11 of the best farm camping spots in WA

Travel & Touring| Camping & Caravanning

By: Fleur Bainger

Escape the city and trade screen time for nature’s highlights reel.

In Australia, less than three per cent of the workforce is employed by agriculture (source), which means a whole lot of us don’t get the childhood dream of growing up on a farm. The joy of waking to birdsong, looking across fields dotted by cattle and walking freely in nature can still be accessed though, by camping on a working farm.

Booking a patch of land gives you far more than just a place to rest your head. By day, there’s wildlife watching, wildflower hunting and dam bathing, while at night, toasty campfires and epic stargazing thrill the senses. Here’s where to pitch your tent, park your RV or book a retro caravan.

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1. Fair Harvest, Margaret River

Distance from Perth: 272km, 3hr 10 min

Cost per night: from $41

Amenities: showers, composting toilets, outdoor kitchen, fridges, bbq, communal campfire, potable water, pet-friendly (on leash), playground

Named one of the best WA campgrounds to visit by Hipcamp in both 2023 and 2024, eco-certified Fair Harvest is more of an experience than a place to stay.

Teaming a rambling, impressively productive vegie garden with docile farm animals, a Yoga Barn and the Pop Up Farm Café (open monthly), you could happily opt to stay put indefinitely.

Bring your own tent, park up your solar powered van or take things easy by booking a glamping tent through Wild Goose Camping. The shady grounds are beautiful and the 40min farm walk past geese, chickens and cattle is well worth doing. The excellent location is close to bush hikes and forest bike trails, and only 5km from Margaret River township.

2. 100 Acre Woods, North Dandalup

Distance from Perth: 81km, 72min

Cost per night: from $17

Amenities: campfire, pet-friendly (on-leash)

This secluded hobby farm ensconced in native woodland is found to the east of Mandurah, but still close enough to the coast to enjoy epic sunset views over the Indian Ocean. Like the Winnie the Pooh forest of a similar name, it’s set on 100-acres (40 hectares), and is home to friendly creatures, from roaming kangaroos and echidnas, to fenced sheep that kids can feed. RVs and caravans are welcome.

This is a rural retreat suited to those who are fully self-sufficient, with no power, water or toilet facilities. Two of the well-spaced sites are only accessible via 4WD four-wheel drive – expect hilly terrain. Enjoy serene countryside walks on the North Dandalup scarp and bike rides beneath tall jarrah and gum trees. You can also canoe in the dams and in winter, campfires can toast the toes.

3. Little Eeden Farm Pine Camp, Mooliabeenee, Chittering

Distance from Perth: 84km, 65min

Cost per night: from $48

Amenities: toilets, showers, campfire, pet-friendly (on leash), adventure playground

Thirty unpowered sites – 10 of them just for tents – sit beneath tall pine trees, with sunlight shafting through their green needles. Situated on a working farm, you’ll hear the calls of peacocks, chickens and ducks, and be woken by the trills and squawks of native birdlife such as black cockatoos. You can BYO a generator, but in order to tune into nature’s soundtrack, they can’t be used overnight. Alpacas and sheep also share the space and if you’re lucky, the famer might invite you to help feed them.

This campground has licensed, on-site dining at The Hive Café, which opens for lunch and hosts pizza nights on weekends and public holidays. Part of a honey farm and apiary, you can arrange a free tasting of the farm’s unprocessed honey when the cafe is open. The playground is a big hit with families and there are special activities during school holidays.

4. Avonbrook Wheatbelt Creekside Camp, Toodyay

Distance from Perth: 87km, 1.5hrs

Cost per night: from $31

Amenities: campfire, pet-friendly

Three off-grid sites suitable for tents or RVs sit beside a gently tinkling creek a 10min drive north-west of Toodyay. The owners, who moved from Kalgoorlie in search of greener pastures, farm Dexter cattle and Boer goats. They caution that the cows are partial to chewing tent cords if the gate is left open. Previous guests recommend coming in a 4WD four-wheel drive and beware of pitching alongside an ant nest. Instead, position yourself close to native grasses and reeds and (restrictions depending) cluster around a small campfire.

As the embers fade, look to the skies for luminous star gazing. Children will love jumping between creek rocks and, if serendipity strikes, meeting newborn goat kids. Bring bikes to ride through daisy-dotted bush and farmland.

5. Bolinda Vale Farm, Keysbrook

Distance from Perth: 73km, 1.5hrs

Cost per night: from $24

Amenities: potable water, campfire, pet-friendly (on leash), recycling and compost bins

Reconnecting with nature is made easy at Bolinda Vale Farm, found between Serpentine and North Dandalup. The 5th generation cattle and sheep property offers hiking up the hill country to where wedge-tail eagles soar, plenty of open spaces for on-leash dogs to play in and for kids, trees to climb, a brook to splash in, and cubbies to make.

Devices are given the heave-ho in place of outdoor activities that might include wildlife spotting, roaming through century-old Xanthorrhoea grass trees, or simply meditating in the tranquil surrounds. Brook-side campsites are accessed via a farm track flanked by Scottish Highland cattle and horses and, rains depending, there might be a creek crossing. Caravans and camper trailers are welcome, and total self-sufficiency is a must. There’s a retro caravan called Miss Maisie for those without gear but with a desire to see red-tailed cockatoos and kangaroos.

