Coopers Creek Campground; stunning, free and amazing
The High Country Camping has exceeded our expectations a hundred times over, and there’s been more than a few places that have proven this.
Pulling onto Walhalla Road, I knew the region was going to be good, and when we arrived at Coopers Creek Campground, I was absolutely shocked at how beautiful it is.
Where is Coopers Creek Campground?
This stunning part of the world is just off Walhalla Road, and about 10 minutes drive from the historic town of Walhalla itself. We took the drive into town not long after setting our camper up, and were stunned at how picturesque, different and inviting the town was.
It’s like you’ve stepped back in time a hundred years, with incredible timber homes, a meandering creek and a couple of small stores. After visiting Woods Point we were expecting something similar, and it is, albeit a bit more ‘polished’.
What is the campground like?
Coopers Creek Campground is absolutely fantastic. When you drive in, you’re met with a day use area and views of the Thompson River that are sensational.
If you turn left, you drive up to Camp Ground 1, which is a big, gravel area set up for Caravan Camping, and tent sites.
There’s a picnic area, two drop toilets and many of the camp sites can see down the hill to the beautiful river.
Camp Ground 2 is just up the road, and has a backdrop that is pure magic. It’s perched closer to a hill with big trees though, which means only a couple of the sites get good sun all day.
Some of these sites are suitable for smaller caravans and camper trailers, and then there’s a heap of area for tent camping away from your vehicle. Camp ground 2 also has two toilets.
There’s a lot of fire pits around the place in both campgrounds and you can just see the river through the trees from Camp Ground 2.
After not liking Camp Ground 1 as much, we ended up staying there as it had full sun (it was cold, and we needed solar), and it was quieter, with no one up that side of camp.
It really grew on me, and I completely fell in love with Coopers Creek Campground as a place to stay.
See the vlog
Keen on seeing more of our travels, and the 4WD tracks around Coopers Creek? Check out our vlog from our stay:
Do you need a 4WD to get there?
No, and we saw a huge number of 2WD vehicles pull in to use the day use area for a few hours, or to camp. Walhalla Road is bitumen, and then the track down to Coopers Creek Campground is a narrow, but well maintained gravel road.
If you met someone coming the other way in a few places one would have to reverse, but its a pretty good road in.
Can you tow a caravan in?
Yes, and its set up for this. However, you should know that the road in is very narrow, and there are a lot of places where you would not be getting past anyone going the other way, so someone is going to reverse.
There’s at least 5 camp sites that suit caravans, and its got enough clearance to get them in.
Does Coopers Creek Campground get busy?
Yes, absolutely. When we arrived, on a Monday morning there was one other camper, and two ladies were there cleaning the rubbish up, and looking after the toilets. Not long after though, a steady stream of cars started to come through. Some stayed at the day use area for a bit, and some set up camp.
We ended up with one other car opposite us in Campground 1, but this is a week day, and on the weekends its busy. I did notice on the way to Coopers Creek Campground there is a private property with a sign offering ‘quiet’ camping for $10 a night.
Sarah also told me that over New Years there were 200 campers in the campground, so its certainly well known, and being easy to access and beautiful its no surprise. I would imagine in this scenario it would lose a lot of its attraction!
What does it cost?
I find it almost funny that you don’t pay a cent to camp here. This easily competes with some of the better campgrounds in Western Australia, and there is zero chance you’d be staying at them without paying for it.
Coopers Creek is 100% free, and for what you get, that is absolutely astounding (and very welcomed!).
Take your rubbish with you
I don’t understand why you’d leave rubbish in such a beautiful place. Seriously, the staff who were cleaning the fire pits and toilets spent a good couple of hours here picking peoples water bottles, plastic and other rubbish up.
Take your rubbish home, and leave no trace. You aren’t paying a cent, and leaving it in a bad state is not only totally disrespectful to those who want to use it and the wildlife, but its going to result in fees, or closures eventually.
Massive lizards
I was kicking back the first afternoon when I saw a big shape moving near camp, and jumped up off the seat to get the camera, to see a massive lizard walking across the road. We saw it, or another one a number of times after that, and it was well over a metre long.
We watched it get up a tree a couple of times, and every time I’d move one way to get a photo, it would move and hide on the other side. This thing was absolutely stunning, and whilst you wouldn’t want to get too close, its truly incredible.
4WD tracks in the area
After getting Newtracs to display the track difficulty, I had a good poke around to see what we could see.
Coopers Creek Track actually takes you through the river and out the other side, and there are a heap of tracks around Walhalla.
We headed out for the day to explore some, and found some truly awesome tracks, which we’ll share shortly. We also called into Bruntons Bridge, which is possibly even nicer than Coopers Creek.
