Booloumba Creek 4 camping area

Booloumba Creek 4 is the deepest of the Booloumba Creek camping areas in Conondale National Park — about an hour north-west of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, set in open forest beside Booloumba Creek with flush toilets, individual fire rings, and high-clearance 4WD-only access. The trade-off for getting back here is the road in: unsealed, with creek crossings that genuinely require a 4WD with proper ground clearance. Camper trailers and caravans need to be off-road-spec.

Getting there#

Location: Booloumba Creek Road, Conondale National Park, north-west of Kenilworth.

• From Kenilworth (~25 km, ~45 minutes — but allow longer in wet weather): the closest village. Take Booloumba Creek Road off the Maleny–Kenilworth Road.
• From Maleny (~50 km, ~1 hour): via Kenilworth.
• From Brisbane CBD (~150 km, 2–2.5 hours): via Caboolture and the D'Aguilar Highway.
• From the Sunshine Coast (~80 km, ~1.5 hours): via Eumundi and Kenilworth.

This is a 4WD-only campground. Booloumba Creek Road is unsealed and includes creek crossings that require high clearance. The crossings are passable in dry weather but can be impassable for hours or days after rain. Standard 2WD vehicles, conventional caravans, and low-clearance trailers will not make it through.

Suitable vehicles:

• 4WD with proper ground clearance and recovery gear
• High-clearance off-road caravans
• High-clearance camper trailers
• 4WD campervans

Mobile reception is not available — download offline maps and tell someone your plan.

Sites and facilities#

Booloumba Creek 4 sits in open forest with sites spread along the creek. Suits tents, off-road camper trailers, off-road caravans, and 4WD campervans. Check-in is 2pm, check-out is 11am.

On site:

• Flush toilets (a real luxury for a 4WD-access camp)
• Individual fire rings at each site (campfires permitted, conditions apply)
• Walking tracks leaving from the campground area
• Creek-pumped water (not drinking water without treatment)

Bring with you:

• Drinking water and cooking water — the on-site water is creek-pumped and unsuitable for drinking without boiling, filtering, or chemical treatment
• Firewood (collecting in the park is prohibited)
• Fuel stove (mandatory backup for fire-restriction days, when wood fires are banned)
• 4WD recovery kit — even confident drivers get caught after rain
• Insect repellent (the creek flat can be buggy in summer)
• Standard 4WD safety: a UHF radio is sensible, given no mobile reception

Nearest town and supplies#

Kenilworth (~25 km, ~45 minutes) is the closest village:

• General store and IGA
• Bakery (the Kenilworth Bakery has a regional reputation for its giant pies)
• Pub
• Petrol station
• Cheese factory and a couple of cafes

For a fuller shop, Maleny (~50 km, ~1 hour) is the bigger Sunshine Coast hinterland town with multiple supermarkets, hardware, hospital, and chain stores.

The right plan: do your shop in Maleny on the way through, then top up at Kenilworth (and grab a pie). Once you're past Kenilworth and onto the unsealed Booloumba Creek Road, there's nothing — and any trip out is a serious 4WD round trip.

What to do at Booloumba Creek#

The campground sits in the heart of Conondale National Park's flagship walking and 4WD network:

• Booloumba Falls walking track — a moderate walk to one of the prettier waterfalls in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
• Strangler Cairn walk — a sculpture commissioned for the Conondale Range Great Walk, set in remote rainforest. Multi-day walk for the full circuit.
• Conondale Range Great Walk — Queensland's flagship multi-day walk, with the Booloumba Creek camping areas as the practical base.
• Swimming in the creek — natural pools above and below the campground are reasonable for cooling off.
• Wildlife — yellow-bellied gliders, sugar gliders, multiple frog species, paradise riflebirds, regent bowerbirds.
• 4WD touring — the road network in Conondale connects to longer 4WD routes through the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Best time to visit#

Conondale runs cool and wet:

• Autumn (April–May) is the local sweet spot — mild days, lower rainfall, creek levels manageable for crossings.
• Winter (June–August) is dry, cool (overnight 5–10°C), and 4WD-friendly. The peak season for serious campers.
• Spring (September–October) is variable and storm season starts ramping up.
• Summer (December–March) is wet, humid, and 4WD-risky. Creek crossings can become impassable; tracks slip; storms are intense. Many experienced campers avoid Booloumba in summer.

Camping fees#

QPWS charges a per-person nightly fee — typically around $7.50 per adult per night, cheaper for children. Children under 5 free. There's no separate vehicle entry fee for Conondale National Park.

Confirm pricing on the QPWS booking page when you book.

Can't get a booking?#

Booloumba Creek 4 is the most remote of the four Booloumba camping areas, which keeps it slightly less competitive than Booloumba 1, 2, and 3. But school holiday weeks, Easter, and dry-season long weekends still book out reliably. Cancellations happen.

Set up a free CampWatch alert and we'll text you the moment a Booloumba Creek 4 site opens up. No app, no account — just your phone number.