• From your camp you can walk to the nearby air crash site. Photo credit: Lightcapturer © Queensland Government
• Relax in our camp under the dense rainforest canopy. Photo credit: Nicholas Hill © Queensland Government

You need to be an experienced off-track walker with the right hiking equipment and good navigational skills to walk to this remote camp site.

Set deep in rainforest and surrounded by lanky tree ferns, the camp site is close to the 1937 crash site of a Model A Stinson Airliner. Very little remains of the wreckage and the rainforest has reclaimed the area that once held the scars of the crash.

The trek to the camp site follows Christmas Creek to its headwaters and then passes James Westray’s 1937 grave. Westray survived the crash but fell to his death while attempting to raise the alarm.

This park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, famed for its ongoing geological processes, evolutionary history, and diversity (especially of rare, threatened and endemic species).

Getting there and getting around

The Stinson remote bush camp site is in the Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park, 110km south of Brisbane.

• Map sheet—Lamington 9541-34. Grid reference—116 679.
• From the Christmas Creek car parking area, follow the Christmas Creek Road for 200m to the end of the road and then follow the markers through the private property gate to the park boundary and creek crossing. Then follow Christmas Creek up to a spur that leads to the camp site.
• Allow 4hr walking time to reach the camp.

Christmas Creek car park

• This walk starts from the Christmas Creek car park.
• From Beaudesert, head south on the Mount Lindesay Highway to Laravale and take Christmas Creek Road.
• Follow it for 33.5km to the car park.
• Sections of the road are unsealed and the drive will take you about 40min.

For more details on how to get to Lamington National Park and wheelchair accessibility, please see getting there and getting around.

Before you visit

Opening hours

Stinson remote bush camp site (off-track) is open 24 hours a day. Check-in to your camp after 2pm and check-out by 11am on the next day. Bush camp sites can only be booked for a maximum of one night per group, per site.

Check park alerts for the latest information on access, closures and conditions.

Seasonal closures

The bush camp site is only open from 1 February to 30 November each year.

Camping area features: Stinson is a rough bush camp site located in dense rainforest and surrounded by tree ferns. There are no views from this site.
Location: Map sheet: Lamington 9541-34, Grid reference: 116 679.
Access: Remote site off the graded walking track system on an unmarked trail and a 4hr walk uphill from the Christmas Creek car parking area.
Number of sites: No defined sites. Maximum of 8 people per night.
Camp sites are suitable for: fit, experienced, self-sufficient hikers.
Camp site surface: Dirt.
Facilities: None. Campers must be self-sufficient. Water collected from creeks should be treated before drinking. All rubbish (including food scraps) must be carried out.
Open fires: Prohibited—fuel stoves only.
Generators: Not permitted.
Essentials to bring: Fuel stove, drinking water, extra food, rubbish bags, first-aid kit, topographic map, compass, torch, warm clothing, wet weather gear and a small trowel for burying faecal waste. GPS, EPIRB (or PLB) are highly recommended. Read more about before you visit.
Bookings: Advance bookings are essential and must be booked online or learn about our camping booking options.
Mobile phone coverage: Poor.

Upcoming camping area availability

Visiting safely

For more safety information see Visiting Lamington safely and camp with care.