Girraween National Park is on the boundary of Jukambal, Bundgalung and Kamilleroi Country. I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians who met and continue to meet in this area and their deep and ongoing connection to Country. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present.
Girraween National Park in Queensland’s Granite Belt is a fabulous place to spend a few days or a long weekend. The huge granite boulders are just so different from much of the rest of Queensland.
Located almost at the border to New South Wales, the scenery and hiking opportunities at Girraween are superb.
It’s one of our favourite camping destination for a weekend even in winter. While we’ve never camped here over a long weekend, even during school holidays, it hasn’t been too crazy—not empty but also not party town. Just expect things to be generally busy and noisy during school holidays and over long weekends.
Girraween is a popular place.
CAMPING AT GIRRAWEEN NATIONAL PARK
Camping at Girraween means you’re really close to many of the hiking trails in the national park. If you want to explore the northern and southern trails in the park, you won’t have to get in your car at all—they’re all right there, waiting just outside your tent.
The camping areas at Girraween National Park had a major facelift in recent years, including additional camping areas and some new amenities blocks. There are now large sites for caravans and camper trailers as well as smaller sites for tent-based camping.
You’ll also be sharing the space with plenty of local wildlife. Especially the Terrawambella camping area is often teems with kangaroos and wallabies grazing or lazing about, especially early in the morning and at dusk.
Like at all camping areas in Queensland’s national parks, you need to pre-book your site. You can’t book specific campsites at any of the camping areas. You can only choose the camping area, your actual site is on a first come/first serve basis.
If you’re coming over winter, keep in mind that winter nights here drop below freezing, so you’ll want a decent down sleeping bag or high-quality thermals if you’re tenting.
If you fondly remember the hot showers at Girraween, I’ve got bad news for you. They’ve been removed. You can still have a shower at Castle Rock camping area but it’s BYO shower system now, including heating up the water yourself. The shower cubicles still exist but there are no taps or shower heads, just a hook for hanging your own shower.
CHOOSING A CAMPING AREA AT GIRRAWEEN
You have the choice of three spots for camping at Girraween National Park, all accessed via a single main entrance on the southern side of the road. To get to Castle Rock, you first drive past Terrawambella and then Kambuwal.
- Castle Rock: The older camping area with an open space, offering lots of trees and shade, some grassy areas, tent platforms and gravel sites.
- Terrawambella: A dedicated, completely open area, only suitable for caravans and camper trailers.
- Kambuwal: Bush setting with a mix of smaller caravan, trailer and tent sites with some offering more shade than others.
The old Black Rock camping area is now defunct and the entrance is blocked off. You can still walk through it and just make out the previous (lovely bushy) campsites. The road is washed out though and things are getting wild in there.
CASTLE ROCK CAMPING AREA
Castle Rock Camping Area At a Glance
Pros: Easily accessible (2WD); clean flush toilets; shower cubicles (BYO hot water and shower bag); untreated water; close to walking tracks; lots of wildlife; offers a variety of sites, including some tent platforms and picnic tables
Cons: Open space area that can feel packed if busy; some semi-shaded areas but very hot during summer; more suited to groups who want little privacy; access to cars can be a bit tricky/further away depending on site (for tent-based sites)
Costs: $7.75 pp/pn (2026); Pre-bookings required via the QNP Booking Service
The layout of the Castle Rock camping area was completely redesigned a few years back, with some of the older grassy areas remaining for tent-based camping. Some of the larger grassy areas are now marked bays for caravans or camper trailers.
Since there are lots of campsites at Castle Rock, it can feel rather busy here depending on bookings.
TENT-BASED CAMPSITES
Castle Rock has a couple of large grassy areas for tent-based camping as well as a few tent platforms along the edges of the campground. In-between are large, gravel-based sites that are suitable for camper trailers, campervans or caravans.
There are a fair few shady spots at Castle Rock, especially in the middle grass section, but you’ll be sharing the site with others as these areas are just open sites.
The sites with platforms for tents seem to be pretty close together (I’m not a fan, I like my own space). Others are quite slopey so all in all, I didn’t love the setup for tent-based camping at Castle Rock.
