- Mandalong
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Family-friendly
Recent Hipcampers say this Hipcamp is great for families and kids.
Select a site
Vehicle/tent sites
10 sites
Site 01 - Mountain View
94%
(35)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 05 - In The Trees
93%
(30)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 02 - Gully Ferns
100%
(27)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 07 - Orchard
98%
(22)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 09 - The Woodland
100%
(20)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 08 - Twin Dams
88%
(8)4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Potable water
Pets allowed
Site 03 - Hillside
100%
(7)4WD required
Campfires allowed
Pets allowed
Site 04 - The Hives
90%
(5)4WD required
Campfires allowed
Pets allowed
Site 10 - Gardenia
67%
(3)Campfires allowed
Pets allowed
Site 11- Blue Gum
Booked 1 time
4WD recommended
Campfires allowed
Pets allowed
Reviews
96% Recommend219 Ratings · 168 reviews
Fern Gully seems to offer a mixed bag of experiences for campers. Many visitors rave about the beautiful, spacious sites and the friendly hosts, Les and Jade, who make sure guests feel welcome and accommodated. Most campers have appreciated the tranquility, private surroundings, and the joy of spotting wildlife, with Boris, the resident dog, being a notable highlight. However, a few have faced challenges with road noise, proximity to the host's house, and interactions with the hosts, which led to a less enjoyable stay for them.
Summary AI-generated from real reviews
Recommends
· September 2026
6 m campervan ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
Great host, lovely setting
Imagine camping beside a scrapyard of old wrecks and pallets, next to a busy road, while a dog barks all night and the hosts oscillate between passive-aggressive commentary and Stasi-level surveillance. That’s Fern Gully. That’s Jade and Les. Mostly Jade. The weekend began with panicked messages demanding we arrive by 5:30pm or face cancellation. It continued in this vein, with over-reactions to a wandering puppy, navigating the complexity of which blades of grass one can and cannot drive on, and ended with harassing texts and emails about our children failing to replace sticks and leaves they used to build a small teepee. Oh, and a false accusation we’d used the vegetable patch as a toilet, when we had brought our own facilities. And a demand for money as compensation for God knows what. Given the weekend we had, its aftermath, our only regret was not being able to take credit for the vegetable patch shit. Our highlight from Fern Gully: driving away.
Recommends
· June 2026
5 m Class B · With pets ·
Site 09 - The Woodland
We loved our stay at Fern Gully.
Les and Jade are super friendly and helpful.
The site was very spacious, it wasn’t too close to other campers.
Lovely walk through the bush bordering the state park.
Great to be able to bring the dog and get out of the city!
Recommends
· April 2026
Tent · Group trip ·
Site 03 - Hillside
Les was great. The property is perfect for a weekend away. Lots of bush walks and the sites are well taken care of. Highly recommend.
Recommends
· April 2026
Tent ·
Site 08 - Twin Dams
The property was beautiful.
Hosts were friendly, easy to talk with.
Will definitely return.
Recommends
· January 2026
5 m Class B ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
Loved our time at Fern Gully! It was only one night but we had a beautiful campsite and was very private, we were completely surrounded by trees and so nice to hear the birds singing in the morning.
This place is tranquil and everything we expected it to be.
Les and Jade are such lovely people.
I would highly recommend for a get back to nature experience.
We will be back 🏕
Great large site for our Jayco Camper. Beautiful property, lots of opportunity to walk and explore. Great launching place for day trips to the Watagans, Lake Macquarie or the beach.
Our Doggo loved it as well. We said we'd come back and we did! Thanks again to our hosts Les and Jade and not forgetting Boris the Kuvasz sheep dog.
Absolutely amazing stay. Les is a legend and is very kind and accommodating. The property is absolutely beautiful, with everything so well maintained and just the perfect nature escape. Couldn't recommend fern gully more. I'll be back next time!
Recommends
· January 2026
Camping with 6 and 2 puppies
9 m travel trailer · With pets ·
Site 05 - In The Trees
Very easy place to get to. Owners very welcoming. Short drive to town. Peaceful place to stay, would definitely stay again and recommend
Recommends
· January 2026
Tent ·
Site 01 - Mountain View
The site was so good, nice and spacious!
They greeted me and showed me around the camp site, allowed me to choose a site I wanted!
10/10 would go back!
Recommends
· January 2026
7 m travel trailer · With kids ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
We loved our getaway to Fern Gully. Les was very accomodating and let us walk around on arrival to see what available camp sites suited us the best. We loved the beautiful view of the forests and sounds of the birds.
Les even gave our kids a tractor ride which was a real highlight for them!
Recommends
· December 2025
Tent · With pets ·
Site 04 - The Hives
Stayed at the Hives and it was lovely; spot on top of a ridge overlooking the dam. Farm dog Boris is friendly and came to visit us as we set up camp for the night. Owner was very accomodating for our late arrival into camp.
Recommends
· December 2025
Tent · With kids ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
We actually stayed at a different site. When Les welcomed us he said we could walk around the property and pick the site we liked best as we were the only ones there.
