Best free camps on your way to the Pilbara from Perth
Our first main few stops on our journey around Australia were some awesome free camps as we had our eyes set on getting to Karijini National Park. Though we were also not keen on driving long hours, so we decided that we would break up the drive into 3 or 4 days. We probably averaged about 3 hours of traveling per day, therefore, not to rush in the mornings and still have plenty of light when we got into camp at the end of the day.
We left Perth around lunchtime and plugged “Wubin Rocks” into Google Maps. We found Wubin Rocks on Wiki Camps and it had several good reviews and someone did mention that it was a decent way off the highway, so we thought we would give it a whirl. Only about 10kms out of the small country town of Wubin, Wubin Rocks is clearly signed and despite initial thoughts, there were quite a few little spots to set up camp. We found a cosy little area which backed into some large rocks (unsure if these were the actual “Wubin Rocks”). The campsite was perfect for us, heaps of room for us to spread out, plenty of firewood, a couple of old fire rock rings from past travellers or maybe a few Wubin locals bored with the towns lack of hospitality. We could still hear a few road trains from the highway, but it wasn’t loud enough to disturb us. The pro’s for this camp were that there was a decent amount of 4G mobile reception and lots of space, one con was that the higher campsites have the potential to cop a bit of wind. As we were leaving we did notice some even more larger areas to campsite in the North West section of Wubin Rocks. This camping spot is great for a 1 night stop over!
For our second night on the road, we stopped at a roadside rest area called Old Wynyangoo Parking Area. Though it initially looks like a normal roadside rest area, it is easy to find the track that takes your further off the road. From here there are countless little spots to set up camp, there are even a couple of dams you can camp on the bank of. As we were keen to escape the noise of the road trains, we ventured quite a way back from the rest area, probably about 500m-600m. The ground here is really solid and great to camp on, the only downside with this camp was that were was quite a few flies, though as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, it was very pleasant. We highly recommend this camp, as it easy to find, and there are a large number of spots, as well as it also has 4G mobile reception. It also must be noted that this camp was found on Wiki Camps, with several great high reviews. Here we filmed our first cooking episode, so check that out here.
Our third free camp for this trip was most probably our favourite out of the initial three. This spot is located on the Gascoyne River so you have quite a number of spots that have a great view of the river. Heading north the turn off is a left after you cross the bridge, though it must be noted that it appears quite quickly so don’t be going too fast. You can cruise down the side of the river for quite some way with a few camp sites on the right hand side, but the best ones are all along the river on your left. Again, we drove quite a way down this track passing a number of campers who were already set up for the night. We found a great little spot only about 10m back from the water and level enough for our roof top tent. We had small track that went right down to the water, so this is where we made our fire, set up our table and chairs and put up the hammock. Similarly to the last spot, there were quite a few flies, but hey, that’s camping in the bush. This spot was also the busier of the three, so if you are traveling in peak tourist season as everyone heads north to escape the winter, get in before dusk to claim a good spot. This spot also had 4G reception, though a little patchy at times.
Our fourth free camping spot before we got to Karijini was well and truly our favourite, though it wasn’t super easy to find and even had a few water crossings to get to it. So, we have decided to dedicate a whole other blog post to that adventure! If you can’t wait, we have a video on our YouTube exploring this epic free camp!
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