I’m glad I booked before I left, but I didn’t like having to do it.
It was only after talking to a colleague in the shop a few weeks ago about an upcoming Coorong family camping trip that he insisted:
“Make sure you pay online before you go, I recommend Avocet campground #3.”
Then I recalled pulling into a campground near Mount Remarkable in South Australia’s Mid North once, cash in hand ready pay for a spot to park my car and pitch a tent, only to find out sites had to be booked online.
This is the online booking page for the Coorong National Park in South Australia.
I had no phone reception, it was getting dark, kids in the car, and I needed to set up camp. So we found an empty site and settled in for the night.
I felt a little edgy. What if someone turned up who had paid for that site, I would have to move. Or if they were kind enough they might choose another site – only to be faced with the same problem. Thankfully we didn’t have any issues. We stayed the night, left only footprints, and got a free night of camping.
Camping at the Avocet campground at Parnka Point, Coorong National Park, South Australia.
Booking online before you go
Back to my Coorong trip. I wondered if I would be greeted by other campers using our site when we arrived. Campers that didn’t know they had to book online so thought they’d ‘risk it’. I didn’t want to make them pull down camp and move. They were there first after all, and if this happened in the past you would just choose another site.
Remember, this is the Aussie bush I’m talking about. The mobile reception is flaky in most places. The new online booking system is designed to book your site before you even leave the house. Thankfully I had no issues.
Is the new system common knowledge?
But there were a number of tourists and road trippers calling by and asking how to pay for a site. It doesn’t seem like common knowledge that this system is in full swing. My colleague camped at the Coorong over Christmas ’14 and said you could pay with cash back then.
I managed to grab the attention of a park ranger during our stay and he indicated that there have been minimal issues with the new online booking system to date. He did admit that feedback was mixed, with many people saying it takes the magic out of pulling into camp wherever your journey ends for the day.
I wonder if the Lonely Planet guide favoured by many tourists has been updated to reflect the new system?
Walking the sand flat between Bluff Island and the ‘mainland’ at Parnka Point, Coorong National Park, South Australia
So how do I feel about the new system?
The new system seems like a good idea and if it was a completely transparent system and you could be sure of some way to check availability at the campsite it might operate more smoothly.
Also, a way in which to transfer or cancel a booked site if you don’t make your destination so others can move on in rather than leave the site empty for the night would be handy.
So I’m interested in your thoughts…
I’m all for an easy campsite booking system that ensures national parks get the dollars they need for upkeep of these wonderful assets. And I’m all for moving with the digital age. But how do we do this while keeping with the spirit of what it is to roll into a park after a long day on the road looking for a space to set up your swag or tent?
It looks like this system is being rolled out across most of the eastern states and South Australia. There seems to be mixed reviews on many discussion forums. The benefits of an online booking system, according to the authorities, is reducing instances of people ‘staking claims’ on campsites before long weekends.
It also mitigates the vandalism of money collection boxes. Funnily enough, the collection boxes are still on site down at the Coorong.
Where do you stand on online booking systems for campgrounds in national parks?
Trekker, surfer, climber, mountain biker, runner, camper. Participator in most things… master of none.
Travelled 500k, paid for camp site online, got there, camp grounds were full, people wouldn’t leave our site. Let’s say i didn’t camp that night, 5 of us ended up sleeping in car on side of road.
Online only bookings for us is horrendous.
We are Grey Nomads who enjoy impromptu decisions about where and how long we will stay. To know where we are going to be on a particular day is impossible. No one we talk to like the new system adopted by most states. I thing VIC has changed back and the NT so far have not ventured down that path. It is a pleasure camping in National Parks in the NT (Except For Kakadu and Uluru which are federal) .
If there were 100% phone coverage it would be OK.
How i the hell do you know what campsite suites if you have never been there. AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
We arrived at Mambray Creek, October 2015, and did as we had always done, drove around and picked a (vacant) site suitable for our caravan. No problem! (We have National Park Camping membership.) Enjoyed the night in the tranquillity that Mambray Creek is renowned for.
Next morning we went for a short drive to get mobile reception to contact Port Augusta. On our way back to our ‘van my wife calls my attention to the ‘book on line’ notice at the entrance of the park. Went back to where the mobile reception is OK to find that the site we were on had been booked! So we booked another site and went and moved our van to it.
This system may have some benefits but, it relies on having reliable mobile reception and there are a lot of places that we have been in Australia where there is not!
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Sorry folks but when I’m on the road, I’m not looking at the clock! I think I’d rather go bush than take my chances on an unstable internet connection.
Recently booked a site out of Southend and at Number 2 Rocks. Rather concerned by the descriptions when trying to select what pitch to select. 1st night booked a site claimingto be suitable for camper trailer and 2 cars (cars in a sand dune environ!!!). When arrived found it very hard to park the longwheel base landrover on the slope and be able to open the roof tent. If we had not booked would have moved to another site. 2nd night at number 2 rocks site supposed to be suitable for upto 2 Cars!! could have got 4 or 5 in with trailers quite easily. Meet a ranger who had no idea if a site was booked or not, to do that he would have to phone his office, yep no phone coverage so no idea how?? Personaly I think it is a shambles, takes away the spontainity at the end of the day. Can see this leading to confrontation and or more rigs camping in unauthorised areas outside of the NP’s.
