South Australian national parks
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.
| Conservation areas in Australia topics: National parks • Marine parks • Indigenous Protected Areas State/territory national parks: NSW • NT • Qld • SA • Tas. • Vic. • WA |
Understand
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.
Park websites
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.
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972
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.
World heritage national parks
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.
Get in
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌍 Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara | 2016 | 24.57 km2 (9.49 sq mi) | Adelaide Region | A very large bird sanctuary. | |
| 🌍 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. | |
| 🌍 Canunda National Park | 1959 | 96.24 km2 (37.16 sq mi) | Limestone Coast | A park with coastal dunes, limestone cliffs and natural bushland. | |
| 🌍 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. | |
| 🌍 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. | |
| 🌍 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 | |
| 🌍 Deep Creek National Park | 1971 | 44.96 km2 (17.36 sq mi) | Fleurieu Peninsula | ||
| 🌍 Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park | 1970 | 94.15 km2 (36.35 sq mi) | Yorke Peninsula | ||
| 🌍 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 | |
| 🌍 Gawler Ranges National Park | 2002 | 1,628.75 km2 (628.86 sq mi) | Eyre Peninsula | ||
| 🌍 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. | |
| 🌍 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 | |
| 🌍 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 | |
| 🌍 Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park | 1985 | 13,488.37 km2 (5,207.89 sq mi) | Outback | An important reserve of Australasian wildlife | |
| 🌍 Lake Gairdner National Park | 1991 | 5,531.77 km2 (2,135.83 sq mi) | Outback | ||
| 🌍 Lake Torrens National Park | 1991 | 5,676.68 km2 (2,191.78 sq mi) | Outback | ||
| 🌍 Lincoln National Park | 1941 | 216.38 km2 (83.54 sq mi) | Eyre Peninsula | ||
| 🌍 Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Park | 2005 | 266.69 km2 (102.97 sq mi) | Outback | ||
| 🌍 Mount Remarkable National Park | 1952 | 150 km2 (58 sq mi) | Outback | ||
| 🌍 Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park | 2021 | 36,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi) | Outback | Australia's largest national park | |
| 🌍 Murray River National Park | 1991 | 135.92 km2 (52.48 sq mi) | Murray and Mallee Riverland | ||
| 🌍 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 | |
| 🌍 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) | ||
| 🌍 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. | |
| 🌍 Onkaparinga River National Park | 1993 | 15.42 km2 (5.95 sq mi) | Adelaide | ||
| 🌍 Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park | 1970 | 1,257.23 km2 (485.42 sq mi) | Outback | ||
| 🌍 Wapma Thura–Southern Flinders Ranges National Park | 2021 | Outback | |||
| 🌍 Witjira National Park | 1985 | 7,726.73 km2 (2,983.31 sq mi) | Outback |