Cooking at Wee Jasper is half the holiday. Each reserve has BBQ plates and fire pits scattered between the gums, and a slow camp breakfast with the river running past your boots is the kind of thing you remember long after the trip. We loved getting the billy on while the rosellas worked the trees, then carrying plates down to a picnic table on the bank. Stock up properly before you arrive, because the village shop is tiny and the closest full supermarket is in Yass, an hour back along the unsealed road.

The standout local stop is the Wee Jasper Distillery, open Friday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm and a lovely afternoon detour from camp. We tried the gin flight on a sunny afternoon and ended up staying for an hour just chatting with the makers about their botanicals, which lean heavily into the surrounding bush. It is worth booking ahead in school holidays as their tasting room is small and word has well and truly got out.

If you are coming in from the Hume direction, swing through Murrumbateman on the way and break the drive at Clonakilla Wines, which is open daily and pours one of the most respected Shiraz Viogniers in the country. We grabbed a bottle and a wedge of local cheese for a sunset drink back at the river. The cellar door is unfussy and the staff are happy to point you to neighbouring producers like Shaw Wines if you want to stretch the wine trail out.

For a proper sit-down meal, the run into Yass is your friend. We grabbed coffee and a slow brunch from the local bakeries on the main street before driving back to camp for round two of doing nothing. On the way home we couldn't resist stopping at the Murrumbateman Village Market, which runs on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month and is brilliant for picking up bread, smallgoods and produce to take back to the fire pit.

The Goodradigbee River does most of the heavy lifting here. We spent our first afternoon swimming in the deeper holes near Fitzpatrick Trackhead, then stayed put with a book while the kids skipped stones until dinner. Trout, Murray cod and golden perch all run through this stretch, and even casual anglers seem to come back to camp with stories. The reserves are spread across four pockets of riverbank, so a short drive between them gives you a different perch every day.

The headline attraction is Carey's Cave, a ten-minute drive from the campground and one of Australia's most beautifully decorated limestone caves. Ninety-minute guided tours run on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and the descent down the staircase into the chambers feels genuinely otherworldly, with helictites and shawls lit just enough to keep the atmosphere intact. Book ahead by text, especially on long weekends when the village fills up.

Walkers should make time for the Hume and Hovell Track, which threads right through Wee Jasper and is easy to dip into for an hour or a full day from the Fitzpatrick trackhead. We did the river loop in the cool of the morning and ticked off kookaburras, gang-gangs and a wedge-tailed eagle without really trying. For a bigger day out, Brindabella National Park is around 21 kilometres south and rewards the rough drive in with proper alpine bush, wildflowers in spring and almost no other cars.

Lake Burrinjuck is roughly 25 minutes away and a great pivot day for kayaking, waterskiing or simply launching the tinnie. If you happen to be visiting in spring, keep an eye out for the Dragon Dreaming Festival on the lake's foreshore, which brings a flash of art and music to the valley. Round the trip out with a slow drive back via Yass Valley for the cellar doors, the heritage main street and the rotating Yass Community Market on the first and third Saturdays of the month.

We found phone reception drops out across most of the reserves, which sounds like a hassle but quickly becomes the best part of the stay once the stars come out and nobody reaches for a screen.