Australian 4WD Action - June 2018

FACT FILE

WHERE

The Watagans NP is literally under 100 kms from the craziness

of Sydney and under an hour from Newcastle, making it a very

appealing location to get away for a quick weekend wheel.

CAMPING

The Pines Campground lies right in the heart of the Watagans

and is perhaps the most popular location. Do keep in mind Gap

Creek as this is another very good campsite for smaller

groups and is a little quieter than The Pines. With the advent of

private property camping via online bookings, there are also a

number of cracking options outside the national park as well.

WHAT TO TAKE

Bring a working winch and plenty of recovery gear. Despite

being close to many centres, having to leave the park via its

winding dirt roads just to grab something you forgot to bring is

a real hassle and actually pretty time consuming. As such,

pack to provide all your needs and not have to resupply.

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

Anytime of year! Winter means warm fi res and rain on the tarp

and even easy tracks turn crazy with a bit of water on them.

Summer is warm nights and cold beers and upping the track

count as you can now tackle the big names in the dry.

FUEL AND SUPPLIES

There are several major centres including Newcastle, Gosford

or Cessnock which means that regardless of what direction you

are coming from you’ll be able to top up on fuel and grab any

last minute supplies.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

5 REASONS

TO GIVE THIS A GO YOURSELF

1

PROXIMITY there are very few areas that are so scenic and

gnarly at the same time yet so darn close to a major city. You

can literally head to a Newcastle pub for beers after the gnarliest

day of tracks you can imagine....unless you drive a Toyota, then

you’ll be heading to the mechanics (just joking folks...).

2

TRACKS the Watagans region is littered with track names that

you’ll have heard before and if like us, will have wanted to try

forever. This really is the home of some of Australia’s best known

off-road challenges, all offering multiple lines and something for

every driver and 4WD..

3

FREE CAMPING there are several areas dotted all through the

Watagans region offering quality free camping. This is pretty

cool in itself however factor in that all of these are literally just about

trackside, and for the serious wheeler it doesn’t get much better.

4

BLACKSMITHS not only is this a scenic strip of coast offering

quality surf breaks and fantastic fi shing, it’s the only place you

can legally camp on the beach for many, many kilometres. If you’re

doing a hot lap, be sure to add Blacksmiths to your camp spots.

5

TERRAIN within just a few kilometres you can literally experience

a vast array of terrains, from mud to shale to gravel and of course,

even beaches.

Blackies is infamously soft...

Make sure you have the

right tyre pressures

Our local mate Joel brought

out his Darlin’ of a 40 Series

• I begged him to sell her to
  me, but he didn’t...

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WATAGANS NATIONAL PARK, NSW

REAL 4WDING