Canberra - camping sites near trails

[Dozer]

I'm planning a few riding trips and one of those would be a few days in Canberra riding trails and doing it on the cheap. Anyone have any suggestions on legal camping spots that have a few amenities (toilets etc)? My preference is to park my car, set my site up and ride from there but setting up somewhere after a ride each day is fine.
I know Canberra quite well but wanted to get some info from those that may have done anything along these lines...................outside of winter!

 

[JTmofo]

Watching this thread with interest.

 

[SummitFever]

There's a caravan park right in O'Connor from which a number of the Bruce Ridge trails start from - http://aliviogroup.com.au/

There is also the Cotter Campground. It's a nice place and close to Stromlo but no mobile phone coverage. There are a number of other campgrounds in Namadgi and the Brindabellas, but these will be further away from the trails.

You could also camp at the northern campground on the Centennial Trail - but you'll need to ride all of your overnight gear in.

Other than that, there is very little in the way of legal campsites that aren't commercially run. There are plenty of nice places to park and overnight around the Lake but there's always the risk you'll get woken up and told to move.

 

[Dozer]

Cheers SummitFever, those are the only ones I've found so far. The Cotter one is next to the river yeah?
Does the site near Bruce Ridge have actual camp sites that you know of? As far as I can tell, it's caravans and motorhomes but no tents.
Actually, isn't their camp sites on Watson somewhere behind the BP servo? I rode from the serv once to get to the other side of Majura along a fire road and remember seeing villa's and tents.

 

[SummitFever]

Yep. Cotter one is right on the river.

Alivio Tourist Park does have tent sites (powered and maybe even unpowered). They seem nice and flat with some good soft grass. I can take a pic next time I ride by.

In Watson, there's the Carotel Motel. I think that may be what you rode past. They have some tent sites as well. Close to Majura Pines. Like you said, you ride up the fire road between Majura and Mt Ainslie.

 

[Dozer]

Great stuff, thanks pal. That's a big help!

 

[No Skid Marks]

Is it just you Dozer, or you and crew? You using tent or sleeping in car? I'm 10km from Stromlo and may be able to assist a bit, depending.

 

[Dozer]

Is it just you Dozer, or you and crew? You using tent or sleeping in car? I'm 10km from Stromlo and may be able to assist a bit, depending.

I'm not 100% positive just yet. It could be just myself and my wife which instantly means we won't camp as we'd do stuff other than ride bikes and sample ales so I'd need to have a secure enough place to store my gear and wind down after a hard day looking at the latest female fashions. The other plan is to come down with a few dudes from my 'hood and ride bikes so camping will be the most socialable way for us to do it.
Fancy having six tanned heavy metal fans bunk on your front lawn? :heh::heh::heh:

 

[fatboyonabike]

plenty of camping Wright across the road from Stromlo forest park!..lots of unfinished houses at various stages of lockup, just have to be gone before the builders turn up the next day.
plenty of powered sites and amenities at EPIC (showground/same place as summernats)..easy ride to Majura from there too

 

[thatsnotme]

No camping at Alivio - it's cabins or caravan sites only. The caravan sites are all paved too, so no chance to pitch a tent!

When you say you want to do it on the cheap, what type of budget do you have? Say you were coming down with a crew of 6, you could get a 3 bedroom villa at Alivio that'd be $360/night - so $60 a head (based on pricing around October). Comfortable digs right on the doorstep of Bruce Ridge, not too far from Stromlo & Majura, and probably no more than 30 minutes to Kowen / Sparrow. Full kitchen, so you can do all your own cooking if you want, otherwise it's a pretty short ride into restaurants and bars in O'Connor.

Almost ready to book a weekend in with my riding buddies myself now!

 

[SummitFever]

No camping at Alivio - it's cabins or caravan sites only...

Classic. Just rode past the "former" tent area and sure enough its got a bunch of new cabins stored on it.

 

[thatsnotme]

Classic. Just rode past the "former" tent area and sure enough its got a bunch of new cabins stored on it.

Ha! Gotta admit I was only going off the website, and the fact it had no camping options listed in its rates or facilities pages.

That place is seriously missing a trick though. As far as I can see, there is ZERO mention of mountain biking as a feature of the park. How many other places in Australia could boast of having awesome singletrack less than 100 metres from the park? Book a cabin with some mates, do an easy lap of Bruce before breakfast, before heading out to Stromlo / Majura / Kowen - they're ideally placed!

 

[No Skid Marks]

I'm not 100% positive just yet. It could be just myself and my wife which instantly means we won't camp as we'd do stuff other than ride bikes and sample ales so I'd need to have a secure enough place to store my gear and wind down after a hard day looking at the latest female fashions. The other plan is to come down with a few dudes from my 'hood and ride bikes so camping will be the most socialable way for us to do it.
Fancy having six tanned heavy metal fans bunk on your front lawn? :heh::heh::heh:

If you guys are hard enough to sleep in a small paved courtyard, sure.
if you come with your missus you could leave bikes at my joint, while you undergo your duties/torture.

 

[Haakon]

You're safe here with your wife - there is no women's fashion to be found in Canberra.

 

[Dozer]

You're safe here with your wife - there is no women's fashion to be found in Canberra.

The overcoat scene and knitted gloves are a smash hit!

 

[Haakon]

The overcoat scene and knitted gloves are a smash hit!

I know, it's quaint. It so Melbourne 5 years ago, the Canberra darlings a little slow on the uptake.

 

[Haakon]

No idea of anything specifically, but check Queenbean and Bungadore? For convenience to Kowen.

 

[dane83]

We normally base ourselves at Cotter campground - good amenities, awesome spot for a swim after a ride in summer... something worth noting is the bogans doing burnouts up the hill all night on the weekends. They'll wake you up, but we've never had any issues beyond that.

Have also stayed at EPIC once when Cotter was closed for tree lopping or some such thing. Cotter is much nicer being right on the river though.

Will be staying at Alivio (in a cabin) next weekend purely because we have other duties to attend to which require personal presentation slightly above what can be (easily) achieved at a campground... Looking forward to re-visiting Bruce while we're there.