Elanda Point Campground, Great Sandy National Park, Qld.

Sunrise at Lake Cootharaba

Elanda Point Education Centre & Adventure Park is a privately run campground, education centre and canoe hire centre on the banks of Lake Cootharaba on the edge of the Cooloola Section of the Great Sandy National Park. It is only a 25 km drive north of Noosa and is accessible by 2WD. However, the long driveway requires some care as it has a number of large potholes. There are mixed reviews online about camping there; largely because they have a number of signposted rules and because they do not take dogs. However, those that don't object to the rules usually state it is one of their favourite campgrounds; a very pleasant, family friendly lakeside location with a great variety of activities.

Colourful Cabins at Elanda Point Education Centre

Elanda Point Campground adjoining Lake Cootharaba

The campground itself is large and has plenty of open grassy space with some trees for shade and shelter from the wind that comes in off the lake in the afternoons. There is room for caravans, motorhomes, camper trailers and tents. There are no powered sites. There are toilets and hot showers near the entry kiosk and two other toilet blocks with cold showers in the grounds. There are also some outdoor showers with taps throughout the grounds. There are industrial bins for rubbish near the entrance. No pets are allowed and no fires are allowed on the ground. While we were there, a group of school children camped in tents near the entry and the place is so big that you barely noticed they were there. There is also a separate area with colourful cabins for groups. On top of all this they are a hire centre for kayaks, canoes and small boats. People were enjoying the shallow shore waters of Lake Cootharaba even late in the afternoon.

Families enjoying the lake late in the afternoon

As the weather had been very windy we decided to put our tent up further away from the lake, behind some trees. It was very peaceful and our campsite was visited by Kookaburras and a very large goanna. The dominant birds in the campground were Noisy Miners but we did see King Parrots fly in at dawn and dusk. We also had a visit from a couple of Pacific Black Ducks who promptly went to sleep next to our tent. There were kangaroos lazing around the outer fields and I spotted a pair of Bush Stone-curlews between the entrance and the cabins.

Our tent at Elanda Point Campground

Pacific Black Duck settling in for a restful sleep

We came to do a couple of walks in the Great Sandy National Park. Camping at Elanda Point Campground worked out well for us, as there is direct access from the campground to the walks and it is about 1.2 km return shorter than walking from the National Park Carpark in Lake Flat Road. We will cover the walks to Mill Point and Kinaba in the next blog. We enjoyed our stay at Elanda Point and we thought it was good value at $24 dollars a night for two people because you can arrive anytime after 8.00 am and leave anytime between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm the next day. Take $10 cash for a refundable key fee. We look forward to returning and perhaps hiring kayaks for the day. 

All photos were taken in February 2015.