geographic location.
Southern Flinders Ranges
Cradock Hotel
The Cradock Hotel is a popular place to free camp, but it does come with a caveat: you have to buy a beer at the pub to qualify. It’s a hard life, right?
The free camping area out back is spacious (if a little dusty), but there is a new amenities block with $2 hot showers.
Did I mention the pub? Cradock Hotel was built in the 1880s and is an oasis in what is a dry and remote part of the Flinders Ranges. The food is generous and tasty, the beer is cold, and the service is what you’d expect in the country.
There’s not a whole lot to do in Cradock aside from that, to be honest. But it’s only 45 minutes from Quorn, 20 minutes from Hawker and about 90 minutes from Melrose through some very scenic country.
Cradock Hotel
Facilities – toilets and showers.
Pets – permitted.
Phone reception – Telstra.
Campfires – permitted.
Chinaman Creek Campground
Chinaman Creek Campground is a little different in that it’s a coastal location but still very much the Flinders Ranges as far as I’m concerned.
To access Chinaman Creek Campground, make a left turn if heading north onto Chinaman’s Creek Road.
The road can be corrugated and impassable after wet weather, so factor this into your itinerary. I was also informed that the road may be inundated by the tide several times a year.
After 10 kilometres or so, you’ll arrive on the coast. The campground is situated on a peninsula of sorts, the one you’d hardly notice driving north on Highway 1. Anyhoo, it’s a beautiful area with tidal mangrove inlets and a couple of really nice places to swim.
Caretaker Doug is a welcoming bloke with a love of kangaroos and the French. He has also been a caretaker of the area for more than 70 years. Camping is free, but Doug does ask for a gold coin donation.
There’s plenty of room at Chinaman (though shade is at a premium) and it may be busy over popular periods.
You might also be sharing it with emus and kangaroos and may even nab some mullet or blue swimmer crab in the mangroves.
Chinaman Creek Campground
Facilities – drop toilets
Pets – not permitted
Phone reception – Telstra
Campfires – not permitted
Central Flinders Ranges
Most of the central Flinders is covered by national park and station stay camping – both of which attract small fees.
This means that decent free-camping options are few and far between.
Nooltana Creek Rest Area
Nooltana Creek Rest Area is a gem of a spot tucked away off the Outback Highway about 13 kilometres (9 minutes) north of Hawker.
On or near the banks of the normally dry Nooltana Creek are several spots to free camp. Plentiful shade is provided by a grove of sheoaks that also screen campers from the road (though the highway is rarely busy enough to be a nuisance).
Nooltana may be tight in places for larger vans, but there are a few flatter spots up the back. The capacity here is probably 5 or 6 vans maximum.
What Nooltana also has going for it is location. It’s reasonably central to Hawker, Parachilna, Leigh Creek, Copley, Quorn, Brachina and Bunyeroo Gorge and the Moralana Scenic Drive.
Nooltana Creek Rest Area
Facilities – none
Pets – permitted
Mobile phone reception – Telstra
Campfires – permitted
Northern Flinders Ranges
Parachilna Gorge
Parachilna Gorge is one of the few places in the Northern Flinders Ranges proper where you can camp for free.
Numerous campsites are strung out along the Parachilna Gorge Road which snakes its way between Parachilna and Blinman via Angorichina.
This is a beautiful place that typifies the Flinders with majestic river red gums whose white/grey bark contrasts nicely with the red/brown/purple mountains behind them.
I counted at least 12 camping areas with likely hundreds of individual sites.
Some are 4WD only and quiet secluded, while others are accessible by 2WD.
Just drive along the gorge road until you find something you like, or check WikiCamps for something suitable.
Incidentally, if you’re camping in winter, don’t set up too close to the gorge wall because you may find yourself in the shade most of the day!
There are no facilities to speak of in Parachilna Gorge save for the odd bin here and there. But you can easily stock up on water, fuel, groceries and whatnot at Angorichina or Blinman.
While camping is free, there are donation boxes scattered around the place for causes like the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RDNS).
More information about camping in Parachilna Gorge can be found here.
Parachilna Gorge Campground
Facilities – none
Pets – permitted
Mobile phone reception – Telstra
Campfires – permitted
Chambers Gorge
Chambers Gorge is a free camp situated about 70 kilometres east of Blinman and 99 kilometres south of Arkaroola Village.
Both routes can be rough (particularly the closer you get to the gorge) and should only attempted by 4WD vehicles. Though we travelled up there as a family in a Holden Kingswood and made it out alive, so yeah.
The campground is a special place. For most, in fact, it’s more than just a campground.
Sites are located next to Chambers Creek with plenty of river red gums for shade and the rocky escarpment of the Wearing Hills in the background (of which Mount Chambers is a member).
People love it there because it’s so peaceful and has been that way for many decades even though Chambers Gorge is reasonably well-known. The peace is more likely to be broken by a flock of budgies or the bleating of goats than anything man-made.
Walks around Chambers Gorge
If you decide to camp here, you absolutely cannot miss the nearby Aboriginal art. From the carpark, walk down Chambers Gorge until it starts to narrow and follow the first creek/side gorge that appears on your left.
Walk for 250 metres or so and you will find most of the art near a small waterfall which in all likelihood will not be running. 😊
Once you’ve done that, return the way you came and continue on through the main gorge where you’re likely to pass several waterholes and mutter superlatives to yourself.
About 2.5 to 3 kilometres each way should have you seeing most of the good stuff.
Where can you camp?
Chambers Gorge has four main camping areas that are flat and smooth, with space enough for multiple parties to set up in each area. Although if we’re honest, it’s a bit of a free-for-all with tracks seemingly leading every which way.
Please remember that you’re on private property and respect designated areas so that future travellers can also enjoy Chambers Gorge! The usual rules apply to firewood collection (don’t do it) and litter (take it with you).
Also beware of the flies (in warmer months) and the prickles which are pretty bad here and can be like ants at a picnic.
Chambers Gorge
Facilities – none
Pets – permitted
Mobile phone reception – none
Campfires – permitted
Know of any other good free camps in the Flinders?
Let me know below!
