Complete Currawinya National Park Camping Guide [2025]

Currawinya National Park is on Budjiti Country. I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this area and their connection to Country, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

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Currawinya National Park is Queensland’s largest national park.

It’s a bird lover’s paradise, rich in pastoral history, and one that sees relatively few visitors. And that’s very attractive for people like me who seek solitude and wide open spaces when they’re camping.

The only downside at Currawinya is probably the pesky mosquitoes.

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CAMPING AT CURRAWINYA NATIONAL PARK

The closest town to Currawinya National Park is Cunnamulla on the Balonne Highway, some 800km west of Brisbane.

Along the way you’ll pass through Eulo, which is big enough to offer fuel and a few basic supplies but not much else.

It’s not hard to get to Currawinya, it’s just a long way. So ideally stay at least two nights, more if you want to take things more leisurely. There’s a lot to explore.

Visiting the park is possibly doable in a conventional vehicle when it’s dry but you don’t see too many out here. A 4WD vehicle will allow you to do the scenic drives around the park.

Out here it’s very basic bush camping, there are almost no facilities, and this also means no (drinking) water. You can access toilets in two spots but there are no toilets in any of the camping areas.

There are five different camping areas to choose from at Currawinya. Four are along the Paroo River with a another camping area established in a bushy setting in the expanded section of the national park.

Ourimperee Waterhole and Corni Paroo both offer camping for 30 people, while Caiwarro Waterhole and Pump Hole have space for 10 people each. Myninya has six individual sites.

CAMPING AT CURRAWINYA: TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST VISIT

OURIMPEREE WATERHOLE CAMPING AREA

Ourimperee Waterhole is the first camping area as you enter the national park from Hungerford, about 25km from the park’s entrance. It’s easy to find but, to be honest, as soon as we got there, I wanted to leave.

There are no marked sites at Ourimperee Waterhole (which is fine).

But it’s actually hard to make out where exactly you can camp. We couldn’t really make sense of this camping area as the whole area just seemed like one giant mud flat and was almost level with the river.

You could tell the entire camping area would flood during the wet season.

Since at the time we didn’t have our own portable toilet system (shovel + dig a hole method excluded), we thought we’d book two nights at Ourimperee Waterhole. The camping area was supposed to be near one of the toilets in the park, and by near, I mean kind of within walking distance.

Not only were the toilets nowhere near walking distance, the mozzies were ferocious, and overall, the entire area felt pretty uninspiring.

On the map, the (flush) toilets look just about walkable but you really need to drive there. They’re located at the old Currawinya Woolshed site, and were infested with mozzies. I was almost going insane trying to use the toilet! At least there’s a sink there so I could wash my face.

If you’ve got hopes of using the (cold) showers here, don’t expect anything fancy. They’re open air and looked very agricultural. I’m sure there might be times when I wouldn’t care but they certainly didn’t temp me this time round.

Although we’d booked two nights, we ended up staying only one. I just couldn’t bear it.

We packed up in the morning and given how quiet the park was, decided to check out the other camping areas and see if any of them looked more attractive (and yes, they did).

OURIMPEREE WATERHOLE CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Short (driving) distance away from the amazing Currawinya Woolshed; located along a waterhole of the Paroo River; cold showers at the woolshed

CONS: Uninspiring mud flats; a gazillion mosquitoes; (flush) toilets not within walking distance (but easily driveable), also mozzie-infested

COSTS: $7.25 pp/pn (2025); pre-bookings only

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 1/5

The mozzie bites themselves weren’t terribly itchy but the buzzing and biting was relentless. Even fully clothed and covered in insect-repellent, they were buzzing around our heads. I felt like I was going crazy.

Not fun. Or even vaguely relaxing.

CORNI PAROO CAMPING AREA

After a day of exploring Currawinya and debating whether we should stay at Myninya, we ended up heading to Corni Paroo camping area for our second night.

On the surface, Corni Paroo might be just the same as Ourimperee Waterhole: You’re camping along the Paroo with the same sort of vegetation around you. But, we found a lovely spot at the end of the camping area that was elevated from the river and had a picnic table. A picnic table! Out here!

And what’s more, the mozzie onslaught was nowhere near as ridiculous as the night before.

You’re relatively spaced out here and sites aren’t marked as such. Choose whatever looks good to you, and as far away from any neighbours as you want. We were actually completely on our own at this spot, and would definitely head straight back to this spot if we ever went to Currawinya again.

