Jamieson Creek Campground; camping right on the Great Ocean Road
There’s some pretty amazing Great Ocean Road Camping options around, but we didn’t realise you could literally camp right above the road itself, at Jamieson Creek Campground.
We found it on Wikicamps a few days prior, and decided to book three nights in to explore the attractions nearby, but turning into the campground I said to Sarah ‘this can’t be right’!
Where is Jamieson Creek Campground?
In essence, this campground sits on top of the Great Ocean Road, about 18 minutes drive South West of Lorne. You literally take a sharp turn after crossing the Jamieson Creek, and head up a narrow gravel road to the camp ground, which has a couple of lookouts that allow you to see the coast, and Great Ocean Road itself.
What’s the campground like?
I was thoroughly impressed with the Jamieson Creek Campground from the second we arrived. Not only do some camp sites have ocean and road views, but you can hear the waves crashing, its well set up and the backdrop looking up the hill is fantastic.
The campground is split in two, with large camp sites set up for caravans, camper trailers and vehicle camping, and then a much smaller tent section, which is quite close together and requires you to walk in with your tent and gear (only a few metres, but you aren’t camping next to your vehicle).
What amenities are there?
This campground has a number of drop toilets, untreated rainwater, gas BBQ’s, a couple of picnic areas, and quite a few shared fire pits.
What does it cost to camp?
Camping at Jamieson Creek Campground will set you back just $15 per night per site, which is really good value compared to alternative options nearby.
Do you need a 4WD?
Despite the entrance to the camp site seeming a bit sketchy, you can comfortably get a 2WD vehicle here, and many people were. From the Great Ocean Road, there’s a single gravel road with a sharp bend, that climbs a decent hill before it flattens out at the top, where the campground is.
Take it easy going into camp, and exiting, and you’ll be just fine.
If you have a heavy trailer, I’m going to say a 4WD is probably smart. Towing a 2 tonne plus caravan up this gravel hill in a 2WD might not end too well.
Attractions nearby Jamieson Creek Campground
The Great Ocean Road has a heap of different things to see, and we enjoyed our 3 nights here, seeing quite a bit of the area around the campground.
We really enjoyed doing the Jamieson Track, and a number of other 4WD tracks heading further South.
Sheoak Falls is certainly worth a look, as is Erskine Falls. We checked out Carisbrook falls which were pretty neat as well, and Lorne is a stunning part of the world.
We wanted to go to Phantom and Henderson falls, but the comments we had read were misleading, and one track closer to them was shut, so we spent some time on the foreshore at Lorne before heading back to camp.
Small flies
We’d noticed a few bites appear during our stay at Jamieson Creek, but on day 3 the tiny flies were out of control, hanging around the fire’s smoke and generally being a pain.
They weren’t biting badly, which makes me wonder whether they were actually sand flies or not, but it was often like walking through a cloud of little bugs, and it got annoying after a while. Asides from this though, there’s nothing to complain about!
See the vlog
Keen to see our vlog, and the rest of our Great Ocean Road trip? You can see it below:
Book online, and early
Like most of the National Park Campgrounds in Victoria that are paid, you need to book online, and doing it early is advisable especially around Summer, and even more so on the weekends. Make sure the site you pick suits your method of camping, and enjoy a truly awesome spot right on the Great Ocean Road.
How does it compare to other Great Ocean Road Camping?
I feel like the camp sites have gotten better and better, as we’ve headed from West to East. We haven’t stayed at any that were average, or that we wouldn’t go back to, but Jamieson Creek Campground was up there with the best places that we stayed at.
Aire Crossing was amazing as well, but I feel this beats Johanna Beach, Aire River West and even Princetown Recreation Grounds fairly comfortably.
If you want a magic campground, this is it.