6. Peaceful Valley Farm, Jelcobine

Distance from Perth: 108km, 75mins

Cost per night: from $28

Amenities: Showers, toilets, potable water, campfire, pet-friendly (on leash), farm shop

Winners of the Hipcamp 2024 Newcomer Awards, this property is home to friendly Murray Grey cattle and Dorper sheep that graze the grassy fields. Tents, swags, camper trailers, caravans, and other RV vehicles are all welcome. Everything is 2WD two-wheel drive accessible, although if heavy rains have fallen ahead of your stay, it’s worth checking the situation with the hosts. The property is just off the Brookton Highway and its six large campsites are set in a valley, where a creek flows all year round.

Enjoy country views and breathe in pristine air as you wander through rocky outcrops and pastured paddocks, or to the farm shop, where you’ll find homemade beanies, soaps, eggs and those camping essentials: firewood and marshmallows. Bookings are essential, made privately or via HipCamp.

7. Jacaranda Hill, Fairbridge

Distance from Perth: 87km, 80mins

Cost per night: from $46

Amenities: campfire, pet-friendly (on leash), farm shop

This family-run property is all about sustainability-driven, off-grid and fully self-sufficient camping; they’ve got eight sites woven through across 43-hectares of regenerative bush and farmland for just that. Positioned at the edge of the Darling Scarp, just behind the historical Fairbridge Village and near Pinjarra, the farm is close enough to everything you need, while being private enough to forget the outside world exists.

Some sites are four-wheel-drive-only and while all are well spaced, Ocean View and Honeymoons are situated away from other sites, granting the feeling of being the only ones there. Between hikes, dam fishing and paddling adventures, look out for fairy wrens, rainbow bee-eaters and red-tailed black cockatoos, as well as kangaroos. A farm shop stocks organic, pasture-raised produce, honey, eggs and vegetables as well as soap and local crafts.

8. Drakesbrook Wines, Waroona

Distance from Perth: 121km, 1.5hrs

Cost per night: from $25

Amenities: BBQ facilities, potable water, campfire, pet-friendly (on leash)

It’s rare to find a campground within strolling distance of a winery. Caravan and tent sites are less than 200 meters from Drakesbrook’s lakeside picnic area and cellar door. Ploughman’s lunches, cheese platters and BBQ packs can be pre-ordered, sorting at least one meal a day for campers, who must otherwise be fully self-sufficient.

The cellar door also has coffee and snacks– as well as artisan wines - and free-to-use BBQ facilities. Walk around the farm’s bushland, or set off on a hiking trail in the national park around Lake Navarino, a large freshwater body where you can ski, fish and swim. Mountain bikers can try the Waterous Loop, starting at Lake Navarino Forest Park. The Drakesbrook runs year-round and kids particularly love playing along the creek.

9. Big Valley campsite, Margaret River

Distance from Perth: 273km, 3hrs

Cost per night: from $32

Amenities: showers, toilets, potable water, pet-friendly, camp kitchen, laundry facilities

Surrounded by state forest, yet only a 10 minute drive from Margaret River township, this campground combines tip top accessibility with reviving nature escapism. The working sheep farm has guinea pigs the kids can hold and sheep and chickens they can feed, as well as plenty of room to ride bikes around.

For those without ankle biters, a number of brewery and wine tours will pick up and drop off from the campsite, opening up all sorts of possibilities. If you’re driving, wineries and restaurants are still at your fingertips, along with the Cape to Cape Track, Mammoth Cave and Boranup Forest. Large motor homes and big rigs are accommodated, as well as caravans and tents. Electricity, water, and sewage connections are available at certain sites and all sit within 100m of amenities.

10. Harmony Retreat, Meelon

Distance from Perth: 105km, 70mins

Cost per night: from $52

Amenities: showers, toilets, pet-friendly (on-leash), campfire

The oversized red toadstools and fairy light-strung teepee hint at the mindfulness ahead of those staying at Harmony Retreat, a 15min drive from Dwellingup. This working farm campground plays host to sound healings, drumming circles and re-centring events throughout the year. Nearly a third of the 10 hectare property is forest. Naturally, native birds and wildlife abound, their sounds melded with moo-ing cows, baa-ing sheep and the clucks of free-ranging chickens. There’s also a cheerful little pig named Peppa.

The property is family friendly but there is an unfenced dam, so all children need to be supervised. There’s no camp kitchen so expect to be self-sufficient for mealtimes and you’ll need to BYO drinking water (and take all waste with you). Suitable for RVs and tents, and there’s also an air-conditioned caravan that sleeps four.

11. Chittering Acres, Chittering

Distance from Perth: 67km, 50mins

Cost per night: from $14

Amenities: campfires, pet-friendly (off-leash)

If you yearn to get away from all signs of humanity, free from other campers with the sense you’re blissfully alone, this is your spot. Overlooking Lake Chittering, this 283 hectare property has 13 private, secluded and remote sites that are geared at self-sufficient travellers. Suitable for RVs and tents, the farm is dotted with native jarrah, marri, wandoo, xanthorrhoea and banksia, which local kangaroos love to bound through.

The bush-shrouded lake draws plenty of birdlife such as swans, spoonbills, wood ducks and wedgetailed eagles, while in springtime, wildflowers coat the land. Each October, the food and wine festival, A Taste of Chittering lights up the region; at other times, local cellar doors await nearby.

Last updated: August 2024