A man has been charged with murder after an alleged axe attack while camping with friends on NSW’s Mid North Coast that left one man dead.

Emergency services were called to Little Styx River Campground near Ebor, 80 kilometres east of Armidale, shortly after midnight on Monday.

Paramedics found a 33-year-old man dead after suffering critical head injuries.

Officers were told he had allegedly been struck with an axe about 10.30pm on Sunday, while camping with two friends.

One of the campers, a 25-year-old woman, drove him about 60km from Ebor to Thora to seek help.

She told police she was also assaulted and has been treated for bruising to her neck.

A 26-year-old man, who is understood to have been the third camper, was arrested on Waterfall Way in Ebor at about 11.30am on Monday.

The man has been charged with three offences, including murder, intentionally choking a person with recklessness, and assault occasioning bodily harm. 

A man has died after he and two friends were allegedly attacked with an axe during a camping trip on NSW’s Mid North Coast

The man, who is from Thora, has been refused bail and is due to appear in Bail Division Court on Tuesday. 

NSW Police Superintendent Chris McKinnon confirmed the group was all known to each other on Monday.

‘It’s always a terrible thing that someone ends up dead from an altercation like this,’ he told reporters.

‘It’s understood that they were known to each other and they were camping together along with a female.

‘We know that male [from Thora] received a lift by someone else who was camping nearby and he was dropped at Waterfall Way.’

Thora General Store owner Paul Creighton told ABC News he was familiar with the deceased, who had allegedly been living in a nearby camping area.

‘He was quite a harmless guy, always nicely spoken,’ he said.

‘He had spent the last month purchasing food from the store to get by.’

‘It takes the wind out of your sails… It’s a very sober environment here at the moment with the police in the shop.’

A crime scene has been established at the campground. Detectives have commenced an investigation into the incident under Strike Force Ullmark.