PILLIGA ARTESIAN BORE BATH — Attraction in Pilliga

Great little spot to stop and relax for a few hours or a few days. As with any such facility, I felt there were a few positives and a few negatives: The camping areas were almost full, (I wonder if anybody checks whether fees have been paid!) and there were no suitable spots to pitch a tent. Most of the grassed areas were waterlogged or flooded, and the rest of the area that was taken up by motorhomes & caravans was a rocky/gravel surface that you couldn't get your tent pegs down into even with a hammer. The pool itself is a weird design with nowhere to sit comfortably except the steps, and sitting there is obviously inconvenient and discourteous to others. The sides of the pool angle up from the bottom rather than having a bench seat type arrangement, so if you try to stay around the edges you just slide down. It's a free facility and I don't mind so much, but it could do with a clean to get rid of the algae/moss. Most of the demographic here were friendly as you'd expect, however there were some ferals who turned up looking for trouble when I was there. Not sure if these were locals, or just idiots trying to hide from something in the middle of nowhere, but they were confrontational and left a mess around the picnic tables. Great to have a couple of free electric BBQs, picnic tables and rubbish bins. These were under lights with accessible switches so you can turn them off once you're finished. Basic toilets and a shower. Whilst perhaps 1 or 2 degrees cooler than I personally like, the water was a pleasant warm temperature. Firewood available for purchase, from memory it was $20 for a...

$5/night camp fee is paid online prior to arriving. Please support Pilliga by paying the fee even for a one night/day bathe. Our 2 night stay in Sept 2024 was lovely. Grounds dry. Peaceful nights with a small number of road users. About a dozen campers here, but the area could accommodate more. It just depends on if there has been rain or not. Some wood for sale for fires in your own pit. BBQ area clean and in good working order. Toilets are also good. The ?ranger/council worker came daily. The pool/bath is cleaned weekly on Mondays btwn 9am-1am according to sign. It's a nicely warm/hot temp about 37-39 degrees, I believe. There are small amounts of green algae around the sides of the pool, but the water is clear and clean and very relaxing. Thank you, Pilliga, for providing this facility for...

Great in the cold season and for people suffering from arthritis, joint and related problems.

Pro's: -Free! and reasonably sized campground right next to bath -Free! entry to the bore bath itself and open 7days a week 24h -Two toilets that get regularly cleaned by a professional cleaning company -fresh and pure bore water supply without added chemicals or chlorine directly from the spring at about 38 degrees - nice&warm

Con's: -The bath itself is a concrete pool and algae are building up around the edges -Because it can be used 24h: some people find it fun to be loud at night sitting in the pool and not caring about disturbing people on the campsite -Its not a great place to play for...