Your guide to South Australia’s coolest parks for camping in summer

When it comes to camp­ing in sum­mer it’s all about the loca­tion. While some of the state’s inland nation­al parks swel­ter dur­ing the hot South Aus­tralian sum­mer, our coastal parks offer some relief cour­tesy of cool­ing sea breezes.

All of these parks have a cool­er aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture than Adelaide’s aver­age of 28.6 degrees, mak­ing them per­fect des­ti­na­tions for a sum­mer camp­ing holiday.

Here’s where:

1. Deep Creek Nation­al Park

Aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture – 23.6 degrees

Locat­ed on the south­ern coast of the Fleurieu Penin­su­la, Deep Creek Nation­al Park is famous for its spec­tac­u­lar coast­line and its views across Inves­ti­ga­tor Strait to Kan­ga­roo Island.

This park enjoys a much cool­er cli­mate than Ade­laide, with the aver­age max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture 6 degrees less than the city.

Stringy­bark Camp­ground, nes­tled in a stringy­bark for­est, is a favourite for sum­mer campers with exten­sive shade and facil­i­ties that include flush­ing toi­lets and showers.

Top tip: Get the inside scoop with Ranger Simon Oster’s tips for vis­it­ing the park.

2. Lit­tle Dip Con­ser­va­tion Park

Aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture 24.4 degrees

Fea­tur­ing a rugged­ly beau­ti­ful coast­line and large areas of coastal sand dunes, this park near Robe on South Australia’s Lime­stone Coast is great for a sum­mer holiday.

The beach­es offer good surf fish­ing and the lakes are a haven for birdwatchers.

The local park rangers sug­gest Old Man Lake Camp­ground – set among a grove of melalu­ca trees, as the camp­sites offer shade from the sun and pro­tec­tion from the wind.

3. Flinders Chase Nation­al Park

Aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture 24.6 degrees

Encom­pass­ing the west­ern por­tion of Kan­ga­roo Island, the icon­ic Flinders Chase Nation­al Park is most known for its geo­log­i­cal land­marks and the Kan­ga­roo Island Wilder­ness Trail – Recov­ery Expe­ri­ence.

The park also enjoys a cool­er cli­mate thanks to its island location.

4. Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park

Aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture 25.1 degrees

Home of the icon­ic Ethel ship­wreck, Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park, locat­ed on the south­ern tip of Yorke Penin­su­la, has been a favourite sum­mer hol­i­day des­ti­na­tion for generations.

Rugged cliffs, shel­tered bays, excel­lent fish­ing and pump­ing surf breaks make this park per­fect for a sum­mer getaway.

There are plen­ty of camp­grounds dot­ted around the park, all with­in a short walk of the beau­ti­ful beaches.

One of our favourites is Shell Beach Camp­ground, which offers shady and shel­tered camp­sites that are only a short walk away from the stun­ning Shell Beach and the famous Blue Pool rockpool.

Top tip: There’s lots to see and do in this stun­ning park – check out How to spend a day in SA’s Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park for inspiration.

5. Cof­fin Bay and Lin­coln nation­al parks

Aver­age Jan­u­ary max­i­mum tem­per­a­ture 26.2 degrees

Locat­ed on South­ern Eyre Penin­su­la, these parks are renowned for their stun­ning beach­es that look like some­thing out of a trav­el brochure.

Cool­ing sea breezes from the Great Aus­tralian Bight offer relief from high tem­per­a­tures and the azure blue waters are just beck­on­ing you to dip your toes.

Our local park rangers sug­gest Sur­fleet Camp­ground in Lin­coln Nation­al Park, and Yang­ie Bay Camp­ground, Morgan’s Land­ing Camp­ground (4WD only) and The Pool Camp­ground (4WD only) in Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park for camp­sites that offer shade in those parks.

Want more ideas about spend­ing time in nature this sum­mer? You might enjoy 5 fun things to do at Adelaide’s beach­es.

Main image: Tay­lors Land­ing, Lin­coln Nation­al Park (image cour­tesy of @dodd_life Instagram)

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Decem­ber 2019