Ngarigo Campground on the Thredbo River in Kosciuszko is free but must be booked. How to book, when it gets busy and how to catch a cancellation alert.
About
Ngarigo is a riverside campground on the Thredbo River, off the Alpine Way in the Thredbo-Perisher area of Kosciuszko National Park. It's a handy base for the Thredbo Valley track, the Kosciuszko walk and Thredbo Alpine Village, and in summer it's a cool escape from the coast.
Like nearby Thredbo Diggings, Ngarigo has no camping fees, only a small booking fee. Free camping on a mountain river within easy reach of Thredbo is about as good a deal as NSW parks offer, so it's no surprise the good nights go early.
The area is open all year, though roads and trails can close for weather or park management. For late October 2026, NPWS lists Ngarigo among areas closed for feral animal control (from 12pm 19 October to 12pm 23 October, and from 12pm 26 October to 12pm 30 October), so check the local alerts before you go.
The sites
The official NPWS page lists 30 campsites at Ngarigo. Camping types are tent, camper trailer and caravan sites, plus tent sites where you don't mind a short walk from the car. All sites are unpowered and marked.
Facilities, per NPWS:
- Toilets
- Barbecue facilities
- Picnic tables
There's no drinking water or firewood supplied, so bring your own water for drinking and cooking, plus firewood. There are several gravel car parks, including one with an accessible parking space. Mobile reception is limited.
The maximum stay is 14 days at Ngarigo and 21 days in the national park. You can book up to 12 people or 2 sites online; school groups and Park Eco Pass holders can make a group booking enquiry. Park entry fees apply on the Alpine Way and Kosciuszko Road, and the daily rate is higher in winter.
How booking works
Bookings are made on the NSW National Parks website or through the National Parks Contact Centre on 1300 072 757 (7am to 7pm daily). The campground is operated by the Snowy Region Visitor Centre in Jindabyne. No ballot, no queue: you see availability for your nights and grab what's there.
The booking fee is non-refundable. NPWS camping refunds are 75% of what you paid if you cancel 31 or more days before arrival and 50% after that, but at a free campground there isn't much to refund either way. The practical effect is that cancelling costs people very little, so sites get released regularly.
When it sells out
Summer school holidays, Christmas to Australia Day, Easter and long weekends are the busy times for Kosciuszko's river campgrounds. Fine weekends in the warmer months bring walkers, cyclists and people fishing the Thredbo River.
In winter the campground area stays open, but all 2WD vehicles must carry snow chains between the June and October long weekends on the Alpine Way between Thredbo and Tom Groggin, and chains are advised for every vehicle in extreme weather.
How to get a cancellation
Free campgrounds see a lot of churn. People hold sites as a backup, groups book extra and hand them back, and a bad alpine forecast can free up half a weekend overnight. Because there's barely any refund to protect, cancellations don't bunch around the 31-day mark the way they do at paid coastal campgrounds; they turn up whenever.
That randomness is exactly where an alert beats refreshing. Watch Ngarigo on Aussie Camp Alerts, set your nights, and we'll email you when a site opens. The free plan covers one live watch with alerts about 15 minutes behind. If you want to watch Ngarigo and Thredbo Diggings together and hear instantly, the Summer pass adds up to 10 watches plus Telegram and web push.
Getting there
From Jindabyne, head out on Kosciuszko Road and turn left onto the Alpine Way after about 3km. Continue around 23km, then turn right at the sign for Ngarigo campground. The access road is unsealed but suitable for 2WD.
Kosciuszko Road is closed between Perisher and Charlotte Pass in winter. The Snowy Region Visitor Centre (49 Kosciuszko Road, Jindabyne, 8.30am to 5pm daily, closed Christmas Day) lends personal locator beacons for free, as do the Perisher Valley Office and the Tumut and Khancoban visitor centres. For remote walks, NPWS recommends lodging a trip intention form.
1080 baiting for wild dogs and foxes is listed for the surrounding area through to early February 2027, which is lethal to cats and dogs, so leave pets at home.
Nearby alternatives