Wongi Waterholes Camping Area

Wongi Waterholes Camping Area is a bush campground in Wongi State Forest at Duckinwilla, 30 to 40 minutes north of Maryborough on the Fraser Coast. Its draw is simple: dogs are permitted in a Queensland forest with tea-tree stained waterholes on the doorstep, which most national parks in the state do not allow. If your trips usually end at a state forest because everything else bans dogs, this one is worth the dirt road.

Dogs at the Wongi Waterholes Camping Area

Dogs are permitted on-lead and under control at all times. Keep them inside the camping and picnic areas and away from the forest rehabilitation zones, and do not let them bother wildlife or neighbouring campers. All dog waste goes in a bag and leaves with you. The on-lead rule is enforced seriously here: there is wildlife around the waterholes and snakes through the warmer months, so a long line gives you control without losing the site.

Max: bring a long line, not just a short lead. The waterholes are the whole point of this place and your dog will want to reach them, but the rule is under control everywhere, every time.

The campground

Sites are open, unpowered and non-designated among the eucalypts, taking tents, camper trailers, caravans and small motorhomes. Facilities are basic but real: flushing toilets and cold showers, picnic tables, and limited tank water that is untreated, so bring your own drinking water. Open fires are banned, and generators may run only between 9am and 8pm. Camping costs about $7.50 per person per night. Book online before you arrive because mobile coverage on site is close to nonexistent, and display your camping tag with the booking number at the site.

Close by with the dogs

Maryborough, the closest supply town, has an off-leash dog park on the way through for a proper run after the drive, and a caravan park in town if you want a powered site with a dog before or after the forest. The forest tracks themselves suit a morning on-lead walk, and the waterholes are popular for kayaking when water levels allow.

Maryborough's off-leash dog park makes a good detour on the drive in, and Maryborough's caravan park is the fallback if you need power or arrive without a booking.