Rough Guide to Easter Camping Tasmania

It happens every year. A fully laden caravan being towed by a massive 4WD full of kids turns up at Bay of Fires on Easter Saturday expecting to drive up to a half-empty campground, and take their pick of primary waterfront campsite. Vehicle after vehicle, same scenario and same situation at Freycinet, Friendly Beaches, Fortescue etc,. You get the picture. Locals new to camping, and interstate visitors alike, simply don’t do their research, so let us help. Tasmania is extremely popular, even more so with international travel restricted, and camping is a very popular local pastime. It is common for the most popular campgrounds at Bay of Fires to be completely full to overflowing 3-4 days before the Easter break. Same at Freycinet, in fact a ballot operates that you must enter 6-months in advance to allocate campgrounds at Freycinet over the busy Easter period. So to help you plan, and to avoid turning up at a campground only to find there are no spots and you are literally miles away from alternative accommodation, we’ve put together this rough guide to planning your Easter camping trip in Tassie.

In all cases, please CALL in advance where you can. Not all campgrounds have a telephone number, and some don’t answer on weekends, but please try.

Please avoid the following campgrounds unless you can get there 3-4 days before Good Friday. And if you are visiting from interstate and new to camping in Tassie, PLEASE book commercial caravan parks well in advance of travelling to give you peace of mind and to ensure you simply don’t end up stuck in the middle of nowhere.

1. Anywhere at Bay of Fires, with the possible exception of Moulting Bay – it’s less popular, but a great site if you are interested in some river fishing and the closest of the Bay of Fires campgrounds to the town of St Helens.
2. Freycinet National Park and Camping Friendly Beaches – simply avoid unless you have a booking, you will be wasting your time and be left in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to camp.
3. Foretescue Bay – again, unless you’ve booked don’t waste your time. It will be fully booked and the drive in and out isn’t the greatest on narrow, gravel roads.
4. Lime Bay – same deal, this is a great campground but not over Easter. If you really want to stay on the Tasman Peninsula (and who wouldn’t), try a commercial caravan park and you might just get lucky.
5. Chain of Lagoons – this is a big campground but it is also next to a beautiful beach and is simply packed over Easter!
6. Mayfield Beach Campground is in an awesome location, and again is super popular most times of the year – definitely avoid over Easter!
7. Bruny Island – The Neck and Cloudy Bay (South Bruny) will be chockers.
8. Cockle Creek Campground – this place gets very, very busy (and often rowdy) over Easter – stay away is our advice.
9. Montagu Park, Peggs Beach, and Black River – all great campgrounds on the beautiful far North West Coast of Tassie but always very full over Easter.
10. Arve River Campground – a small, but very popular campground in Souther Tassie that is always full over Easter with people either just relaxing near the river or bushwalking in the area.
11. Narawntapu National Park – usually very full, if you are thinking of this option RING the caretaker before travelling.
12. Macquarie Heads Campground Strahan – an amazing location (can be very wet and windy, but a spectacular location). If you must try this campground, 100% call the caretaker in advance.
13. Marrawah campground, it’s only small and fills up early and quickly. Avoid.
14. Trial Harbour camping – once again, simply stay away and especially in travelling in a caravan or big rig.

OK, so we’ve given you the list to avoid, here are our recommended list of options to try.

1. Mt William National Park, and in particular Stumpys #2 if in a tent of small campervan. We love camping at Mt William, it’s simply spectacular. Policemans Point is generally very popular, but you might just squeeze a spot if you are early.
2. Lake Burbury Campground – a big campground close to Queenstown and great for fishing and kayaking. Again, call before travelling.
3. Arthur River Campgrounds – so many great options, and yes it will be busy but you might be lucky given the great range of options.
4. Hamilton Campground – a great option for kids and not that far from Hobart if you’re an inexperienced camper.
5. Central Highlands Tasmania – you don’t have to be a trout fisherman to enjoy camping in our magnificent lake area. Check out our camping fishing Tasmania guide for a wide range of campsites in this area, and where you will generally find a spot over Easter.
6. Private Camping Tasmania – there is a growing list of private camping operators in Tassie who offer low-cost or free camping, and often for fully self-contained vehicles. A great East Coast option is Coles Bay Paintball.
7. Camping Flinders Island. OK, so this is a little left field, and it’s quite the exercise getting to Flinders. But if you can make it, the camping is sensational.
8. RV Friendly overnight stops – if you have fully self-contained vehicles (shower and toilet), there is an excellent range of self-contained friendly camping options across Tasmania.
9. Waterhouse Conservation Area Camping – generally popular over Easter with families nad fishermen, but you might be lucky given it is quite large as long as you get there before Good Friday.