Camping at remote Rungulla National Park: A quick guide

Rungulla National Park is on Ewamian 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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After a busy camping experience at Cobbold Gorge, we were well and truly ready for a couple of relaxing days bush camping.

We knew next to nothing about Rungulla National Park, and discovered that there isn’t much more to it beyond bush camping and a small rock art site.

But it is beautiful sandstone country with the Gilbert and Percy Rivers winding their way through the national park.

We spent a couple of nights at Rungulla National Park on our recent Gulf Savannah road trip in Tropical North Queensland.

In hindsight, we wished we’d discovered it sooner and had more time to simply hang out and enjoy this absolutely blissful slice of God’s earth.

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RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK: TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST VISIT

Rungulla National Park in Queensland’s Gulf Savannah is rugged, remote and very peaceful. It’s only accessible for 4WD vehicles given river crossings.

BEST TIME TO VISIT RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK

The best time to visit is in the dry season, ideally between May to September. This far north, it’s not exactly cold in the dry season either but roads will be accessible by then and the temperatures should be pleasant (instead of stiflingly hot).

Expect high-20°Cs to low-30°Cs during the day in June/July and sunny, clear days. Nights can drop to around 10-12°C but we experienced temperatures more like 18-20°C overnight.

Rungulla National Park is officially closed between November to March given the heat and widespread seasonal flooding.

HOW TO GET TO RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK

Rungulla National Park is about 500km southwest of Cairns, roughly a 7-hour drive.

The road from Cairns to Georgetown is completely sealed but once you leave Georgetown, you’ll soon find yourself on unsealed roads. The state of these roads can vary from ‘fairly smooth and recently graded’ to ‘corrugated and rough’.

From Georgetown, you have about 116km to drive before getting to the entrance of Rungulla National Park. Past Forsayth, the roads get smaller and a bit rougher with multiple creek crossings.

The wet season was a long one this year (2024) but by early July, all creek crossings were completely passable in a 4WD.

We came from Cobbold Gorge along Cobb Road, following the directions by QPWS.

On the whole, the QPWS instructions are pretty clear but we did get confused by the fact that you enter the national park and yet soon after a grid follows with a sign for Ortona Station.

Just keep going as the turnoff to the camping area appears not long after.

The hardest bit of the drive actually comes once you’ve turned off Agate Creek Road. You’ll need to cross sandy Percy River followed by a steepish ascent up the riverbank.

It’s nothing too dramatic in a high-clearance 4WD but be mindful of (submerged) rocks in the riverbed and around the riverbank as you exit. There may also be a bit more water in the river as the riverbed is quite wide here.

TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST VISIT TO RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK

Travelling to remote places like Rungulla requires some preparation. Even though there are some stations “nearby”, it is still some 120km to Georgetown and help may not be available straight away.

Here are a few tips for your trip to Rungulla National Park:

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ENJOYING RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK: 3 RELAXING ACTIVITIES

Rungulla National Park was only gazetted in 2015, and most of it remains inaccessible. So other than exploring the river, relaxing in your campsite and visiting the rock art site, there isn’t much to do here.

If you love simple bush camping, Rungulla is your place.

1. BUSH CAMPING AT RUNGULLA

Camping at Rungulla felt like paradise to us.

We were entirely on our own and didn’t see a single car during our two nights at Rungulla.

There are three designated campsites but they are so completely dispersed that you wouldn’t even know if anyone else was there. All camping areas have river access, two along the Gilbert River and Site #3 on the Percy River.

The only downside might be that there’s not much shade in any of the sites.

Each of the three sites is bookable for up to 12 people. That said, you might struggle to fit 12 people on Site #1 depending on your setup since it’s a bit slopey and the smallest of the three camping areas.

Only Site #1 has a fairly brand new toilet (with a wheelchair-accessible ramp yet with a curb so high no wheelchair could get over it easily, go figure).

If staying at Campsite #2 or #3, you’ll need to be completely self-sufficient, including toilet access as there are no facilities.

You could potentially drive to the toilet but that’s impractical for two reasons:

1) It’s a fair drive from either #2 or #3). And 2) you would be entering Campsite #1 as the toilet is technically on that campsite. Which is only fine if no one’s there.

So if you camp in either Campsite #2 or #3 and don’t have a toilet, please make sure that you walk at least 100m away from the river before digging a deep hole.

CAMPING AT SITE #1

We camped at Site #1, and decided that that was indeed the best site given toilet facilities.

There’s also a water tank and a sink in the rather spacious toilet. However, there’s no plumbing for the grey water, it all just goes straight into the ground so use eco soap etc.

This site’s also the closest to the park’s entrance and very quick to reach.

The one negative is that site #1 is a slopey campsite and we spent far too much time working out where to put the tent (we don’t like sliding down our mats all night).

The river is also particularly picturesque at this campsite but you do have walk right down to the river to appreciate it. The view from the campsite itself is mostly of the trees lining the riverbank.

RUNGULLA CAMPING AREA AT A GLANCE

PROS: Isolated and peaceful; river access from all campsites; toilet facilities in Site #1; very few bugs and mozzies

CONS: Little shade; sites are uneven and a bit slopey; no walking tracks

COST: $7.25 pp/pn (2024); pre-bookings required

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 4/5

And remember to pre-book your camping spot (even though that’s so annoying out in the bush).

2. RIVER EXPLORATIONS

Depending on how early in the dry season you explore Rungulla, there’ll be more or less water in the two rivers running through the national park.

The riverbeds are sand, rocks and pebbles, and you can easily spend a couple of hours exploring them. If you go exploring, make sure you’re being smart about walking in the hot weather and take sufficient water etc. with you.

In early July, the Gilbert River wasn’t carrying much water anymore but it was still flowing and had some shallow pools for cooling down.

You couldn’t really swim and it was barely enough to lie down and cover yourself but still, the shallow water was a refreshing reprieve from the heat.

3. ROCK ART AT RUNGULLA NATIONAL PARK

There’s a small sandstone overhang at Rungulla, some 19km from the camping area, where you can admire and learn more about local Ewamian rock art.

It’s the only accessible rock art site in the national park, and you probably won’t need much time to take it all in.

Despite the sign on the information board saying it’s a 500m return walk, you can see the overhang from the road. It’s barely 100m to the site.

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SUMMING UP

We had no idea whether Rungulla National Park would be worth camping at for a couple of nights. All we really wanted was to be on our own, enjoy a peaceful campsite and relax.

And that’s exactly what we got: Pure bliss in the bush.

If the water levels in the river had been higher, it would have been perfect.

Happy relaxing,

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MORE INFORMATION

Find more details on Rungulla National Park, including weather alerts, directions and how to book online, check out Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service.

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