Is this Australia's best campground?

Australian RV travellers are spoilt for choice when it comes to accessing fantastic campgrounds, whether they're seeking coastline, bush or red Outback dust.

On my travels I've enjoyed a few cracker campsites, including a particularly memorable stay at Cape Leveque on Western Australia's Dampier Peninsula; at the time a very bumpy three hours' drive north of Broome.

It was as good as it gets in my book: a sheltered, sandy site with private thatched hut, shower and picnic table, right on one of the most pristine beaches in Australia.

But what makes a campground great? Is it the million dollar views, the remote location, the facilities, or the fact you can get to it without risking life or limb on a hair-raising 4WD track (or alternatively, you do need a rock-hopping vehicle to get there!).

Rocky mountain roads

For me, it's a combination of nature and civilisation; for example, the Cape Leveque facility also included a great cafe-restaurant that wouldn't have been out of place in a hipster Melbourne suburb.

On a recent RV trip through the Adelaide Hills, I stumbled across the Rocky Paddock Campground; a government-managed campground that I reckon would appeal to a broad range of campers, from budget-tent car campers and shower-free bush bashers to owners of the latest RV rigs.

It certainly ticks a lot of camping 'boxes': for starters, it's easy to get to, only an hour's bitumen drive from Adelaide and close to a number of well-equipped smaller towns. The campground is only a few hundred metres' drive along a smooth 2WD dirt track from the highway turn-off, and it's well signposted so you can't get lost.

Rocky Paddock is one of three SA Forests campgrounds in the Mt Crawford region and its varying topography, including large boulders and quartz deposits, makes it much more interesting than the flat and relatively featureless Chookarloo Campground just down the road.

The website describes Rocky Paddock as "bush-style camping among old pine plantation and unique rocky outcrops" but it's much more than that.

We arrived mid-week and a few days after the Easter rush but it was still relatively busy, with about half of the 30 campsites filled. Many of them were budget campers with tents and swags, but there were a few RVs including small motorhomes, camper trailers and even a larger Jayco caravan.

The sites are spaced reasonably far from each other, with differing levels, large boulders and numerous trees for privacy; so even if there's a rowdy group in the area they're unlikely to disturb. The dense canopy would offer good shade cover in summer, although it's worth noting that camping is only permitted from April 1 to November 30 annually, outside of the fire danger season.

We also scraped in for campfire season, with fires permitted from May 1 to October 31, but many sites include a fire pit and there was free firewood nearby, so keeping warm on a chilly Autumn night was easy.

There are good basic facilities including a handful of quality dump toilets and rainwater for washing, although you'll need to bring in the rest.

It's also family-friendly; kids can run around and explore including climbing boulders, or you can stretch the legs with numerous walking tracks including parts of the Heysen Trail close by. Despite its national park style feel it's also dog friendly, so the whole family can come.

Downsides? Campsites aren't exactly cheap at $18.50 (although they're charged per vehicle), but it's an excellent online booking system with photos and descriptions of each campsite so you can pick the right one. We chose one of the larger, multi-vehicle sites (#10) for our ute and camper trailer rig, which offered plenty of room to spread out but had a slight slope across it requiring levellers.

Booking last minute at the gate is also possible with good mobile phone coverage throughout the campground, and we'd recommend not opting for a 'freebie' as rangers were about on both days.

While our mid-week, off-peak booking proved very peaceful, we imagine it might get a bit rowdier on a busy Easter week-end with all sites booked.

Adding to our 'five star' camping experience were no adverse brushes with nature, unlike a visit to a nearby farm property campground during the same week where we were repeatedly bitten by inch ants.

Rocky Paddock has been ranked among the top-10 campgrounds in South Australia, and having enjoyed a couple of very enjoyable days there I can vouch for the rating.

There's no thrilling Cape York or Kimberley-style 'Will I arrive before sunset?' adventure to get there, but I reckon for a quick week-end getaway or longer relaxing stay, it's a very appealing bush escape...