Lara Wetlands Station QLD

About Lara Wetlands Station

From their Facebook profile…
Lara Wetlands is a bush camping experience situated at Lara Station, 28klm south of Barcaldine or 78klm North of Blackall on the Landsborough Hwy, then 13km in to Lara Station via our access road. Look for the Yellow & Black Lara sign.

Lara Wetlands is a bush camping experience situated at Lara Station, 28klm south of Barcaldine or 78klm North of Blackall on the Landsborough Hwy, then 13km in to Lara Station via our access road. Look for the Yellow & Black Lara sign.
No need to book, Roll On In!
***CASH ONLY***
Spend some time at one of our tranquil shady camping areas surrounded by a picturesque Wetlands abundant with birdlife. Enjoy a campfire with friends and or family whilst gazing at the stars in the night sky. Firewood is available for purchase and a limited number of fire drums are free to use. BYO firewood / fire drum if you wish. No self collection of firewood anywhere on Lara Station or our access road.
All size vans, mobile homes and tents welcome.
No powered sites and no allocated sites. You choose your own site once checked in at our Office. Generators are welcome but in specified times only. (8am-10am and 3pm-5pm)
Fresh Artesian drinking water and fill point as well as a black dump point.
Thermal controlled Artesian Mineral Hot Pool included in camp and day fees for relaxation purposes only.
Childrens playground, cubby house, sand pit and smaller thermal waterhole for the young ones.
Complimentary kayaks and bicycles.
Complimentary flush toilets & hot showers available.
Pets are welcome, however your fur babies must be on leash at all times in all areas and bins are provided for you to collect your pets droppings and dispose of same responsibly. No second chances for pets caught off leash.
CAMPING FEES:
$25/couple per night
$15/single adult per night
$45 family package (2 adults, up to 4 children under 15yrs)
***CASH ONLY***
***NO EFTPOS AVAILABLE ***

Getting there

Leaving Charleville we headed north on the Matilda Way (Landsborough Hwy) stopping off along the way to check out the towns of Augathella and Tambo as well as a refuel in Blackall (route map) before turning left off the highway at about 79kms from Blackall onto the Lara Wetlands access road – red dirt for 14kms to get to the wetlands.

Augathella stop-over

A nice little town famous for it’s mascot called the “Meat Eating Ant.” The town chose the enormous insect as its mascot not because it’s overrun with the (much smaller) real-life version, but because of its football team. There is also a nicely painted water tower in town worth a look.

Great Artesian Basin

While in Augathella we come across some interesting info at the base of their water tower. It’s about the “Great Artesian Basin”. Here’s some information about it…

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is Australia’s most significant hydrogeological system. Covering more than 1.7 million square kilometres, the GAB underlies parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The GAB contains a vast volume of underground water (estimated at 64,900 million megalitres) and is the largest groundwater basin in Australia. Groundwater from the GAB is a vital resource for pastoral, agricultural and extractive industries as well as for many town water supplies, supporting at least $12.8 billion in economic activity annually (Frontier Economics 2016). The GAB also supports significant Indigenous cultural values and sustains a range of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), including iconic mound springs across central Australia.

Tambo stop-over

Another nice little town famous for it’s “Tambo Teddies store” which Google says it’s open until 1:00pm on Saturdays but we discovered it was actually 12:00pm and therefore closed. Probably saved a hit on the budget anyway . Lunch at Fannymaes then back on the road again.

Accommodation

Lara Wetlands Station was a really great place to stay. We pulled up facing the water so our Bailey caravan’s windows showcased it each day. There’s no power but accessible drinking water (fill your tanks from one of their many hoses but can’t stay connected). A fire pit every night was so good to get around.

The road in and out of Lara Wetlands is 13kms of red dirt from the highway and still a but boggy from rains from 2 weeks ago.

The Campground

There’s plenty of space around the wetlands to set-up. The lake’s probably no more deeper than 1metre (in the middle) and it takes around 30 minutes to do the lap. It’s a very pretty place and the dead trees in the lake make for a good photo or 12.

I had a paddle across the lake in one of their free canoes and followed up with a dip in their thermal pool – serenity!

38 deg in the water
38 deg in the water

Sunsets and Sunrises

What a great spot for either sunset or sunrise. Great colours in the sky and a sliver of moon in the sunset too.

Sunset
Sunset
Sunset
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise

Bird life

We’d heard that it’s a haven for birds but there wasn’t that many but enough to fill the film roll.

Summing up…

Accommodation – Lara Wetlands Campground 0457 661 243
- Cost per night – $25.00 (@ 30-Jul-2022)
- Stayed for – 2 nights
- Facilities – Very rustic but with flushing toilets & wood-chip heated showers
- CP Location – 39052 Landsborough Hwy Barcaldine
- Our rating/score – 8/10
Was it a nice town to visit? – This is not in a town, just a bush setting with no shops around
- Activities & places of interest– just a walk around the lake and bird watching or a swim in thermal pool
- Tourist info centre? – none
- Would we return? – Yes
- We rate the town – 8/10
Overall thoughts – A really great spot to stay. They have fresh water but no power. The staff are really friendly. It’s a bit of a drive in from the highway (13km or red dirt) but really worth the effort. 2 nights would be a sufficient enough time to stay here.