Your guide to camping at Onkaparinga River National Park

Sit­u­at­ed in the east­ern cor­ner of Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park, the Pink Gum Camp­ground makes camp­ing con­ve­nient for city-dwellers. It’s the clos­est place to Ade­laide that you can stay in a camp­ground run by a nation­al park. Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park is just a 40-minute dri­ve from the city and right across the road from some of McLaren Vale’s most pop­u­lar winer­ies and vineyards.

Sur­round­ed by tow­er­ing gum trees and walk­ing trails, and close to the park’s rock climb­ing zone, this camp­ground is sure to become your fam­i­ly favourite.

Before you run off to pack the car, read these use­ful insid­er tips pre­pared for you by one of the first peo­ple to camp at the campground:

Near­by activities

Bush­walk­ing

There are two main walk­ing trails that depart from the camp­ground. Take the Riv­er Hike down to the gorge where you can find a spot by one of the many rock pools to relax with your book.

Or if you’re up for a sol­id day of hik­ing, fol­low the gorge down­stream to link up with one of the many trails and look­outs to the north of the gorge.

You can also take the track down to the rock climb­ing zone, which boasts spec­tac­u­lar views of the gorge below. If you are not an expe­ri­enced rock climber you will need to stay behind the rock climb­ing railing.

Before you go, make sure you down­load the park maps, or if you’re the adven­tur­ous type, you might like to use the Aven­za PDF Map app so you can see in real-time where you are in the park. This is par­tic­u­lar­ly use­ful as some of the trails are not well defined.

Rock climb­ing

For those with the appro­pri­ate train­ing, expe­ri­ence and equip­ment, rock climb­ing and abseil­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties are just a short 20 minute stroll away at the Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park Rock Climb­ing Zone.

Kayak­ing

A kayak and canoe launch is locat­ed just a short dri­ve away from the camp­ground at the near­by Onka­paringa Riv­er Recre­ation Park’s main entrance at Per­ry’s Bend. It’s ful­ly equipped with steps and a ramp to help you slide your boat down to the water safely

Moun­tain biking

Head down­stream from the camp­ground to try out sev­er­al great bike tracks on the north­ern side of the gorge. You’ll need to take your bike around to the oth­er side of the gorge to access these trails. Not all trails allow bikes so be sure to down­load the cycling maps first.

Facil­i­ties

Toi­lets

A toi­let is avail­able for campers to use. The water at the tap is unsuit­able for drink­ing, so come pre­pared with your own water. Water is lim­it­ed, so bring extra for wash­ing up. 

Elec­tric­i­ty

Sites are not pow­ered so you will need to be pre­pared to be self-sufficient.

Camp­sites

The camp­sites are very flat and are made of grav­el. Make sure you pack a good ham­mer and sol­id pegs as it’ll take a bit of grunt work to get your tent pegs in. ​‘Drill in’ pegs work well, or drilling pilot holes for stan­dard pegs with a cord­less drill is also effective. 

Although the camp­sites are fair­ly open and grav­el-based, there is a com­mu­nal grassy area in the mid­dle that’s shad­ed by big Pink Gum trees with heaps of room to laze in the shade or for the kids to play cricket.

Most of the camp­sites are wheel­chair acces­si­ble, as they are on flat ground with a com­pact­ed grav­el sur­face. The road slopes down to the toi­lets but is acces­si­ble by car. The toi­let facil­i­ties are wheel­chair acces­si­ble, doors are 900 mil­lime­tre wide and there’s a fixed handrail along­side the toilet.

Know before you go

Book online

Pink Gum Camp­ground is a ​‘book before you go’ site, so be sure to reserve your site online before you head off so that it’s wait­ing for you when you arrive.

Maps

Use the Aven­za PDF Map app to down­load inter­ac­tive park maps. These maps can be used with­out inter­net con­nec­tion and will track your cur­rent loca­tion in the park so you won’t get lost.

Camp­fires

Fire restric­tions apply at all nation­al parks. At Onka­paringa, gas fires are per­mit­ted through­out the year, oth­er than on days of total fire ban. Wood fires and sol­id fuel fires are only per­mit­ted out­side of the fire dan­ger sea­son in des­ig­nat­ed camp­fire pits. Always check the SA Coun­try Fire Ser­vice web­site to keep up-to-date about fire bans.

Also note, you must bring your own fire­wood if you plan to have a wood fire, as the col­lec­tion of fire­wood with­in nation­al parks is prohibited.

Vehi­cle access

All the camp­sites are acces­si­ble by 2WD, with sev­er­al of the larg­er sites also acces­si­ble to camper trail­ers and caravans.

No dogs allowed

Leave your pooch at home – Onka­paringa Riv­er Nation­al Park is a dog-free zone.

If you live in Ade­laide, camp­ing in Onka­paringa is a great option if it’s your first time – par­tic­u­lar­ly because you won’t have to trav­el far. Check out our tips to get you start­ed, includ­ing what to packand how to be a cour­te­ous camper.

Park of the month:

In Decem­ber, cel­e­brate Onka­paringa Riv­er parks as the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice’s fea­tured Park of the Month. Join a vari­ety of events and activ­i­ties, includ­ing a fam­i­ly cul­tur­al walk and reju­ve­nat­ing for­est bathing.