Dumaresq River Free Camp and Queensland Rabbit Works at Texas, Queensland

By Michelle Gilmore
April 1, 2022
Destinations, Fishing, Free Camping Queensland, Free Dog Friendly Campsites, Queensland

Travel ‘Deep in the heart of Texas’…. Texas, Queensland – that is! The camping area at Dumaresq River is actually just south of town and unique – as you are perched right on the state border. Step over either bridge and you are in NSW!

Pet and Big Rig friendly, this site has a 14 day limit and is for self contained vehicles only. Bonuses include level grassy areas, wooden BBQs and rubbish bins. Be sure to leave a donation in the box at the shed.

Drive over the cattle-grid for riverside spots, where you can wade and fish.

I have great memories of this friendly town – staying overnight each month for work, we’d walk out to the bridge before dinner and check out the local craft shop. Good to see that hasn’t changed!

We stopped in for supplies last year, and we admired the pretty gardens, with excellent facilities and town maps for travellers. You can learn how this small community was devoted to raising sheep, cattle and growing tobacco.

In fact, Texas has all the essentials, including free hot showers and toilets (opposite the Post Office), free dump point and potable water (Council Works Depot at Fleming St), pub, grocery stores, fuel station, health centre and children’s playground.

As you walk along the main street, take the time to glimpse back into the past and read the historical signs displaying how the streetscape used to look.

I would love to come back and explore Texas Rabbit Works – a new addition since my visits, opening in 2017. It is the last rabbit processing works remaining in Australia.

Add to the list: the Texas Heritage Centre and Tobacco Museum, Texas Cultural Centre and Regional Art Gallery. You can also stop at the Southern Border Accommodation Park, site 449 in Caravan Parks 5.

For an impressive view of the Dumaresq River, take a five minute drive east of town to Beacon Lookout.

A bit further afield, nature lovers can survey Red Rock Gorge at Sundown National Park, Macintyre Falls across the NSW border near Atholwood, (when we can get back over the border!) or the Ashford limestone caves at Wallangra.

Take some country drives to the nearby towns of Yetman, Bonshaw, Yelarbon and Inglewood – you can see the old tobacco drying huts on some of these routes.

Look up QLD site 883 in Camps 11 or if you have our CAMPS AUSTRALIA WIDE App – simply go to the map or list and search for the site name!

You’ll find the free camp 1 km south west of town, it is located at Dumaresq Crossing Rd. To enter, turn left before the bridge and camp on the north bank of the Dumaresq River.