Orroral & Honeysuckle

Why this valley is the first overnight

Most first Namadgi overnights should sit here: Orroral for a bush camp with trailer space, Honeysuckle if Booroomba or the AAWT is the morning job. Canberra is still the hotel if you have not booked a site.

Eastern grey kangaroos in the grasslands are normal. Do not feed wildlife. Dogs are not permitted in the park.

This is not Mount Clear. Mount Clear is the remote third campground — unsealed, basic, not for camper trailers or larger vans. Save it for a second trip.

Booroomba while the road is closed

Re-checked 13 Sep 2026: Parks ACT lists Booroomba Rocks Road closed until further notice (from 11 May 2026). The walking track is listed Open. Bushwalkers access it from Honeysuckle Campground via the Australian Alps Walking Track.

Official distances from Honeysuckle: 8 km return / 2.5 hours to the (closed-road) car park; 10.5 km return / 4 hours to the top. Grade 4. Cliffs. Out-and-back. Reverse is the only bail-out.

When the road reopens, the car-park start returns — still Grade 4, still unsealed approach, still not a lookout stroll. Ask the Visitor Centre the morning you go. Do not treat a 2024 blog as live.

Homestead, tracking station, kangaroos

Orroral Heritage: Parks ACT Grade 3, 6 km one way / 2.5 hours, Open on re-check. Grassland walking with mountain and river views and signs. Orroral Valley Circuit is a longer Grade 4 loop (19 km / 1 day) from the former tracking-station precinct.

Honeysuckle sits near the former NASA tracking station that relayed Apollo 11. The operational dish is gone. Use the official interpretation. Do not wander into closed infrastructure. Canberra wildlife tours that stop at Tidbinbilla are not this campground.

Granite Tors (Grade 4, 8 km return from Orroral Tracking Station, 3 hours) is a steep add-on — not the same afternoon as Booroomba from Honeysuckle.

Bookings, water, firewood

Book Orroral or Honeysuckle on Parks ACT where-to-stay. Phone 02 6237 5307 if the booking page fails. Typical maximum 7 consecutive nights. Fees per person per night (children under 15 often free — VERIFY live; do not treat this page as a price list).

Parks ACT: bring your own drinking water. Campground tanks may be untreated or empty. Bring your own firewood or buy it at the Visitor Centre. Collection is illegal. Take rubbish out — bins are not provided. Fire bans apply. Fuel stove preferred.

Official campground pages: Orroral and Honeysuckle. Confirm toilets, shelters and whether campervans still fit before you tow anything down an unsealed road.

If Booroomba is too long that day

Turn around at the old car-park location (8 km return official) if the extra granite climb is not worth it. The forest is still the walk.

If 4 hours from Honeysuckle does not fit, Square Rock on the Corin door is the other granite day (10.5 km / 4.5 hours). Yankee Hat is the grassland Plan B if granite is not the point. Do not stack Gingera onto either.

Highlights at a glance

• Orroral Campground — bush setting; caravans/trailers possible (official)
• Honeysuckle Campground — groups; some campervan/trailer space (official)
• Orroral Homestead and Orroral Heritage walk (Grade 3, 6 km one way, Open on re-check)
• Honeysuckle tracking-station interpretation (Apollo-era context — the dish is gone)
• Current Booroomba access: AAWT from Honeysuckle while Booroomba Rocks Road is closed
• Eastern grey kangaroos in the grasslands

Walks nearby

Grades, times and open/closed status change — open each guide and verify on Parks ACT before you go.

Itineraries that use this area

One night + a morning walk

Overnight Orroral + valley morning

Book Orroral (or Honeysuckle) official only. Per person per night. Phone the Visitor Centre during the online outage. Morning: Orroral heritage or Yankee Hat — not Gingera, not Mount Clear with a camper trailer.

Full day (4 hours walking plus drives and briefing)

Booroomba Rocks day (Honeysuckle access)

While Booroomba Rocks Road is closed, Parks ACT sends walkers from Honeysuckle Campground via the AAWT — 10.5 km return / 4 hours to the top. Not the old 2.5 km car-park day. Cliffs. Grade 4.

Map

Orientation only — confirm trailheads and road status before you drive.

FAQ — Orroral

Explore next

Other Namadgi corners — not a second summit stacked onto this one. Pick the door that matches tomorrow’s clock.

Tharwa

The front door. Namadgi Visitor Information Centre on Naas Road, 2.7 km south of Tharwa bridge. Maps, conditions, PLB hire, firewood for sale, card only. Mount Tennent starts in the car park.

Yankee Hat

Ngunnawal rock art, grassland kangaroos, Gudgenby valley. The cultural walk most visitors should do before they chase granite.

Gingera

ACT alpine: snow gums, Pryors Hut, Mount Gingera 1,857 m, Mt Franklin Road, Stockyard Spur. Winter snow. This is not a Canberra café afternoon.

Boboyan south

Settlers Track, Mount Clear campground, remote unsealed south. Mount Clear is basic, not for camper trailers, 7-night max.

Corin

Western Canberra approach: Square Rock 10.5 km, Corin Dam, Stockyard Spur toward Gingera. Gibraltar Falls lookout is closed until later in 2026.