Jamieson Creek camp ground Wye River

Introduction

the Jamieson Creek campground is an elevated site with some views over the sea from the lookout and a short drive to either Lorne or Wye River and their beaches on the Great Ocean Road (GOR)
panoramic views to the east just metres from the campground looking out over the ocean and surrounding landscapes
24 sites run by Parks Vic and requires online booking
- sites 1-6 and site 9 are best suited to small caravans and trailers HOWEVER there is limited space to manoeuvre when accessing any of the sites
  - avoid site 1 as it is quite small and close to the smells of the toilet
- sites 10-19 have no direct vehicle access and are suitable for tents only with vehicles parked in the nearby parking bay
- sites 20-24 are more elevated and are best suited to tents and campervans (avoid 21 if you have a heavy van as most people seemed to have trouble getting up the incline)
- if you want morning sun to dry the tents out, choose sites at the south end - you are also further from the toilet smells
- if you want early afternoon shade, choose tent sites at far west of camp ground, or sites 21, 22
- in typical Parks Vic style, the sites are very close to each other!
- even if all the tent sites 10-19 are fully booked, many will be empty as some will be booked by those with camper-vans or rooftop tents, and some may not turn up
- given its location on the Great Ocean Road, tourists and local surfies are likely to arrive just before sunset and leave early in the morning without bookings
offpeak it is mainly used as an over-nighter for those traveling the GOR and if there are northerlies or westerlies blowing, by surfers who want to get up before sunrise to catch waves at Kennett River or other surf areas
drop toilets but no potable water nor showers
picnic tables with shelters
shared fireplaces - BYO firewood
sites are generally well drained
free gas barbecues with a view
2WD accessible
reasonable wind protection from north / NW / W and SW winds
SE winds will likely bring local cloudy conditions with sea mist and possible showers or rain (eg. Low pressure system to the east-north-east)
short walk to fairly remote beach - no march flies and practically no mosquitoes in Nov 2024 or March 2025 which is awesome!
as at Nov 2024, most of the sites were well drained but you will need a hammer to drive a peg in, and there were no mozzies just day time small bush flies
bookings

not suitable for large caravans or motorhomes
- sites are too small
- you may struggle to get the van around the 90deg 1st corner then up the steep gravel ascent - one 4ton motorhome came to grief on this corner and took several hours to free and during this time entrance and exit from campground was totally blocked for vehicles
not suitable for families with kids - sites are generally too small and too close together, and there are no play areas on the camp ground
no dogs allowed
bring short, strong, steel pegs with hammer, or screw pegs with a power drill as tent sites are compacted gravel/sand which makes them hard to peg more than 4-6“
- preferably pegs designed for such compacted hard gravel such as https://peggypeg.com.au/collections/tent/products/hardcore-peggy_pack-of-4
BEWARE gale force winds from SE to NE as there is less protection from these and you will need to use boulders to hold your guy rope pegs down
- fortunately, strong easterlies are uncommon in this region
- this can occur when either:
  - there is a SE tracking Low pressure system close to shore of the west coast of Victoria associated with a Cold Front as the westerly cyclonic winds wrap around to the north and can become NE gales as they get sucked back into the Low pressure centre now to the south-west in Bass Strait
  - a Low pressure system located to the NW
  - a High pressure system located to the east before an on-coming cold front arrives from the SW

best for 1-2 adults per site (as they are smallish) who are either:
- doing an overnight en route along the Great Ocean Road (perhaps 80% of campers at this site midweek outside of school holidays)
- wanting a nice affordable camp spot to explore this part of the Otways for a few days with walking access to a nice remote beach
- local surfies
- usually very safe for campers including solo female campers - although can be deserted in the middle of the day
if winds are from north or NW, then they will be deflected west by Mt Defiance to the north of the camp ground and reach the camp ground from the WEST fortunately, the camp ground is quite well protected from strong winds from this direction thanks to the tall trees

Jamieson Creek is in the South West Fire District whereas Lorne is in the Surf Coast / Central Fire District which may have different fire danger levels
for current and forecast Fire Danger ratings, see https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/fire-bans-ratings-and-restrictions/total-fire-bans-fire-danger-ratings
if the rating is Extreme, the region is likely to become a day of Total Fire Ban, if it is rated Catastrophic - you will be required to evacuate from the camp ground and forest areas
Parks Vic tends to announce the camp ground closures for that night at around 4-4.30pm - so if risk of closure due to fires in the Otways, perhaps delay departure until after then - might save you a 4hr return wasted trip
in addition, the National Parks have fire restrictions as well as the CFA's Fire Danger Period restrictions which usually apply from Nov-April.
see also bushfire safety

Getting there

2hrs 11min (158km) from NW suburbs via Geelong and Lorne
- if the Princes Fway is problematic, can also travel to Ballan then down to Colac but this adds 30min and 30km
8min (6km) NNE of Wye River
13-17min (13km) SW of Lorne
42min SW of Anglesea
40min (34km) NE of Apollo Bay
80min (81km) E of Lavers Hill
63min (65km) SE of Colac

