We got to Bendeela Recreation Area just before 5pm. Within a few minutes we were surrounded, not by other tourists, but by kangaroos and wombats — several families of each, grazing on the open grass as if we weren’t even there. A couple of tents were pitched nearby and nobody seemed fussed, least of all the wombats, who just kept eating while the lake behind them went gold in the last of the sun.
If you’ve seen photos of people camping a metre from a wild wombat and wondered where on earth that was taken, this is probably it. Bendeela sits inside Kangaroo Valley, roughly two hours south of Sydney, and it’s one of the only spots in NSW where you can turn up on an ordinary afternoon and reliably find both animals in the wild, no tour booking, no fence, no entry gate.
Here’s what an actual visit looks like, plus what held up when I checked it against WaterNSW’s own information afterwards.
Where Bendeela actually is
Bendeela Recreation Area sits on the Kangaroo River arm of Lake Yarrunga, just outside Kangaroo Valley village on the NSW South Coast. WaterNSW manages the site rather than National Parks, which is part of why the rules around wildlife and fires feel a bit stricter than at a typical campground.
Type “Bendeela Recreation Area” into Google Maps and it’ll take you straight there. You can’t really miss it once you arrive — a wide grassy flat opens up right on the water, with the valley’s hills sitting behind it.
The road in is part of the experience
Every route into Kangaroo Valley involves a steep, winding descent, whether that’s Barrengarry Mountain from the Southern Highlands side or Cambewarra Mountain coming from Nowra. It’s a lovely drive, but it’s a real mountain road too — tight bends, narrow sections, the works — so take your time, particularly if anyone in the car is prone to carsickness.
Once you’re down in the valley near the campground, don’t count on phone signal. Ours dropped a few minutes before we arrived and didn’t come back until we’d driven out again. Download or screenshot your directions before you leave home, because you won’t be loading anything once you’re there.
What’s actually there
This is a WaterNSW recreation and camping area rather than a wildlife park, so don’t expect much beyond the basics. There are flushing toilets and drinking water taps, but no showers or hot water. Camping is unpowered, and within the front area — the one open to vehicles all year round — you just pick your own spot when you arrive; there’s no fixed numbered site. A rear camping area exists too, but it only opens for Christmas, Easter, the spring school holidays, and weekends between October and March.
Camping itself doesn’t cost anything, but you now need to book online before you go, which comes with a $6 booking fee per site rather than a nightly charge. You can’t pay at the gate anymore, and given there’s no signal on site, that’s not something you’d want to rely on anyway. Sort it out before you leave home.
You don’t actually need to camp to see the animals, for what it’s worth. Plenty of people just drive in for the afternoon, park, and wander the river flats on foot.
When to actually turn up
This is where most people get it wrong. Kangaroos and wombats at Bendeela are mostly active in the couple of hours either side of dawn and dusk, and during the heat of the day they tend to retreat into the treeline. Arrive at noon expecting a wildlife encounter and you’ll likely find an empty paddock and wonder what the fuss was about.
We got there around 4:30pm, which turned out to be close to ideal. If you’re not camping overnight, it’s worth spending the day elsewhere in the valley first — the village has cafes, Hampden Bridge is worth a look, there’s canoe hire on the river — and saving Bendeela for late afternoon.
If nothing’s around when you first pull in, don’t assume you’ve missed them. These animals are essentially permanent residents, so it’s rarely a question of whether they’ll appear, more just when. Give it half an hour before you give up.
On a second visit, kangaroos and wombats started emerging around 4:30pm again, and further along the grass we spotted a swamp wallaby too — a nice surprise, since they’re shyer and far less commonly seen than the eastern grey kangaroos that dominate the area.
The five-metre rule, and why it actually matters
WaterNSW’s visitor code of conduct asks people to stay at least five metres from wildlife and never feed or touch it, and the signage around the site — some of it in Chinese as well as English — is hard to miss. It isn’t just there for the animals’ benefit, either. Wombats look slow and placid right up until the moment they’re not, and a startled kangaroo can do real damage with a kick.
While we were there, someone got a bit too close to a wombat chasing a photo and was told off by another visitor for it. Honestly, fair enough — with warning signs at nearly every entry point, there’s not much excuse. If you’ve got younger kids who won’t reliably understand “keep your distance,” a place like Featherdale Wildlife Park will probably suit your family better than a wild colony, and it’s worth weighing up the other Sydney-area wombat spots before deciding which trip fits.
A few other things worth knowing before you go
Bring warmer layers than you think you’ll need, even outside winter — the valley floor cools down fast once the sun’s gone. If you’re into stargazing, it’s worth the trip for the night sky alone; there’s almost no light pollution out there. Portable gas barbecues are fine except on total fire ban days, though wood, charcoal, and other solid-fuel fires aren’t allowed at all. People swim, fish, and paddle non-powered canoes and kayaks on the river and lake, and we saw all three happening within about twenty minutes of arriving. One odd but useful tip: if you spot droppings scattered across the grass, that’s usually a decent sign the animals are regulars there rather than a one-off passing through.
Is it worth the drive with kids?
If your kids are old enough to understand “stay back and be quiet,” I’d say yes without much hesitation. Watching a kangaroo family graze because it wants to, not because it’s fenced in, tends to land differently with children than a zoo visit does. It works well as part of a longer Kangaroo Valley day out, too, and if you’re piecing together a broader Sydney school holidays itinerary, it’s worth pairing with some of the other kid-friendly activities around Sydney rather than treating it as a whole day trip on its own.
Just go in with realistic expectations — basic toilets, no showers, no phone signal, and animals that show up on their own timetable rather than yours. Aim for late afternoon and keep your distance, and honestly, the rest tends to take care of itself.
Sources checked: WaterNSW’s official Bendeela Recreation Area page and visitor code of conduct, and Visit NSW’s listing for Bendeela Camping and Picnic Area, both current as of 2026.