Peaceful with nice surroundings.
Would stay again.
Recommends
· October 2025
Tent ·
Site 02 - Gully Ferns
We loved our experience at the campsite. There was plenty of space to wander around, lots of nature, and beautiful landscapes.
We also appreciated the kindness of the hosts.
Thank you so much
We highly recommend this place!
Recommends
· October 2025
Tent · With kids ·
Site 02 - Gully Ferns
A great place to camp. Lots of flat ground to choose from. Les and Jade are super friendly.
Les, Jade and Borris were great. Lovely spot with lots of shade.
Such a lovely lush property with heaps of room to set up and was very quiet even being close-ish to the road (and also so convenient because of it!). We booked the Waterlily site which was very nice sitting next to the Pond with frequent visits from the friendly resident dog Boris. Highly recommend, I’m sure we’ll be back. Thanks for having us! :)
Recommends
· August 2025
Tent · With pets ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
It was one of the best camping experience I ever had
Jade and Les were lovely hosts, as was their giant dog. The site itself was okay - a bit too close to other campsites and so many trees so we got barely any sun during the day, which meant it was quite cold. Would recommend it as more of a Summer spot or be prepared to rug up if you go in Winter. We got lucky as there were only two groups booked in, but would have definitely felt very close to other groups if it was booked out. This could make it difficult if you have dogs and to set up a toilet since there is nothing provided. Overall, we had a good stay and the hosts were accommodating.
We stayed a night here in our van and it was amazing! Les and Boris the dog greeted us and they were lovely hosts. Boris and our dog got along wonderfully, Boris sat next to me as I read my book next to the campfire. The trees and ferns made for a great experience.
Recommends
· June 2025
7 m travel trailer · With kids ·
Site 07 - Orchard
I loved camping at fern gully les made booking in a breeze. It was so peaceful the kids explored everywhere and had a ball I would definitely be back
Not recommend
· June 2025
Worst camping experience I ever had
Tent · With pets ·
Site 01 - Mountain View
The worst camping experience I’ve ever had. Imagine looking forward to a long weekend camping. When you arrive, the first thing your host says is “Well you obviously can’t follow instructions either”. Apparently, the justification for Jade’s incredibly rude “greeting” was that we hadn’t stopped at the “designated parking area”. There’s no such clearly signed area but bizarrely it’s our fault for missing it. Jade was just getting started as she proceeded to verbally abuse us several more times, for random and arbitrary things. Early the next morning she was also seen creeping around our campsite checking up on us. We were not surprised to find a “Trespassers Will Be Shot” sign at the entrance to our campsite. There were several other issues. We had to park 10m away and lug all our gear over. It also meant we couldn’t use the side awning on our vehicle. Nowhere is it mentioned at the time of booking. The site is also close to Mandalong Rd and it only takes one car passing by at 3am to wake you up. The site itself is ordinary, and no better than most public campsites that can be had for $5. We’ve been regular hip campers for years and all our experiences to date have been positive, so were shocked by the way we were treated. We cut our trip short and wrote to hipcamp. While they can't approve refunds they apologised and gave us credit on account. They have also reminded the host of Hipcamp’s standards and will be monitoring their account going forward. You have been warned.
Big space, away from the other campers. We could collect some wood in the forest and the kids loved it. Les was very helpful and is a great host. Will come back !
Recommends
· April 2025
Tent · With pets ·
Site 08 - Twin Dams
Beautiful spot, with fantastic hosts- lovely
Walks into the state forest. Grassy dappled sunlight sites amongst the beautiful trees.
Dog friendly and plenty of room between sites on the property.
We absolutely loved this place! The owners were really friendly, and their dog Boris was so calm and sweet. I was a bit worried at first since my dog has been attacked before, but Boris was super chill and didn’t pay him attention at all. The campsites are nicely spaced out too – it really feels like you have your own private little loft in nature. The stories the owners shared about Boris were really cute as well. Great spot overall!
Recommends
· April 2025
Tent · Group trip ·
Site 10 - Forest View
Sites are nice and separate so good amount of privacy! The place was well looked after and the host are super nice and friendly. Would recommend!
Friendly Owners, with private sites. Close enough to town if you run out of anything. We can easy put up a zip line for our dogs to run.
Great stay!
Recommends
· April 2025
Tent · With pets ·
Site 10 - Forest View
Really beautiful location and amazing kind hosts. Hoping I can come back here soon
Not recommend
· April 2025
6 m travel trailer ·
Site 06 - Waterlily
Unfortunately our site was very close to the road(approx 50-60 mts) and there was quite a bit of traffic. You can see the hosts house as you are literally camping in the front yard. We were facing a large pond with the house behind us and a massive stack of pallets just to our right next to the driveway. Definitely not the private, quiet and relaxing stay we were hoping for
Location
Mandalong, New South Wales, AustraliaTo respect the Host's privacy, the precise address of this land will be provided after booking
Hosted by Les M.
Joined in March 2021Things to do nearby
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Hipcamp acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.