The best camping near Mount Isa

Mt. Isa’s favourite playground, Lake Moondarra, provides a range of watery recreational opportunities in the heart of the Outback. While camping isn’t permitted at the lake itself, it’s only a few kilometres from Mt. Isa town and easy to visit on a day trip. Enjoy safe swimming and boating, fire up a barbecue, fish for the barramundi that have been put in the lake (catch limits apply), or watch the pelicans, cormorants, and other birds.

Mt. Isa has a “tropical continental” climate because it is quite far north within Australia but away from the coast. Summers can be extremely hot, but temperatures tend to be somewhat more moderate here than in other northwestern Queensland towns because of Mt. Isa’s slight altitude. December to March is the wet season, with around 75% of the annual rainfall falling at this time. Most campers will find it most comfortable to visit in the dry season, when temperatures are also cooler.

A couple of hours’ drive north-west of Mt. Isa and beside the Northern Territory border, the Wiliyan-ngurru National Park is a semi-arid area with eucalypt woodlands, grassy plains, and other interesting natural features. Check out the dramatic caves and sinkholes—though public access to the caves isn’t allowed, you can get a safe view from Great Nowranie Cave. Camping isn’t allowed in the park, but caravan parks and private campsites can be found near Camooweal.

A mining town in the Selwyn Ranges of Queensland’s Gulf Country, Mt. Isa was established thanks to its vast deposits of lead, silver, copper, and zinc. The landscape is mostly arid, but it’s punctuated with shrubbery and watered by the Leichhardt River and the artificial Lake Moondarra, just north of the town. There are a few caravan parks around Mt. Isa, including well-equipped holiday parks and a bush camping site outside of town. Lake Moondarra is a popular day-trip destination where you can swim, sail, kayak, and fish, while Cloncurry draws campers a bit farther afield.

About 1.5 hours’ drive east of Mt. Isa, Cloncurry is another handy stopover point when travelling through the Outback on the way to or from Mt. Isa. Set beside the Cloncurry River, it’s also at a fork in the highway so travellers heading up to the Gulf of Carpentaria can turn north here. There are a couple of holiday parks around Cloncurry.