see also:

• photography and camping main index page
• non-commercial camp grounds for tents within 2 hours of Melbourne
• non-commercial camp grounds for tents 2-4 hours from Melbourne
• Hammonds Road campgrounds near Aireys Inlet / Bambra
• Victoria's Otway Ranges and the Great Ocean Road

• Tanners Road Bend campground is in the NW part of the Otways, and 21km or 22min drive NW of Anglesea
• 180m elevation;
• it is one of the few free camps relatively close to the beach in Victoria which has toilets (drop toilets)
• nearby Hammond Road Nth (free) and main Hammond Road (booking fee but has Telstra internet and grass) campgrounds are nicer but cooler and more moist
• BYO water, firewood;
• phone reception available;
• dogs on leash
• camp sites are dirt
• regularly patrolled by rangers and in peak periods by police given it is close to the beach
• see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDFQX8_mF_M

• 83min from NW suburbs via Geelong bypass and Mount Moriac turn off from the M1 (don't take the Anglesea turn off signs!)

• lots of walk/horse/bike tracks;
• horse yards;
• short drive to the surf beaches
• circuit drives around the Otways - see Victoria's Otway Ranges and the Great Ocean Road
• check out You Yangs, Serendip bird Sanctuary (free) or Brisbane Ranges on the way there or coming home (can camp in Brisbane Ranges eg historic gold mining area of Steiglitz)

• 22min drive to beaches at either Pt Addis or Anglesea
• 23min to the famous Bell's Beach surf beach
• 16min to inland township of Winchelsea
  • check out the historic Barwon Park Mansion
• 30min drive to Torquay beach
• 30min to Airey's Inlet via Anglesea
• 47min to Lorne via Deans Marsh - so you could do a nice circuit - come back via Aireys Inlet and Anglesea which also takes about 47min off peak;
• 52min to Erskine Falls

• Hammonds Rd Nth camp ground - free
  • 16min to SW; 280m elevation;
  • 12 separate vehicle sites; free camp;
  • dogs allowed;
  • 3min drive Nth of main Hammonds camp ground
  • sites are gravel based and set amongst trees offering more privacy than main camp ground and your car is next to tent but there is no mobile phone reception
  • nicer than Tanners Rd but cooler and more moist
  • 18min to Airey's Inlet
• Hammonds camp ground - needs booking
  • 8km gravel rd from Bambra;
  • mid week off peak, this is mainly for international and interstate tourists in campervans who generally arrive 1-2 hours before sunset and leave soon after sunrise so the camp ground is generally unoccupied from 11am-5pm
  • 16 sites which require booking online with Parks Vic; 360m elevation;
  • as of Dec 2023, the walks are quite over-grown so you may want to skip them.
  • nicer camp ground with a small non-potable water hole, some tent sites have raised wooden platforms but these are too small for most tents - there are large circular reasonably level dirt areas instead - or if you can find flat grass that might be an option;
  • sites 1-4 are best for campervans or small caravan
  • sites 5-11 are the main tent sites close to the car parking area
    • sites 5,8,11 are the highest and close to sites 1-4 and the gravel road
    • site 7 is most central of the main tent area but is likely to have rain pool on it but would be good for dry weather
    • site 6 is in the bottom corner adjacent the fence and car park and gets some shade and some morning sun in summer
    • site 9 is in the centre at the bottom near the fence and gets some shade
    • site 10 is near the far fence
  • sites 12-16 are some 30-50m from the car park area and are dirt based smaller pads set amongst trees offering some privacy from the rest of the camp area
  • no dogs allowed; non-potable tank water;
  • some Telstra internet available and along with the grass, this makes it the nicest of the 3 campsites in this area (Hammonds Nth, Tanner Rd)
  • 16min, 13km from Aireys Inlet including ~9km gravel roads
• Inverleigh town free camp on the Barwon River
  • 28min to the north
• Big Hill campground
  • 33min at the top of the Otways off the Deans Marsh-Lorne road
• Meredith Park, north shore Lake Colac
  • 43min to NW; issue with local thieves
  • windy ep. Sth winds; boating, paddle boarding; fishing;
• Allenvale Mill campground near Lorne (~200m walk in from car park)
  • 51min to SW
• Lake Elizabeth campground
  • 51min to SW; 230m elevation; can be lots of mozzies and leeches;
• Mt Sabine campground at top of Otways
  • 63min to SW; 580m elevation
• Stevensons Falls campground
  • 60min to SW; 160m elevation; along the Barramunga Creek; nice walk to the falls
• Dandos camp ground
  • 75min to SW; 140m elevation; along the Gellibrand River;
• Beauchamp Falls camp ground
  • 81min to SW; 460m elevation; nice walk to the falls
• Johanna Beach (bookings)
  • 101min to SW via Birregurra, Lavers Hill (or 4min longer if go through Colac)