Camping in this coastal wilderness is an amazing experience - please don't leave anything behind that would stop others from enjoying it. There are no facilities and you'll need to take drinking water and a fuel stove with you.
Walk-in camping is permitted at several specific places along the reserve's coastline, next to the coastal walking track. These include:
- Newtons Beach
- the Merrica River mouth
- Little Creek estuary
- the northern and southern ends of Nadgee Beach
- Nadgee Flat
- the northern side of Nadgee Lake
- Bunyip Hole near Cape Howe
- the southern end of Cape Howe Beach.
You'll need a permit to camp anywhere between the Merrica ranger station and Mallacoota - including Nadgee Howe. Numbers are limited to 20 each night. The permit costs $5 per person per day - download an application form (map included; PDF 955KB).
Overnight walks
Nadgee wilderness walk
If you’re looking for the ultimate coastal hike, Nadgee wilderness walk could possibly be the one. Not for the faint-hearted, it’s a four-day 50km hike along untouched pieces of southern NSW coastline from Merrica River to Mallacoota, and well worth experiencing.
In a truly isolated and spectacular environment, you’ll discover remote beaches, rugged coastline, tranquil lagoons and shifting sand dunes. As you walk, you’ll easily become a birdwatcher - hundreds of seabirds can be seen along the way, such as short-tailed shearwaters, sooty oystercatchers, hooded plovers and gannets.
Eastern water dragons are often seen sunning themselves on warm stones by creeks. And while pods of dolphins often mingle along the beaches, whales can be seen making their annual migration between September and November.
You’ll need to be an experienced backpack camper to explore the entirety of this walk. Little Creek Estuary, Bunyip Hole and Nadgee River campgrounds, to name a few, are great places to settle down for the evening. You’ll often hear the night-time calls of powerful and sooty owls.
With so many natural wonders to see on Nadgee wilderness walk, this multi-day hike along the south coast of NSW is the ideal antidote to modern life.