I hear you, G. I think the system could work. (To some degree.) But it’s rather half-baked at the minute. Evidence of this is the fact that the ranger is required to phone in for information but doesn’t actually have the technological capabilities of doing so.
Annie makes a couple of good points, the scurry to get to the camp site before dark creates dangerous situations, the less than adequate info about the campsites makes it hard to pick a site without any other info, and splitting the campsites makes sense.
Personally I feel more rangers should be employed but cost cutting is the main reason for this new electronic system. I’ve never seen a vandalised collection box.
Another problem with the electronic system is that its not always available. Twice now I’ve tried to do the right thing but cannot connect. In that case I’ve just camped and chanced it. Never seen a ranger or had a problem as Annie describes. It used to be a Ranger would come around and have a friendly word and answer questions. That made the parks more friendly and safer places.
In New Zealand at Department of Conservation (DoC) campgrounds and the busier huts, they station volunteer wardens. At the campgrounds this is often a couple of ‘grey nomads’. At the huts this is often an international backpacker or free-spirited local. They get free board and often some expenses (e.g. food) covered for a time, and the asset gets a resourceful human. A person that can check tickets or hut passes, write the weather forecast up on the board, do a little maintenance if required, radio in help if needed, and add some yarns over port on a cold night.
Down at Deep Creek a few years ago I spied a similar setup. A caravanning couple were standing in as volunteer rangers for the long weekend. They regularly did it, in fact. Their presence at the Stringybark Campground was welcomed, as they were a knowledge resource – for the price of some missed campsite revenue – for new campers.
I’ve experienced this before in the States, and trust me, it works! 😀
This system might work in the states, but they still also have the old fashioned collection boxes at many of the climbing area campsites, which still work well. Most climbers, campers, bushwalkers etc. are a genuine lot, more than I can say for weekenders who take their screaming toddlers bush and then let them loose on everyone else. The major flaw with this system is no segregation between bush campers and caravanners. Say you booked your favourite site, sitting around the fire enjoying peace and quiet,and all of a sudden 3 loads of caravans and camper trailers of oldies [with their bucket lists off to tackle the trip to QLD.] pull up usually late, cicrcle the wagons and camp next door. WEEKEND GONE!!!! This happens regularly. Camping just ain’t what it used to be anymore. I am sick and tired of Govt. looking for an easy way out while raising the charges. At $20 bucks a night per camp they are doing pretty well. Remember we pay for this dept. in our taxes every year but they are raising fees at around 20% per year as well. Used to be pretty sympathetic to parks staff, but have no time for them anymore.
Passionate comment, William.
Must say, I’m not too phased by the oldies. They’re usually good to talk to, not too noisy, and respectful of the facilities. Though, headlights in the eyes late at night is never fun. It’s the V8 utes with a tray full of grog that have me thinking, “Bye bye peace and quiet”.
I think you’re right, most outdoorsy folk are very respectful and trustworthy. But the Coorong and Deep Creek, for example, aren’t the realms of these people necessarily. These two parks are accessible by road by 2WD vehicle and are favourites for the (long) weekenders. Eagle Waterhole in Deep Creek is a good example of a campground that is somewhat inaccessible to the rowdy bunch and thus is in good nick.
I’ve spent a lot of time in NZ and am shocked by some of the things that have been done to backcountry huts that are a good 2-3 days slog from the nearest road. Inaccessibility doesn’t necessarily equate to seriousness and respectfulness. But for the most part it’s pretty true.
I see the benefits of the system – guaranteed campsite waiting for you, and no last minute scrambling to find an empty site at night (especially after a long drive). Plus reduce the vandalism on the self registration stations.
But booking online can also mean booking a-less-than-ideal campsite: you are making decision where to pitch your tent with only a vague description, which may turn out being not suitable for you.
And you can’t change your mind once you get to the campsite, and find that you are camped next to some bogans/no shade/no privacy or on a incline. You are locked into that campsite. And your dream campsite might sit vacant the whole trip (but you can’t move there in case someone turns up).
Where to you go to rectify that issue?
Booking a campsite for 5 days, and only staying for 3 – the campsite sits vacant for those 2 days. Being delayed on the road, could also mean a booked campsite is never used (will this encourage some campers to drive past the time they want to, at night, when tired, to get to that paid camping location?)
I think there should be a selection of campsites at a campground that can be booked in advance – but also keep a proportion of clearly marked campsites that cannot be booked in advance, for those who do want to take the chance of finding a spot at the last minute; need a rest stop; don’t have mobile reception to book in advance.
I like your idea of splitting the campsite up into pre-booked and first-in best dressed sites Annie. It still means some sites will sit empty should the other scenarios you mention occur. An electronic booking system at each campsite would be good, but I can only begin to imagine the costs involved in setting this up, and the potential for further vandalism which is part of the reason for scrapping the honesty boxes in the first place. I wonder if a local network at campsites for internet access in feasible?