South Australian national parks Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

There are twenty-eight national parks in Australia's third largest state, and unlike neighbouring New South Wales, national parks in South Australia are only reserved for the finest parks. The state is home to Australia's largest national park, several dry lakes, the vast Flinders Ranges, several fossil sites, one of which is world heritage listed and unusual geological formations.

Unlike other states, South Australia has a hierarchy when it comes to what is a national park and they are only reserved for the finest landscapes. Some national parks in other Australian states may only be a conservation park, game reserve, recreational area, regional reserves, conservation reserves or a wilderness protection area. Like other states, the state government manages most marine parks that are within 5.5 km from the shore, with the waters further than 5.5 km being managed by Parks Australia.

There are two websites that are used by the SA government.

• parks.sa.gov – for all national parks, conservation parks, game reserves or anything on land
• marineparks.sa.gov – for all marine parks

Some individual parks or historic sites such as Naracoorte Caves or Adelaide Gaol will have its own website (in this case naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au or adelaidegaol.sa.gov.au), but those are the two main websites used.

The "National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972" (also known as the "National Parks Act") is South Australia's primary legislation regarding the establishment and management of protected areas. The act uses the term "reserve" instead of the term "protected area" while the agency administering the act generally uses the term "park". The act concerns the establishment and management of reserves, the establishment of sanctuaries, the conservation of indigenous plants and animals, the declaration of protected animals, the management of protected animals with respect to the collection, capture, breeding and control of hunting.

Unlike other states, South Australia only has a single world-heritage listed national park, Naracoorte Caves National Park. However, in April 2021, the Flinders Ranges were added to the tentative list, which include Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, Nilpena Ediacara National Park and Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park.

Most national parks will have at least one public road to get in, but some such as Lake Torres NP don't have any, and you will have to use private roads, often with permits required. Getting one might take days, if not weeks and you will need to do some planning in advance.

If you are going to a park in the Outback, make sure to check the SA government's Outback Road Warnings report before leaving.

Map of South Australian national parks

As a key, a shaded turquoise background indicates the park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage List site while a shaded orange background indicates the park is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A red background indicates that it is on the tentative list for world heritage.

Park	Established	Image	Area	Region	Description
-34.5944138.3981 Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara	2016		24.57 km2 (9.49 sq mi)	Adelaide Region	A very large bird sanctuary.
-35.013056138.6558332 Belair National Park	1891		8.35 km2 (3.22 sq mi)	Adelaide	South Australia's first national park, home to several historic sites and waterfalls. By today's standards, it's only a conservation park, but it remains for historical reasons.
-37.7156140.2833 Canunda National Park	1959		96.24 km2 (37.16 sq mi)	Limestone Coast	A park with coastal dunes, limestone cliffs and natural bushland.
-34.9675138.6964 Cleland National Park	1945 (conservation park) 2021 (national park)		11.25 km2 (4.34 sq mi)	Adelaide Region	Formerly a conservation park until 2021, Cleland is known for those wanting to reach the Mt. Lofty summit and its wildlife park.
-34.5822135.3225 Coffin Bay National Park	1982		309.76 km2 (119.60 sq mi)	Eyre Peninsula	An area with pristine turquoise waters near Port Lincoln, particularly of interest for bird watchers.
-36.049167139.5536116 Coorong National Park	1967		490.15 km2 (189.25 sq mi)	Murray and Mallee Riverland	One of the world's longest beaches, and an important cultural site for the indigenous Ngarrindjeri people
-35.6278138.2227 Deep Creek National Park	1971		44.96 km2 (17.36 sq mi)	Fleurieu Peninsula
-35.2278136.8958 Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park	1970		94.15 km2 (36.35 sq mi)	Yorke Peninsula
-35.9772136.6739 Flinders Chase National Park	1919 (nature reserve) 1972 (national pakr)		326.61 km2 (126.10 sq mi)	Kangaroo Island	A place to go sealion-watching in Kangaroo Island
-32.5539135.46410 Gawler Ranges National Park	2002		1,628.75 km2 (628.86 sq mi)	Eyre Peninsula
-35.056024138.55114611 Glenthorne National Park–Ityamaiitpinna Yarta	2020		N/A	Adelaide	A new national park created after transforming the O'Halloran Hill Recreation Park and with the addition of the Hallett Cove Conservation Park, Marino Conservation Park, areas of the Field River Valley and the Happy Valley Reservoir.
-31.914867131.44043112 Great Australian Bight Marine National Park	1996		1,233.22 km2 (476.15 sq mi) (state waters)	Outback / Commonwealth waters	Home to a lot of sea lions and whales
-31.4222138.70513 Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park	1945		933.97 km2 (360.61 sq mi)	Outback	South Australia's most iconic national park, containing a naturally formed amphitheatre
-28.6689137.52414 Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park	1985		13,488.37 km2 (5,207.89 sq mi)	Outback	An important reserve of Australasian wildlife
-31.6972135.85415 Lake Gairdner National Park	1991		5,531.77 km2 (2,135.83 sq mi)	Outback
-31.044444137.85972216 Lake Torrens National Park	1991		5,676.68 km2 (2,191.78 sq mi)	Outback
-34.8678135.8717 Lincoln National Park	1941		216.38 km2 (83.54 sq mi)	Eyre Peninsula
-27.2614140.15718 Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Park	2005		266.69 km2 (102.97 sq mi)	Outback
-32.781389138.06277819 Mount Remarkable National Park	1952		150 km2 (58 sq mi)	Outback
-26.2514137.84420 Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park	2021		36,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi)	Outback	Australia's largest national park
-34.3869140.5421 Murray River National Park	1991		135.92 km2 (52.48 sq mi)	Murray and Mallee Riverland
-37.036111140.79666722 Naracoorte Caves National Park	1972 (conservation park) 2001 (national park)		6.6 km2 (2.5 sq mi)	Limestone Coast	South Australia's only World Heritage national park is home to one of Australia's largest fossil deposits
-30.80521138.1357923 Nilpena Ediacara National Park	2021			Outback	One of the state's newest parks, having opened to the public in early 2023, it contains some of the oldest fossils in the world from the Ediacaran era. The Ediacaran era was named after the former name of the park (Ediacara Conservation Reserve)
-31.398611130.13777824 Nullarbor National Park	1979 (org boundary) 2013 (present boundary)		323.10 km2 (124.75 sq mi) (national park) 28,500 km2 (11,000 sq mi) (protected area)	Outback	Vast openness with nothing in sight. From a travel perspective, it is often considered to be part of the same park as the Nullabor Wilderness Protection Area. Unfortunately, its area was significantly reduced in 2013, where much of it is now part of the Nullabor Wilderness Protection Area.
-35.1606138.55425 Onkaparinga River National Park	1993		15.42 km2 (5.95 sq mi)	Adelaide
-30.4472139.27726 Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park	1970		1,257.23 km2 (485.42 sq mi)	Outback
-33.039138.12479727 Wapma Thura–Southern Flinders Ranges National Park	2021			Outback
-26.3717135.6328 Witjira National Park	1985		7,726.73 km2 (2,983.31 sq mi)	Outback

• National parks
• National parks in Australia
• Marine parks in Australia