Booloumba Creek camping: How do I get to the campgrounds?

A 4WD vehicle is essential to go camping at Booloumba Creek in the Conondale National Park. The creek crossings on the Booloumba Creek road make this Sunshine Coast national park inaccessible in a conventional hire car.

Visiting Booloumba Creek

For those who like to pitch up a tent, the Booloumba Creek camping experience is one of the most magical in Australia. The gorgeous Booloumba Creek runs through lush rainforest in the Conondale National Park near Maleny on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Campgrounds at Booloumba Creek

There are three campgrounds at Booloumba Creek, only one of which is suitable for campervans, caravans and camper trailers. If you’re coming with a van or trailer, you need to head to camping area 4 at Booloumba Creek. The other two Booloumba Creek camping areas – confusingly numbered 1 and 3 – are for people camping in tents only.

The problem is getting there. If you’ve got a conventional hire car, forget about it. A high clearance 4WD vehicle is required to get into the Conondale National Park. This is because several creeks cross the Booloumba Creek Road, and a 2WD vehicle can’t cross them safely.

12 fantastic Sunshine Coast experiences to book now

Taste coffee and ginger, do rainforest walks, and visit the best lookouts on a highlight-packed hinterland tour.
Take a serene Noosa Everglades cruise along the mirror-like waterways – or canoe through the Everglades.
Learn to surf at a Sunshine Coast surf school – or try paddleboarding instead.
Combine sight-seeing and thrills on a fast boat tour.
Go e-mountain biking on the downhill trails of Tewantin National Park.
Kayak with dolphins as part of a beach 4WD tour.
Explore the Sunshine Coast from above on a seaplane flight.
Take an indigenous cultural tour – with bush tucker tasting.
Visit the region’s best craft breweries and distilleries on a drinks tasting tour.
Go jetskiing through the gorgeous Pumicestone Passage.
Taste wines, cheeses and chocolates on a hinterland food tour.
Watch migrating humpbacks on a whale-watching cruise.

Booloumba Creek camping facilities

As this sort of accessibility would suggest, the Booloumba Creek camping experience is not a plush, facility-filled affair. Even the best kitted-out site, Booloumba Creek’s camping area 4, is fairly basic.

This campground has a capacity for 120 people, but without defined sites. There are on-site toilets, but the water supply is unsuitable for drinking as it is pumped from Booloumba Creek.

Generators are banned and while there are fire rings, it is illegal to collect firewood within the Conondale National Park.

Camping permits are required to go camping at Booloumba Creek. Fees of $7 per person or $28 per family per night can be paid online at the Queensland Parks and Forests website.