Ban Ban Springs, Queensland.

One of the things we have learned is that when you are on a roadtrip for any length of time camp fees add up! $12 - $25 a night seems cheap when you only go camping for a few nights a year on holiday but when you pay night after night it can have a serious impact on your budget. One way to get around this is to spend some nights in the many free camps scattered throughout Australia. Free camps vary enormously from something suitable for an overnight rest stop on a long trip to camping areas worthy of being a bucket list destination. We often drop into free camps to take a break on our travelling days and I usually take a few photos so I have decided to add posts about the free camps we see on our National Park Odyssey in the hope that this information will help encourage more people to get out there and see this wonderful country of ours; even if they are on a tight budget. I will label all the free camp posts so that our readers can find them on the right hand side of my blogs by clicking on Free Camp.

The northern half of Ban Ban Springs Rest Area.

The rest area at Ban Ban Springs is on the side of the road just south of the junction of the Burnett and Isis Highways: 28 km south of Gayndah and 37 km west of Biggenden. These are busy highways with continuous traffic noise. Overnight camping is allowed in this large rest area for up to 20 hours. Toilets, bins and picnic tables are available. There is a service station nearby and a seasonal produce stall on the other side of the road. There is a separate truck rest area to the south of the public rest area.

There are permanent springs at Ban Ban Springs that are sacred to the Wakka Wakka people. In 2005, the springs became the first place in Queensland to be formally registered as an Aboriginal Heritage Place on the Queensland Aboriginal Heritage Register. 

On our trip in July we stopped for about 15 minutes and saw quite a few birds. Blue-faced Honeyeaters mobbed our picnic table and a large group of squabbling Apostlebirds arrived. Other birds we saw were: Grey-crowned Babblers, Magpies, Striated Pardalotes and Red-backed Fairy Wrens.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Apostlebird

Details for Ban Ban Springs Rest Area, QLD:
Near the junction of the Burnett and Isis Highways: 28 km south of Gaynder.
Nearest National Park: Coalstaun Lakes National Park, 18 km.
20 hour rest stop. Free.
Types of camping: caravans, motor homes and large rigs. 
Pets allowed.
Facilities: toilets, sheltered picnic tables, bins, wood BBQ's (BYO wood), turning circle. 
Of interest: Aboriginal history, permanent springs. Service station. Produce stall.
Cautions: Close to highway. Road noise.