Month: February 2025

Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Lane Cove National Park is located 10km north-west of Sydney in NSW, Australia.

Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

We love visiting national parks wherever we go. During our recent trip to eastern states we were lucky to stay at the caravan park (Lane Cove Discovery Park) which has direct entry into Lane Cove NP. This national park offers an escape from city life without having to travel far. Beautiful Lane Cove River passes through the park before flowing into Sydney Harbour.

Lane Cove River in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Things to do at Lane Cove National Park

Lane Cove National Park is a great place for a day out with the family. There are easy walks around the park, cycling paths, as well numerous picnic spots with bbq facilities.

Flora and fauna

Both the park and the river are home to a lot of interesting flora and fauna.

Scribbly gum, Eucalyptus haemastoma is a fascinating gum tree. It has distinctive markings on its trunk, as if someone scribbled on them, hence the common name – scribbly gum. Interestingly, the scribbles are caused by the moth as it moves between the old and new bark.

Scribbly gum at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Sydney red gum, Angophora costata, is an another pretty gum tree. It is characterized by convoluted branches. It sheds bark, like many gum trees do, to reveal orange colour smooth trunk.

Sydney Red Gum at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Eastern water dragon lizard is abundant in the national park, as well as the nearby caravan park.

Eastern Water Dragon Lizard at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Australian brush turkey. We found quite a number of them while staying at Lane Cove Discovery park in NSW. They were not shy at all and frequently visited us. Love their bright red head and yellow throat wattle (in males). As they do not occur in WA, we found them very fascinating.

Sulphur-crested cockatoo, native to eastern states of Australia is quite a large and rather common bird. They are intelligent, loud, especially when they are in big flocks, noisy, as well as ‘nosy’. We (especially our younger son) enjoyed meeting them at Lane Cove Discovery park. Although, at the end, we had to tell them off when they became too friendly😊.

Noisy miner – a bird from the honeyeater family – is another pretty bird you can see frequently at Lane Cove National Park.

Noisy miner at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Entry to the park

Entry to the park is $8 per vehicle. Although, if you stay at Lane Cove Discovery Park, you can just walk into the national park for free.

Family of 4 at Lane Cove National Park

Snottygobble Loop campground

Camping at Snottygobble Loop campground

What’s in a name?

So, why such an interesting name and what does it mean – Snottygobble? It is actually a tree, also known as Persoonia longifolia, which grows in abundance at Snottygobble Loop campground.

Camping location and facilities

Snottygobble Loop campground is located at the border of D’Entrecasteaux National Park and Greater Hawke National Park in Australia’s Southwest. It is a secluded little campground near Carey Brook and amidst thick jarrah-marri forest. There are 11 campsites, including 1 group site. The sites are suitable for tents and swags only, as the barrier prevents you from reversing in. Entrance to individual campgrounds is narrow in most cases, so putting an awning might not be possible. We couldn’t open ours but luckily we didn’t need it). Some sites have picnic tables, others have fire rings to be used between April and November. Only two sites have both picnic tables and fire rings (2 and #8). There are drop toilets and a communal shelter, which can be considered as a kitchen. The sheltered place has a table and a water tank with non-portable water.

Things to do

The best thing about the campground is that it is quite secluded, if you want privacy. Although, the forest amplifies all the sounds, so there is very good acoustics there 😊. There are nice walking trails along the Carey Brook. You can walk to the next campground (Grasstree Hollow), which is only 2km away. You can also walk in the opposite direction to Goblin Swamp. Or you can drive a few more km to Donnely river and launch your boat there.

It was a relaxing holiday that we spent at Snottygobble Loop campground. We played games (and we don’t often do that 😊), did some walking, visited ice-creamery and chocolate factories.

We also bought a bag of shelled macadamia nuts from Nannup and kids had a good time cracking them (all of them!)

Pemberton and Warren National Park with all their attractions are also nearby.

Goblin Swamp

Goblin Swamp is 2km away from Snottygobble Loop campground. It is an interesting place, with a mixture of mystery and spookiness in it. It was dry when we visited it in January and the roots of the paperbark trees were exposed. They were also burnt a few years ago. Now, still looking black with a contrasting new bright green growth, the trees look quite eerie. Goblins are said to live there too 😊.

Fees and bookings

Technically, Snottygobble camp is in Hawke National Park, so there is no park entry fee. Camping fees are $15 per person per night and you need to book the sites online via Parkstay WA. We camped at Snottygobble during Australia Day long weekend in 2025. The campground was fully booked, although 1 or 2 campgrounds were empty. Our neighbour had to relocate to Warren NP after 1 night, because his site was booked, but no one arrived that night.

In conclusion

We generally prefer camping by the beach where we can see sunrise and sunset, but with everything being fully booked weeks and months ahead, we were happy staying in the forest for a change :). It is a nice campground, if you don’t mind staying in tents/swags and don’t need lots of space around your vehicle (e.g. for an awning).