The real downside, of course, is that there is no toilet within walking distance. You can drive to the pit toilet at the Caiwarro Ruins but the distance isn’t walkable for a quick toilet walk. You also need to bring a toilet / ensuite tent here as the vegetation is on the sparse side of things and to give you some sense of privacy.

If you have your own toilet system, you’ll love the remoteness and being left completely to your own devices out here. If you’re a bush toilet user, be responsible and don’t leave toilet paper wasting around. It’s disgusting (not to mention the impact on the environment).

CORNI PAROO CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Flatish (unmarked) campsites; located along the Paroo River up the bank; a few sites have picnic tables; remote and quiet

CONS: A lot of flies and a few mozzies; no walks nearby; no toilet access (BYO toilet)

COSTS: $7.25 pp/pn (2025); pre-bookings only

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 2/5

OTHER CAMPING OPTIONS

There are three other camping areas at Currawinya. Since we’re curious people (and also for future reference should we ever come back here), we drove around the entire park and had a look at them.

In a nutshell, if Corni Paroo was too busy for my liking, I’d head to Pump Hole or Myninya if we were coming from the north.

CAIWARRO WATERHOLE CAMPING AREA

If you really want to be away from it all, not that you’re not at the other two spots, the Caiwarro Waterhole camping area might work for you. It’s certainly the furthest away from anywhere, and there really isn’t much out there.

To reach Caiwarro Waterhole, you first have to head across the river at a causeway.

We didn’t see any picnic tables or anything, just a few spots that looked like people had camped here at some point.

Like at Corni Paroo, you’re a little bit elevated from the river. The few sites looked pretty uneven and not all that appealing but the ground didn’t appear quite as muddy or cracked as at Ourimperee Waterhole.

CAIRWARRO WATERHOLE CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Located along a waterhole of the Paroo River; isolation; shady areas next to the river

CONS: Uneven sites; no toilet access; no picnic tables

COSTS: $7.25 pp/pn (2025); pre-bookings only

PUMP HOLE CAMPING AREA

Like Caiwarro Waterhole, the Pump Hole camping area is across the river but it’s a fair bit closer to the main track.

If you don’t need to worry about having access to a toilet, this would probably be my second choice for a campsite. We found the sites slightly more even and with a few picnic tables strewn about.

Plus there are a few interesting relics from a bygone farming era.

The banks of the river aren’t terribly steep here but you’re also not level with the water as at Ourimperee. There are plenty of trees so this might be a nice shady camping area if it was sunny.

PUMP HOLE CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Located along a waterhole of the Paroo River but closer to the main road than Caiwarro Waterhole; a few picnic tables; shady spots; pastoral relics nearby; remote and quiet

CONS: No toilet access; somewhat uneven area

COSTS: $7.25 pp/pn (2025); pre-bookings only

MYNINYA BUSH CAMPING AREA

Myninya bush camping area is the latest addition to the campgrounds at Currawinya National Park. This spot is located in the newish northern section of the park and is the closest site from the (new) northern entrance.

Unlike the other four camping areas, Myninya isn’t located along any river though there’s a (semi-permanent) waterhole next to it.

The sites are very basic but most looked reasonably spacious so if you have a big setup, this camping area might be a good choice.

The best thing about Myninya though is the open air shower, albeit cold water only. But if you just want to wash some sticky red dust of you – perfect!

As with all the other sites, you’ll need to have your own toilet. There’s a shower but that’s it in terms of facilities. [Note: The QPWS website states that there is a flush toilet at Myninya. Unless that’s new, I couldn’t find it. And a flushing toilet sounds a bit too good to be true out here!]

MYNINYA CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Closest to the northern entrance; cold shower; relatively flat; clearly defined, large sites

CONS: Far from the Paroo River; no toilet access

COSTS: $7.25 pp/pn (2025); pre-bookings only

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Whichever camping area you choose, I hope you won’t get too pestered by mozzies and enjoy your camping experience far more than what we did. In any case, it should be fairly peaceful and quiet.

Happy camping,

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MORE INFORMATION

For more details on Currawinya, including how to make a booking, check out Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service. Download the Currawinya National Park map to get a better idea of where the camping areas are.

MORE POSTS ON EXPLORING OUTBACK QUEENSLAND

Currawinya is a long way away and it makes sense to combine it with a few other national parks on a road trip across Queensland. Here’s my list of 9 stunning national parks in Outback Queensland.

Read more about how to spend 10 days on the road exploring part of the Queensland Outback.

As part of that particular Outback Queensland trip, we camped for two nights at Idalia National Park and then another two nights at Welford National Park. Here’s what you need to know about camping at Idalia and camping at Welford.

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