Lorella Springs Wilderness Park Review, Near Borroloola NT
First things first. “Near Borroloola” because it’s the closest town, but it’s about 3.5 hours away. Only about 160km but 130km is dirt. Your trip to Lorella Springs is going to vary greatly depending on what time of the year you go (how far into the dry season it is).
Before we get too far I just need to let you know that out of all of the places we have traveled around Australia, Lorella Springs is so far my absolute favourite. We got back from our trip 4 days ago and already planning on going back in two weeks. For real!
Where is Lorella Springs?
Ok, so if you haven’t heard of the “Savannah Way” then you probably aren’t familiar where Lorella Springs is. The Savannah Way is a track that thousands of travellers tour along during the dry season (Winter) each year. It runs across the top end of Australia from Queensland in the East, through the Northern Territory and over to Western Australia in the West.
The Savannah Way is very remote driving and almost entirely dirt roads. There are creek crossings, rough section and late in the season the corrugations are pretty extreme. With all that being said, loads of people towing caravans in all kinds of cars travel along it each year. It’s not an “extreme” road by any means unless you were to try drive it during the wet season, which would be near impossible depending on which rivers and creeks are in flood.
Turning off the Savannah Way, Lorella Springs is still another 30km to the homestead.
If you were traveling the Savannah Way, you would be mad not to go into Lorella.
About Lorella Springs Wilderness Park
The best time to go is just after the wet season has finished. So for us, it was perfect. The roads were all dry other than a few creek crossings, but there was still plenty of water in all the good waterholes, billabongs and swimming spots.
We were there for two nights but next time we will stay for longer. Lorella Springs Wilderness Park is a one million acre property, and I reckon we saw about 400 acres of it. But within that 400 acres was some of my favourite places I’ve ever been to.
The 4 notable places we visited were:
- Wildfire Gorge
- Emerald Pool
- Ink Spot
- The Water Slide
All four places were awesome for swimming. And to pick a favourite spot out of them is so hard because they are all so unique. There are quite literally dozens of places to choose from like this that are only a short drive from the homestead and camping area. The furtherest of the four spots we visited was The Water Slide which was about 12km away. It took us exactly 32 minutes to get there, plus a 500m walk up some rocky terrain to get there.
If you don’t feel like driving anywhere, then just walk down and have a dip in the hot spring which is between the main camping area and the bar. It’s a tropical little oasis where you are out of the sun, but nice and warm in the water.
The one million acre property stretches all the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria. As a result there are also salt water creeks on the property. This means two important things for me.
1.) Salt water crocodiles are found on the property. Definitely do not go swimming anywhere unless Rhett tells you that you can swim there.
2.) Barramundi fishing! I brought all of my fishing gear with me but didn’t even unpack it. I had too much fun swimming. So our next trip I am going to make sure a wet a line.
A Little About The Campsite
When you arrive, you are greeted by owner Rhett and his family. Considering you are in the middle of nowhere, it’s quite sophisticated. There’s a bar and kitchen for meals. And some big screens showing slideshows of photos and video from around the property. Rhett will zoom up on a large touch screen and show you the camping area, which is right near the bar.
There is enormous areas to choose from for non powered camping. I saw two amenities blocks. They have flushing toilets, hot showers (supplied by donkey) and were very clean at all times. They aren’t the kind of amenities you would see in a big caravan park. But they are more than adequate. The only possible issue some may have with them is the “door” to each toilet is just a shower curtain.
Pricing
You pay when you leave. When we went (May 2017) the pricing was $20 per person per night.
I’m seen in some reviews on Lorella people complaining about the pricing. But you can’t treat it as just “camping fees.” Your $20 per person also gets you access to the 1 million acre property and all it has to offer.
Happy hour is 5pm every day at the bar. Happy hour prices were about 7 or 8 dollars each for a beer. But again, you’re not going for a “piss up.” Just go have one or two social drinks and it’s not expensive. Just remember, everything you purchase from Lorella Springs got there the same way you did along a long dirt road.
A Short Video of Our Trip
