Trial Bay Gaol Campground in Arakoon NP: how booking works, when it sells out, and how to catch a cancellation for a beachfront site near South West Rocks.
About
Trial Bay Gaol Campground sits in the Trial Bay Gaol precinct of Arakoon National Park, just outside South West Rocks on the NSW Mid North Coast. It's right by the beach, with Front Beach next door and the sandstone ruins of the old gaol up the hill, where the sentry's lookout gives you a big view over the bay.
It's a family campground through and through. Summer is the busy season for swimming, snorkelling and fishing. Winter brings whales migrating north past the headland, and in spring NPWS notes that whales rest with their calves in Trial Bay, right off the campground. Pack binoculars whatever time of year you go.
The sites
NPWS lists 91 campsites, suited to tents, camper trailers, caravans and camping beside your vehicle. There's a mix of powered and unpowered sites, all marked, plus some walk-in sites with no allocated parking.
Facilities are about as good as national park camping gets: toilets and showers in an amenities block, drinking water, a camp kitchen, barbecue facilities, picnic tables, a boat ramp and a cafe/kiosk.
A few rules worth knowing before you book:
- Maximum six people per site, and everyone has to be paid for.
- One tent, or one campervan, trailer or caravan with an annex, per site.
- One vehicle (plus trailer) per site. Extra cars go in the natural-earth carparks.
- Gear has to stay at least 1.5m inside your site boundary.
- Fires aren't allowed, including wood and open-flame cookers, so bring a gas barbecue.
- No pets, apart from certified assistance animals.
- Check-in is 2pm and check-out is 10am, and fees apply for late check-outs. Everyone checks in at the office on arrival.
One local quirk: sites near the boat ramp can be noisy from 4am between January and April, during marlin season. If you're a light sleeper, pick your site type accordingly.
The campground page doesn't state a minimum stay, but peak periods can carry one, so check what the booking screen shows for your dates.
How booking works
All bookings go through the NSW National Parks website. You can book up to 20 people or 5 sites online; bigger groups need a group booking enquiry. Each night shows availability by site type, so you can see whether it's the powered or unpowered sites that are gone.
Cancellation terms for camping, per the NPWS booking conditions:
- Cancel 31 or more days before arrival: 75% refund.
- Cancel 30 days or less before arrival: 50% refund.
- The booking fee is never refunded.
You can also transfer a camping booking to other dates at the same campground and site type, if the booking window allows, but the whole booking has to move together.
If you get stuck, the National Parks Contact Centre is on 1300 072 757, 7am to 7pm daily.
When it sells out
A beachfront campground with powered sites, showers and a cafe is never going to be quiet in summer. When we checked in October 2026, the Christmas to Australia Day stretch was already booked out, and that's the pattern at every NSW coastal campground we looked at. Easter and the school holidays fill up early too, and long weekends go fast.
Outside those windows you'll often find a site, especially midweek in autumn and winter, which is also whale season.
How to get a cancellation
Sold out doesn't mean nobody's coming home early. Plans change, and the refund rules shape when people let go of their bookings.
Because the refund drops from 75% to 50% once you're inside 31 days, people who are wavering tend to cancel just before that cut-off. For late December and January arrivals, that puts the busiest stretch for cancellations at roughly 20 November to 26 December. A second smaller wave comes in the last week or two before arrival, when people's plans finally fall over.
Those sites get snapped up fast, often by whoever happens to refresh at the right time. Rather than refreshing yourself, watch Trial Bay Gaol on Aussie Camp Alerts. We check availability and send you an alert when a booked-out night opens up. The free plan covers one live watch with email alerts, which arrive 15 minutes after the paid ones. If you're juggling several dates or campgrounds, the Summer pass gives you up to 10 watches, instant alerts, and Telegram and web push.
Getting there
From South West Rocks, take Phillip Drive, turn onto Cardwell Street and follow the signs to the Trial Bay Gaol ruins and campground. The roads are sealed, suit 2WD vehicles and are open in all weather. The address is 63 Trial Bay Gaol Road, Arakoon.
Caravans and camper trailers have to be parked with the drawbar facing the road so they can get out quickly in an emergency. Mobile reception is limited, so NPWS suggests downloading the Emergency Plus app before you go.
Don't swim at Mermaid Pools nearby. NPWS warns that big waves can wash people off the rocks there.
Nearby alternatives
If Trial Bay is full for your dates, try these other North Coast campgrounds:
- Point Plomer, in Limeburners Creek National Park near Crescent Head: bigger and more remote, with no power.
- Diamond Head, further south in Crowdy Bay National Park.
- Sandon River, up the coast in Yuraygir National Park, for a quieter, back-to-basics stay.