09/04/2026
Who’s gone camping lately and thought… what happened to it?
Not the idea of camping — that’s still there.
But the experience.
Pulling into what used to be a natural bush site and finding…
flattened ground
bulldozed trees
gravel everywhere
numbered bays marked out with logs like cattle pens
Less bush camp. More managed parking lot.
The shift isn’t subtle.
What used to feel like getting away from it all now feels structured, contained, and — increasingly — monetised.
Under Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA, formerly DPaW), more sites have been formalised.
Numbered. Bookable. Payable.
Order, safety, and environmental protection are the reasons given — and those matter.
But for a lot of campers, something’s been lost in the process.
Spontaneity.
Space.
That sense of finding your own quiet patch of bush.
Replaced with marked boundaries and defined sites.
Camping was never meant to feel like a caravan park without power.
Yet that’s where some places are heading.
And when you combine that with booking systems and fees, it’s not hard to see why people start asking:
Is this about managing nature —
or managing revenue?
For many West Aussies, camping isn’t just a trip.
It’s freedom.
It’s simplicity.
It’s stepping away from structure — not driving into more of it.
And when every site starts to look the same — cleared, boxed, numbered — it stops feeling like nature, and starts feeling like a system.
There’s a balance to be found.
But right now, a lot of people reckon it’s tipped too far.
Written by Perth View.
If you found this article interesting, hit Like and Share to help Perth View stay visible and keep these issues in the spotlight.