Eight fun camping games to play in NSW national parks

Whip up some bingo cards featuring constellations, planets and celestial highlights. Include the Southern Cross, Orion’s Belt, Venus and, if you’re feeling lucky, a shooting star (worth bonus points and a wish, obviously).

For the best stargazing, head to Warrumbungle National Park – Australia’s first Dark Sky Park – or try other NSW parks with minimal light pollution like Oxley Wild Rivers and Kosciuszko national parks. If you have phone reception, there are apps you can download (try the NASA app, available on iOS and Android devices) to help you navigate the night sky.

For more tips, check out our guide on how to have an out-of-this-world stargazing experience.

This storytelling game has more twists than a mountain walking trail. One brave camper kicks off with something like, “deep in Dorrigo National Park, a superb lyrebird was practising its catbird impression when suddenly…” The next player adds a line, weaving in creatures and features you’d actually find nearby.

The story might continue like this:

• “…a wombat waddled past, unimpressed by the racket.”
• “…the Crystal Shower Falls started singing backup vocals.”
• “…a family of sugar gliders decided to join the impromptu concert.”

Keep the story bouncing around the campfire circle until you’ve created something that’s part nature documentary, part comedy show.

Pro tip: This works best around an actual campfire (follow fire safety guidelines and check fire restrictions first – nobody wants to be that camper who ignores a total fire ban). Failing that, a circle of torches will do the job nicely.

Forget the grab-and-go approach – this is about spotting, not collecting. Create a checklist of NSW natives: a laughing kookaburra (Australia’s most obnoxious comedian), a scribbly gum wearing its graffiti with pride, a wildflower that’s more photogenic than your Instagram feed or a rock pool hosting its own miniature marine world.

Level up with the leave no trace bonus round, awarding extra points for safely collecting and disposing of any rubbish you spot. Because nothing feels more out of place in a beautiful national park than someone’s abandoned energy drink next to a 500-year-old tree.

This game doubles as a gentle reminder that we’re visitors in these places, and the best souvenirs are photos and memories.

Transform your sleeping bag into racing gear and channel your inner wallaby across the campground. Just remember to check for tent pegs, guy ropes and that one person who keeps leaving their camp chair in the most inconvenient spot possible.

Mix it up with relay races, backwards races or partner races. It’s gloriously silly, gets everyone’s heart rate up and creates the kind of photos that’ll make you cringe and laugh in equal measure years later.

One player becomes nature’s DJ, imitating sounds from the bush, while the others play guess-that-tune. Try these camping classics:

• Mimicking a whipbird’s whip-crack
• The distinctive crunch of eucalyptus leaves underfoot
• Water splashing into a billy can
• The rustle of a possum raiding someone’s poorly-secured food supplies at 2am.

Get inspired during golden hour when the bush is performing its evening concert, or after dark when the nocturnal crew takes over. You’ll be amazed at how many sounds you usually ignore until you’re trying to mimic them with your competitive cousin.

Classic charades gets a bush makeover. Act out animals, landmarks or camping disasters – no talking allowed, just pure interpretive creativity.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Camping fails: setting up a tent in the wind and rain, or discovering you’ve forgotten the can opener.
• Native wildlife: a wombat’s determined waddle, an echidna’s defensive ball manoeuvre or a cockatoo’s crest.
• Park landmarks: climbing the Grand High Tops or posing at the Three Sisters.

Split into teams if your group’s competitive, or keep it collaborative if you value family harmony. Either way, watching Uncle Steve attempt to mime a short-beaked echidna is going to be pretty funny.

Channel your inner David Attenborough and become wildlife detectives. Inspired by the fact that animals are basically everywhere in NSW parks but have mastered the art of hide-and-seek, this game challenges you to spot the signs they’ve left behind.

Beyond the obvious scat spotting (yes, our peek-a-poo guide is a real thing and surprisingly useful), look for:

• Feathers on the ground
• Scratch marks on tree bark
• Half-eaten fruits or nuts
• Tracks in sand or mud
• Hollows in tree trunks.

Piece together the clues to solve “who was here before us?” It’s CSI: National Parks edition, minus the dramatic music (but with way better scenery). Plus, it teaches you to notice the subtle signs of the thriving ecosystem you’re camping within.

Remember, always look and don’t touch, and keep wildlife wild.

As you explore, give things new names based on whatever you think suits them best (sometimes the official names just don’t capture the full personality of NSW’s flora and fauna).

Your rebranding might include:

• Scribbly gum becoming ‘nature’s doodle pad’ or ‘beetle graffiti tree’.
• Sulphur-crested cockatoos earning the title of ‘feathered alarm clocks’ or ‘flying drama queens’.
• That impressive rock formation near your campsite? Clearly, it’s the ‘sleeping giant’s knee’ or ‘nature’s abstract art installation’.
• Grass trees transform into ‘punk rock plants’ or ‘nature’s exclamation points’.

The game sparks creativity, encourages close observation of your surroundings and turns every bush walk into an opportunity for comedy. Plus, you’ll have a whole heap of inside jokes by the time you pack up camp.