Book holiday accommodation in SA’s national parks

If you’re more into glamp­ing than camp­ing, con­sid­er the unique roofed accom­mo­da­tion on offer in South Australia’s nation­al parks.

From his­toric min­ers’ lodges and light­house keep­ers’ cot­tages to recent­ly ren­o­vat­ed accom­mo­da­tion with ful­ly equipped kitchens, there’s options per­fect for indi­vid­u­als, cou­ples and groups of up to 10 people.

Here’s a selec­tion you can book online:

Yorke Penin­su­la

Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park offers accom­mo­da­tion in the form of sev­en charm­ing lodges dot­ted around the ruins in the his­toric town of Inneston.

Most of the lodges have been ren­o­vat­ed, but still retain their his­toric exte­ri­or. The Engi­neers and Man­agers lodges are per­fect for larg­er groups, both sleep­ing up to 10 peo­ple. Perched high on a hill, they offer superb sea views and views across Inneston Lake from their wide verandas.

For small­er groups, choose the Nor­folk, Gate­house, Post Office, Shep­herds or Mallee lodges. 

Only need to book for two? No prob­lem, the Post Office is per­fect for cou­ples with one bedroom.

Kan­ga­roo Island

Flinders Chase Nation­al Park is home to the recent­ly restored May’s Home­stead (sleeps 4) and Postman’s Cot­tage (sleeps 2) after being almost total­ly destroyed by the bush­fires on Kan­ga­roo Island in the sum­mer of 2019/2020. The two state her­itage-list­ed cot­tages now offer the high­est stan­dard of accom­mo­da­tion offered by the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Service.

The prop­er­ties are close enough to be booked togeth­er for shar­ing by a group, but far enough apart that you can still expe­ri­ence pri­va­cy. You can use the cosy self-con­tained accom­mo­da­tion as a base while explor­ing the west­ern end of Kan­ga­roo Island.

You can also hire a light­house keep­ers’ cot­tage at Cape Willough­by Con­ser­va­tion Park. Both Sey­mour Cot­tage is ful­ly refur­bished and sleep up to nine people.

While you’re there, don’t for­get to attend a guid­ed tour of Cape Willough­by Light­sta­tion, SA’s first light­house. The His­toric Light­house tour (45 min­utes) tells the fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry of Cape Willough­by from the time of the orig­i­nal set­tle­ment up to cur­rent day. If you’re short on time, an Express Tour (20 min­utes) is also avail­able. Start­ing at the base of the light­house, you’ll be guid­ed up 102 steps to the top where you will expe­ri­ence breath­tak­ing views while learn­ing about the his­to­ry of the light­house. If you’re lucky, you can occa­sion­al­ly see schools of salmon or hump­back, south­ern wright or killer whales.

Want some vari­ety? You can mix your accom­mo­da­tion book­ings to spend time in dif­fer­ent loca­tions on the island.

Flinders Ranges and Outback

Boast­ing fan­tas­tic bush­walk­ing and camp­ing Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park, locat­ed in Mam­bray Creek, offers two cab­ins for hire.

Alli­ga­tor Lodge, locat­ed on a hill­side in Alli­ga­tor Gorge (Wilm­ing­ton), sleeps up to 10 peo­ple in three bed­rooms and is well locat­ed to explore the park’s scenery, bush­walk­ing trails and gorges.

The lodge offers vis­i­tors love­ly views of the sur­round­ing bush and blue gums from its floor to ceil­ing windows.

Sit­u­at­ed in the main camp­ground Mam­bray Creek Cab­in sleeps up to four peo­ple and offers a more rus­tic camp­ing expe­ri­ence. But you’ll want to know your camp­ing bud­dies quite well – the cab­in is open plan with no bed­rooms. Bring every­thing with you except cook­ing uten­sils, cut­lery and crock­ery which is pro­vid­ed, but leave your hairdry­er at home as there are no pow­er points.

(Main pho­to: Engi­neers Lodge, Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park)

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in Sep­tem­ber 2016.