Amenities at the camp ground

drop toilets which are usually well maintained and usually have toilet paper
tank water (not suitable for drinking)
free gas BBQs with 3 picnic tables - all under shelter apart from one table
nice lookout
short walk down the entrance gravel road to a usually quiet beach

Nearby amenities

flush toilets
- Lorne
- Wye River beach toilets
- portable toilets outside cafe at Kennett River (but locked when cafe closed ie. before 9am and in evenings) - these get very busy due to tourists
outdoor cold showers
- Lorne beach
- Wye River beach
- Kennett River beach
- Apollo Bay beach
cafe / hotels
- Lorne
- Wye River Hotel
- Wye River Cafe
- Kennett River cafe
- Apollo Bay
- Lavers Hill
petrol
- Lorne, Apollo Bay, Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lavers Hill, Colac, Winchelsea
tourist information centre
- Lorne, Apollo Bay
hardware / camping store
- small ones at Lorne and Apollo Bay
- Bunnings at Torquay just over 1hr (62km)

Other nearby attractions

west

Artillery Rocks
historic marker site for Barque WB Godfrey memorial is only 1km to the south and offers a nice remote beach with a small car park area
Wye River beach, cafe, caravan park
Kennett River
- koalas behind the camp ground
- surf beach (with life guards in peak times) with offshore winds when S/SE blowing
- rock platforms at low tide with very few people around off-peak;
- nice area to explore at low tide but going north towards Wye River (which takes 2hrs one way) requires traversing 150m of large boulders
Grey River / Addis Bay
- nice beach to explore but not swim or surf, rock platforms at low tide with very few people around off-peak; drop toilet only - BYO paper;
Petticoat Beach - no facilities but nice fairly secluded beach to explore with rock platforms and lots of shells
Apollo Bay beaches, cafes and shops, caravan parks
Elliot River coastal area walk
Maits Rest rainforest walk
Cape Otway lighthouse
Aire River camp grounds
Johanna beach camp ground
Castle Cove Lookout
Melba Gully glow worms at dusk, Lavers Hill
Otway waterfalls:
- Triplet Falls
- Hopetoun Falls and Redwood forest
- Beachamp Falls (nearby free campground)
Otway Fly Treetop walk (commercial)
The Twelve Apostles
- see south western region of Victoria

east

see waterfalls of the Otway Ranges
4km to Cumberland River holiday park in a gorge near a beach
Sheoak Falls - nice short hike although quite a few steps and this can be extended up to Swallow Cave and even to Sheoak Picnic Ground for a 2.5hr return walk
St George River is a nice area for young kids
Lorne beaches, cafes and shops, caravan parks and access to a lot of forest walks and waterfalls, for example
- Erskine Falls - lots of steps down and back up, but a lovely long drop waterfall
- Lower Kalimna falls - which you could walk behind the waterfall and even potentially have a shower under it with care and nice rainforest walk (40min each way for brisk walkers)
- Phantom Falls walk from Allenvale Mill carpark
- Henderson Falls walk from near Sheoak Picnic Ground

Nearby camp grounds

west along the Great Ocean Road via Lavers Hill

6km to Wye River commercial campground
Kennett River holiday park
Skenes Creek beachfront caravan park
40min (34km) to commercial parks in Apollo Bay
78min (70km) to Blanket Bay camp ground, Cape Otway
71min (64km) SE to Aire River camp grounds
81min (77km) to Johanna beach camp ground
just under 2hrs (114km) to Princetown Recreation Reserve (bookings)
2hrs to Port Campbell Recreation Reserve (bookings?) either via inland route past Lorne, or west along GOR

east along the Great Ocean Road

4km to Cumberland River holiday park
17min (13km) SW of Lorne holiday parks
20min (14km) to Allenvale camp ground, Lorne - Parks Vic booking, camp is 230m walk from car park
45min (41km) to Anglesea - commercial caravan park
commercial caravan parks at Torquay, Breamlea, etc

into the Otway Ranges forest areas

these are all FREE except for the main Hammond Rd camp and Big Hill which are Parks Vic and need booking
29min (23km) to Big Hill campground Otways via Lorne
54min (51km) to Hammonds Road campgrounds near Aireys Inlet / Bambra via Lorne and Deans Marsh
61min (63km) to Tanners Road campground near Anglesea via Lorne and Deans Marsh or via Anglesea
67min (58km) to Stevensons Falls camp ground Otways via Skenes Creek and Tanbryn (or 72min, 66km via Lorne and Forrest)
75min (62km) to Beauchamp Falls camp ground
75min (64km) to Dandos camp ground Otways via Gellibrand
94min (79km) to the small Aire River Crossing bush campsite