Free camps can sometimes be a bit of a gamble — you never quite know what you’re going to find when you pull in. Woodanilling Pool, however, turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, especially for a free camp.

Located roughly halfway between Perth and Albany, it makes an ideal overnight stop if you prefer to break the trip rather than tackling the whole drive in one go.

Our Experience

On Google Maps this location may appear as Martup Pool Rest Area. If you are traveling south from Perth along Albany Highway, it is about 1 km past Robinson West Road on the left-hand side. The entrance is easy to miss, so it’s worth keeping an eye out as you approach.

When you first turn in there is a day-use parking area, and from there a number of tracks lead further in towards a small lake. The second area has rubbish bins and several tracks branching off to different camping spots.

Along these tracks you will find a number of places suitable for camping. Caravans of most sizes should be fine here, although the very large rigs may need to pick their way in a little more carefully.

Facilities are very basic which means you need to be self contained, own toilet etc, there are rubbish bins and that’s about it but there are plenty of areas to pull into and set up for the night. There are also a few fire pits around the area, although when we stayed it was fire-ban season so we didn’t have a fire.

Being close to Albany Highway, there is some road noise during the day, but we found it died down quite a bit in the evening and it didn’t bother us.

When we visited the area was clean, with very little rubbish around, and we didn’t encounter too many flies or bugs either.

The camp is well sheltered by trees, which helps protect you from the wind. However, on a hot day the lack of breeze could make it feel a bit warm.

After walking around the area we found plenty of reasonably level spots to set up. We also found the place felt safe, with a few other campers pulling in nearby during the evening — something that always provides a bit of reassurance when staying at a free camp.

Some Pics

Summary

Overall, Woodanilling Pool is a handy and quiet free camp that makes a good overnight stop when traveling along Albany Highway. It’s nothing fancy, but there are plenty of places to set up and the area is reasonably sheltered by trees.

If you are looking for a simple place to break the drive between Perth and Albany, this is definitely one worth keeping in mind.

Would we stay again? Yes — it’s a convenient and peaceful spot for an overnight stop.

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Thanks for reading Woodanilling Pool freecamp review. Shadow, the van, and the two of us will catch you at the next campsite.

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