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Camping in Eungella National Park

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by Cris (subscribe)

Cris is an Organiser of the Group Hiking South East Qld and More on Meetup. Visit the website at https://www.meetup.com/HikingInSEQLDandMore/ is free to join all the activities posted on the hiking group.

Published September 29th 2021

A world to discover

Camping in Eungella National Park is a perfect opportunity for close contact with precious nature and to have fun making a fire in the fire ring, roasting marshmallows and watching the starry sky in the night. It is also possible to spot platypuses in the nearby river, besides the possibility to see reptiles and birds.

There are two camping sites at Eungella National Park - Broken River camping area and Fern Flat camping area. Both are located near the Broken River day use area, off Eungella Dam Road, about six km south of the Eungella township.

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The Group Hiking South East Qld and More posing at Broken River Bush Camping Area. Photo by Author.

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Broken River bush camp site

Broken River bush camp is in a green grassy area adjacent to Broken River, where it is possible to spot platypuses, snakes and birds.

The Brush Turkey, a very common sight in Broken River Bush Camp Area. Photo by Author.

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There are eight sites available for tents, caravans and camper trailers. There are toilet facilities and fires are allowed in the fire rings. Bring your own clean milled timber and fuel stoves are recommended for cooking. Bring your own water for drinking and cooking as there is no potable water available in the camping sites.

Broken River Bush Camping Area. Photo by Author.

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Broken River Camping area is about five km from Eungella township, off Eungella Dam Road, before the bridge over Broken River.

Broken River Bush Camping Area. Photo by Author.

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At the beginning of spring, I camped in Eungella National Park in Broken River Bush Camping Area with the group Hiking South East Qld and More. The camping site was large enough to accommodate all the campers comfortably in tents or caravans. A few people camped in Fern Flat camping area, which is about 600 metres away from the Information Centre.

The camping was a fantastic experience with a few walks starting near the camping site. A platform near the river allows for the spotting of platypuses in Broken River. Practically it is possible to spot these unique mammals at any time of the day, especially early in the morning and later in the afternoon.

In the evening, the group collected around the fire ring to warm up since the temperature dropped as soon as the sun disappeared. Children and adults had fun roasting and accidentally burning the marshmallows in the fire. Bandicoots were around and about making lots of noise when moving in the bushes.

In the night, we had fun spotting the satellites in the clear and cloudless sky, full of stars. It is easy to spot the satellites since they move in a straight trajectory and very fast.

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Photo by Author.

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View over a farm from Broken River camping site. Photo by Author.

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One site of the Broken River bush camp area overlooks the Broken River with the possibility to sit quietly and enjoying platypus spotting. There are many other animals in the camping site, especially in the night. We were visited by a few bandicoots and I spotted a few birds, including the noisy pitta and the yellow eastern robin.

A few people managed to spot snakes swimming in the river and there was a carpet python under the grass, possibly digesting its meal.

The carpet python was spotted under the grass near the bank of the river. It stayed all coiled up and did not move for all the three days we were camping. Most probably the snake was digesting a meal. It did not even move to sunny itself despite the cold nights with temperatures around five degrees. Photo by Author.

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Plenty of room in the camping site. Photo by Author.

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Broken River Bush Camping Area. In the background the bridge of Eungella Dam Road over Broken River. Photo by Author.

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Fern Flat camping area

Fern Flat camping are is located about 600 metres from Broken River West day use area and from the Information Centre with the coffee shop, which are about five km from Eungella township.

There are eight sites and they are suitable for tents and cars being close to the tents. The camping ground is not suitable for camper trailers, caravans and motor homes. There are toilet facilities and ring fires. The dirt road that connects Broken River west day use area with the Fern Flat camping ground is very bumpy. We used the road once and we just made it with our conventional vehicle.

There are no showers in both camping sites but you can shower
at Eungella Hub, 24hr coin operated, solar hot water showers.