Booking Yardie Creek campground in Cape Range NP: 10 sites near the gorge, Ningaloo monthly release dates, availability tips and how to land a cancellation.
About Yardie Creek
Yardie Creek campground is at the southern end of Cape Range National Park, near the spectacular Yardie Creek gorge. It's a small campground next to the Osprey Sanctuary Zone of Ningaloo Marine Park, and the shoreline is a special purpose zone where shore-based fishing is allowed.
The gorge itself is the big draw. You can take the short Yardie Nature Walk, tackle the harder Class 4 Yardie Gorge Trail along the rim, or join a boat tour up the creek. Keep an eye out for the threatened black-flanked rock wallaby and ospreys. Exmouth is the nearest town, so stock up there before heading down.
The campsites
Explore Parks WA describes 10 reverse-in campsites on compacted sand that vary in size, and Park Stay WA lists the same 10. All are unpowered. Park Stay marks each as suitable for tents, campervans and caravans, but with sites this varied it's worth checking each one's details and the campground map.
What's there:
- A no-flush pit toilet, the only hygiene facility
- Beach access path and communal picnic tables
- No drinking water
- Generators allowed at all sites, 8am to 9pm only
- No campfires at any time
- No dogs or other pets
Explore Parks also lists wheelchair accessibility information for this campground. Carry portable toilet waste out to an authorised dump point.
How booking works
Yardie Creek is booked through Park Stay WA, DBCA's online booking system. Bookings are essential, must be made before arrival, and cover one campsite each. No booking fee; pay by Mastercard or Visa.
You'll pay a camping fee per person per night, plus a park entry fee per vehicle for Cape Range. The entry fee can go on your booking, be paid on arrival, or be covered by a park pass. Trailers and caravans are exempt.
Ningaloo Coast campgrounds open in monthly blocks on the first Tuesday of each month at 10am AWST, instead of the 180-day rolling window used elsewhere in WA. As of October 2026, you can book up to 30 April 2027. The May 2027 block opens at 10am AWST on Tuesday 3 November 2026, then June on 1 December 2026 and July on 5 January 2027. Expect a virtual waiting room; queue positions are randomised at 10am.
Maximum stay is 14 nights if any night falls in WA public school holidays, otherwise 28.
When it sells out
With only 10 sites, Yardie Creek has very little slack. Popular dates can disappear within minutes of a release. WA school holidays are the hardest to get: DBCA flags 10 to 26 April 2027, 3 to 18 July 2027 and 25 September to 10 October 2027 as the busiest periods. Whale season (May to October) keeps it busy outside holidays too.
December to April is easier but very hot, and it's cyclone season.
How to get a cancellation
Small campgrounds are where cancellation watching really pays off, because every site that's released is a big share of the whole campground. DBCA lets campers cancel or change until 11:59pm AWST the day before arrival.
When sites tend to come back:
- Within 48 hours of a release. Bookings made 3 or more days ahead have a free 48-hour cancellation window.
- Around the free-cancellation cut-offs. Removing dates is free more than 14 days out for peak dates, or more than 5 days out for other dates. Later than that, the camper pays one concession camper fee per night per site.
- Right up to arrival. Nights can reappear the day before.
You can watch Yardie Creek on Aussie Camp Alerts to get an email as soon as a night you want turns bookable, rather than refreshing Park Stay yourself.
Getting there
Yardie Creek campground is at the far southern end of the park's main road from Exmouth. Park Stay lists it as accessible by 2WD or SUV, though roads may include unsealed sections and conditions vary. South of the creek it's a different story: the One K and Boat Harbour campgrounds beyond the Yardie Creek crossing are 4WD only. Have your park entry fee paid or park pass ready.
Nearby alternatives
- Osprey Bay: the park's largest campground, just to the north
- Kurrajong: generator-free dune campground further north
- Tulki Beach: closest campground to Turquoise Bay