Italian Flats; great free camping near Dargo
The Victorian High Country has more camp sites than you could explore in months, and on our second stint there, we were much more relaxed about finding a perfect camp site.
So much so, that we called through two other camp sites that were reasonable but not nearly as good as what we’d learnt to expect of the VHC, before pulling into Italian Flats.
Where is Italian Flats?
You’ll find this camp ground roughly 15 minutes North East of the Dargo Pub, and Dargo itself. It’s just off the Dargo High Plains road, and is accessible to all normal size vehicles with a bit of clearance.
A number of people tow caravans into Italian Flats, which is perfectly OK, as long as you’re prepared to do some narrower sections, and reverse if you meet any oncoming traffic as needed.
What’s it like?
This is a fairly typical, beautiful Victorian High Country Camp site. It’s easy to get to, has a beautiful (and fairly warm) river to swim in, and there’s lots of room to pull up and camp.
Not all camp sites have great access to the water, or even water views, but there’s quite a number of choices, and we really enjoyed it. It’s certainly not as nice as Granny Flats, or Frys Flat, but its still decent and close to everything you need.
We did call into 2 mile, which is the camp just before here from Dargo side, and thought it wasn’t nearly as good.
What does it cost to stay?
Like the vast majority of camp sites in the Victorian High Country, its completely and utterly free to camp here. You can stay at 2 mile camp which is on the way in as well, and also free, or there’s a myriad of other locations not far away too.
Amenities at Italian Flats
You’ll find picnic tables, drop toilets and fire pits at Italian Flats, and that’s it. Not that you need any more either!
Swimming in the river
We spent many hours in the water here, and found the temperature quite good compared to some of the freezing streams we’ve swum in. There’s a few places that are deep enough that you can’t stand, and its crystal clear, stunning and just a great place to cool off when its warm. We were very grateful on a 35 degree day!
Would we recommend a stay here?
Yep, if you want somewhere near Dargo to pull into for a night or two, you won’t go wrong here. We headed off the next day to Talbotville to get some 4WD tracks done, but this is a great spot to check out and relax at.
If you’re chasing another mint spot to camp in the Victorian High Country, you won’t go wrong with Devils Hollow.
