Camping in national parks

Ready for an adventure?

There are so many unique places to explore in South Australia’s nation­al parks, with thou­sands of camp­sites to choose from in some of the state’s most spec­tac­u­lar nat­ur­al places.

Book before you go

  • Book your camp­site online or in-per­son with our book­ing agents before you go. Plan and book up to a year ahead to ensure your ide­al spot awaits.
  • If your camp­ing plans change, please mod­i­fy or can­cel your book­ing via the links in your email or by con­tact­ing your local parks office so oth­ers can use the site.

Respect nature

  • Use des­ig­nat­ed camp sites or areas to reduce the risk of dam­age to sur­round­ing vegetation.
  • Don’t tie ropes to trees or oth­er vegetation.
  • Help pro­tect our parks by ensur­ing you don’t car­ry plant seeds, soil or pests in footwear, cloth­ing, boats, vehi­cles and camp­ing gear.
  • Nev­er feed wildlife — ani­mals can become reliant on hand-outs and lose their fear of peo­ple. If they are fed or become accus­tomed to hand-outs or scroung­ing around camps, ani­mals can become aggres­sive, often bul­ly­ing or bit­ing peo­ple for food.

Rub­bish

  • Please leave no trace, and take your rub­bish with you when you leave – bins are not avail­able in parks.
  • Keep camp sites free of scraps and keep all food, bait, fish, fish­ing gear and rub­bish in well secured con­tain­ers. Nev­er tie rub­bish bags in trees or on your tent.
  • Always pack to min­imise rubbish.

Water

  • We can­not always guar­an­tee water will be avail­able, remem­ber to bring enough for all your drink­ing, cook­ing and clean­ing. If you do col­lect water from nat­ur­al sources with­in the park, be sure to treat it before use.
  • Grey water tanks aren’t manda­to­ry in South Australia’s Nation­al Parks, but using one is strong­ly recommended.
  • If emp­ty­ing small amounts of dish­wa­ter, use biodegrad­able soap and dis­pose of it at least 50m from water­ways (such as rivers and streams), away from veg­e­ta­tion, and with­out impact­ing oth­er campers or the environment.
  • Use grit­ty sand and a scour­er instead of deter­gent to clean dish­es and scat­ter water so that it fil­ters through the soil.

Pets

Main­tain a respect­ful volume

  • Be con­sid­er­ate of oth­er campers and wildlife by min­imis­ing noise, par­tic­u­lar­ly at night.
  • Check with your local parks office to find out if you can use a generator. 

Safe­ty

  • Always super­vise chil­dren around camp­fires, camp sites and sur­round­ing nat­ur­al areas and look out for warn­ing signs.
  • Every­one, not just chil­dren, should wear shoes to avoid step­ping on sharp objects or camp­fire embers.
  • For rea­sons out­side of our con­trol, we some­times need to close our parks. Check for clo­sures and alerts before you go.
  • All parks are closed on cat­a­stroph­ic fire dan­ger days. You can check upcom­ing Fire Dan­ger Rat­ings at the CFS web­site.

Camp­fires and cooking

  • If you are think­ing about hav­ing a camp­fire, check they are allowed in your park before you book. On the day, also check:
    - fire bans and restric­tions
    - park alerts for park fire bans
  • Bring clean fire­wood such as untreat­ed, mill off-cuts — col­lect­ing fire­wood from the park is prohibited.
  • Ensure you are camp­fire safe.
  • Use fire pits and rings where provided.
  • Use a pre­vi­ous camp­fire site, rather than start­ing a new one.
  • Put camp­fires out with water. Do not use sand — embers stay extreme­ly hot for many hours under sand.
  • Check the Camp­fires and BBQs page for more info.

Dri­ving

  • When dri­ving, remain on des­ig­nat­ed tracks, obey the speed lim­its and safe­ty signs.
  • Be pre­pared – research where you are going, the con­di­tions you will be dri­ving in and the rules that apply.
  • Respect rules and guide­lines to min­imise your impact on the envi­ron­ment and heritage.
  • When coastal dri­ving, be aware of nest­ing birds breed­ing between August — March every year. Check the Coastal Dri­ving page for more info.

Drones

  • Drones are not per­mit­ted in our nation­al parks with­out a per­mit. Per­mits must be approved pri­or to flying.
  • Drones can severe­ly dis­rupt rest­ing and breed­ing ani­mals. Learn more about the effects of drones on wildlife here.

Toi­let­ing

  • If you’re bush camp­ing and toi­lets aren’t pro­vid­ed, move well away from camp sites, walk­ing tracks and creeks, and use a shov­el to bury waste at least 20cm deep (50cm for sand).
  • Bag all used toi­let paper, per­son­al hygiene prod­ucts, includ­ing dis­pos­able nap­pies, and take them away for appro­pri­ate dis­pos­al in rub­bish bins. Don’t for­get to bring your own soap and sanitiser.
  • Emp­ty chem­i­cal toi­lets at approved toi­let waste dis­pos­al facil­i­ties, not in our parks’ toilets.

Get inspired: Whether you’re pitch­ing your tent for the first time or just new to nation­al parks, check out the below Good Liv­ing blogs which will guide you towards a mem­o­rable camp­ing holiday

Camp­ing guides and more

Plan­ning your next camp­ing get­away? These arti­cles spot­light some of the state’s must-vis­it locations.