That said, if you’re in a bigger group, you’ll probably want to camp at Castle Rock. The larger grassy areas in the middle will be more suitable than anything at the other two camping areas.
CAMPSITES FOR PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY (PWD)
The other feature at Castle Rock is two campsites specifically for persons with a disability (PWD). There’s nothing particularly special about these sites other than that they are large and flat, and set up right next to an accessible toilet block (which seemed to get a fair bit of use by everyone).
I didn’t see anyone actually camping in these specific sites while we were there but I do appreciate the effort by QPWS to make the outdoors more accessible for people with a disability.
I haven’t seen these sorts of sites at any other national park in Australia yet (not saying they don’t exist, just haven’t come across any yet).
CAMPSITES FOR CARAVANS, CAMPERVANS AND CAMPER TRAILERS
There are 15 designated campsites for small camper trailers or caravans as well as three sites for larger vehicles at Castle Rock.
They are clearly marked so if you’re tent campers like us, you’ll need to find an area that’s specifically for tents.
Some are around the outside (less shade) and some smack-bang in the middle (more shade).
AMENITIES
Amazingly, the old (but renovated) amenities block at Castle Rock still has flush toilets and as mentioned, shower cubicles but no actual showers anymore. It’s BYO shower now.
KAMBUWAL CAMPING AREA
Kambuwal Camping Area At a Glance
Pros: Easily accessible (2WD); clean flush toilets; untreated water; close to walking tracks; most sites are relatively flat and (semi-)shaded; most tent sites have tent platforms/compacted sand and picnic tables; nice bush backdrop
Cons: Some sites are very close together and offer little privacy; can’t get your car on most tent-specific sites
Costs: $7.75 pp/pn (2026); Pre-bookings required via the QNP Booking Service
The Kambuwal camping area is my preferred area for camping at Girraween. It’s in a lovely bush setting with granite boulders and trees as a backdrop.
Kambuwal offers clearly defined sites, quite a few of them with picnic tables. It’s a mix of caravan/camper trailer sites (8) and tent-based sites (13), all clearly marked to indicate which is which.
There are a couple of sites that are a bit uninspiring as they’re directly on the road side. Some others are a bit slopey but these also offer the most privacy and lots of shade, which would be great in the warmer months.
You can’t really get your car onto most of the tent sites the way they’re designed with the rock borders. Some sites are also elevated so getting your car onto the site wouldn’t work here either.
Luckily, we had enough shade in our site so didn’t feel we needed our awning out. That would have been a bit awkward given that our site was somewhat elevated from the parking space.
AMENITIES
There’s also a (flush) toilet block at Kambuwal with separate sinks on one side and a couple of standard powerpoints if you need to charge anything.
TERRAWAMBELLA CAMPING AREA
Terrawambella Camping Area At a Glance
Pros: Easily accessible (2WD); clean toilets; untreated water; close to walking tracks; large individual sites suitable for bigger caravan, camper trailer setups or motorhomes
Cons: Open space (no privacy or shade); all traffic (vehicle + pedestrian) goes past camping area
Costs: $7.75 pp/pn (2026); Pre-bookings required via the QNP Booking Service
Terrawambella is by far the most uninspiring camping areas of the three. That said, it’s built for purpose to offer large spaces to caravans and camper trailer setups.
We haven’t actually camped in this section since we’re tent campers and there are no sites for tents here.
It’s a relatively small camping area with only 11 sites but each site is fairly large (12x9m). There’s also one site that can accommodate two camper trailers, and one group tent site intended mostly for school groups.
There’s a toilet block within the camping area so you don’t have to walk far.
READY TO CHOOSE YOUR CAMPSITE?
Whether you want the convenience of Castle Rock, the bush setting of Kambuwal or have a big setup for Terrawambella, Girraween is an fantastic place to pitch a tent or park your caravan.
Just remember that, as with almost every national park in Queensland, you need to take your rubbish home. No bins are provided.
Happy camping,
Planning a longer trip? Just across the New South Wales border, you can also check out my complete guide to camping at Bald Rock National Park to explore the southern side of the Granite Belt.
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