Hold it Flats; pristine camping near Mackay
We’ve stayed at some pretty well setup and scenic camping areas in Australia, but I was still shocked rolling into Hold It Flats Camping area. This is a beautiful private property that is hugely popular for camping near Mackay with the locals, and for good reason. It is pristine, with amazing views, all of the amenities you need and plenty of room for group camping.

Where is Hold it Flats?
You’ll find this magnificent property only about 50km North West?? Of Mackay. It’s along the same road taken to get to the aslkfjskfj state forest, and requires a small section of gravel driving to get to it. You’d comfortably get a 2WD vehicle here, and we saw a few do just that.

What amenities are there?
Hold it Flats have flushing toilets, and hot showers. Granted, they’re in tin sheds and a little rustic, but they work well, the showers were decent and warm and they are close to camp. Each site has a fire pit, and there’s a great river that you can swim, paddle or float around in should you feel the need.

What does it cost to camp?
It’s slightly more expensive to camp on the riverside sides than any other, but our family paid $42 a night. Certainly more than we’d normally pay, but its no normal property.

How do you book?
If you want to stay at Hold It Flats, you need to book, and its done through Hipcamp. I am surprised that a property of this magnitude still uses Hipcamps (they could easily do it on their own), but you’ll find the various camp sites on the Hipcamp website, and you can book through them.

Firewood, coffee and laundry
If you want firewood, you can buy it precut and ready, for $15 a crate. They also do coffee, and laundry, if you organise it with the owners, which is pretty amazing.

Where can you camp?
There’s a couple of different places you can camp at Hold it Flats. The first, and most beautiful is the riverside sides, which are literally metres from the water. Then, you have some sites set a bit further back, or you have the trackside camps which are on the other side of the road (still easily walking distance to the river).


All of the sites are beautiful, and picturesque, and have access to good amenities, but some are further to walk to the river.



Watch the vlog
If you want to see the property by video, we’ve got a vlog from our stay, which you can see on YouTube below:

This is great for group camping
We saw a huge number of people camping in big groups here, and it’s the perfect area to do so. You’ve got a massive amount of space to set up with mates, family and friends, and anywhere you do it, the scenery is going to be good.
We had a birthday party next to us, and a couple of other groups behind and to the side, all enjoying themselves and having a good time.
If you are after silence and peace and quiet, this is not the place to be over the weekend, with a general hustle and bustle always taking place. It was certainly not loud or unpleasant, but a big change from our normal, quiet camp sites!

Mackay offroad
Some of you might know Hold it Flats as a property for the Mackay offroad event. This has been run here for a number of years, but we spoke to the owner who said they’re wrapping it up, and 2023 was the last season it would be held. I didn’t ask why the change, but I suppose the signs here will be pulled down soon.
Did we like Hold it Flats?
There is no doubting that this property is magnificent, and the riverside camping is up there with the best that you can do near any major city. We visited on a weekend when it was quite busy, but we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and can see why its so popular.
I was debating whether the price was justified, and can pretty safely say that I think it is. You won’t find too many places in Australia where you have access to hot showers, flushing toilets and great views. It reminded us on so many levels of Paradise Valley in Victoria, on a smaller scale, and this was also expensive, but beautiful. If you want something cheaper, you can head to Creek and Antique Camping, or even Blackiron Camping which are both fairly close by.
If you’re chasing a great place to stay, or you’re looking for Camping near Mackay, you won’t go wrong with Hold it Flats!
